Huhwhat? Brandon Regime To Send Doug Emhoff To Visit Samoa

By William Teach July 19, 2023 – 10:30 am

I’m sure we’ve all missed times when the spouse of the vice president was sent solo to an important nation to forge ties or strengthen ties, right? Because I cannot remember a time when this has happened. This person is not an official. They are not elected and not appointed, and are not there to perform important functions

Emhoff will become the highest-profile US official to visit Samoa as US makes a Pacific islands push

Doug Emhoff, the husband of Vice President Kamala Harris, next week will become the highest-profile U.S. official to visit Samoa, as the Biden administration steps up its outreach to Pacific island nations.

Emhoff will meet with government officials, community leaders and female entrepreneurs during his July 23-24 visit to Samoa’s capital, Apia. His communications director, Liza Acevedo, said Wednesday he will be the first White House principal to visit the country. His visit comes as the U.S. is aiming to deepen diplomatic and economic ties to Samoa and other countries in the region.

The renewed focus on the Pacific islands is part of a yearslong strategic shift in U.S. focus toward the area. It is meant in part to counter China’s efforts to significantly expand its military, economic and diplomatic influence across the Pacific.

If it’s so important why are they sending Emhoff? That fails to send the signal “you are important.” It’s more like “everyone else has better things to do.”

Emhoff will visit Samoa after he leads the official U.S. delegation to the opening of the Women’s World Cup in Auckland, New Zealand. The State Department has announced that Samoa will soon receive a dedicated ambassador on the island, among other diplomatic expansions in the region.

So, it’s simply a convenient attempt after Doug does something else. Hey, he might be a wonderful and charming guy, but, he’s the VP’s spouse, and Samoa (part of which is an American protectorate) will surely perceive this as the Biden admin not thinking too highly of the nation. A meaningless visit. Heck, Samoa might consider this a diplomatic slight and more further into China’s sphere of influence. China and Samoa signed a bilateral agreement of “collaboration” last year, and then here comes nobody Emhoff with a satchel of greenbacks, begging to be friends again.

Read: Huhwhat? Brandon Regime To Send Doug Emhoff To Visit Samoa »

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Huh: 9th Circuit Shuts Down Bid To Block Lithium Mine

By William Teach July 19, 2023 – 7:00 am

Eco-wackos/Warmists: we totally want all sorts of green energy and electric vehicles

Manufacturers/government: we need to mine lots of precious metals and such like lithium

Eco-wackos/Warmists: nope, we cannot allow that, we’ll sue

9th Circuit denies bid by environmentalists and tribes to block Nevada lithium mine

The latest bid by conservationists and tribal leaders to block construction of a huge lithium mine already in the works along the Nevada-Oregon line was denied by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday.

A three-panel judge of the San Francisco-based appellate court rejected a half-dozen legal arguments the opponents had put forth in their appeal seeking to overturn federal land managers’ approval of one of the projects at the forefront of President Joe Biden’s plans to combat climate change.

The critics have been fighting it in federal court for two years. They claim the open-pit mine, as deep as the length of a football field, will violate multiple environmental laws and destroy lands tribal members consider sacred because they say dozens of their ancestors were massacred there in 1865.

Lithium Nevada Corp.’s mine at Thacker Pass, 200 miles (320 kilometers) northeast of Reno, has pitted environmentalists and Native Americans against Biden’s efforts to accelerate the transition from fossil fuels to cleaner, renewable energy sources. The mine would involve extraction of the silvery-white metal used in electric vehicle batteries.

How about a nice payout for the tribes?

On Monday, the judges didn’t specifically address the claims that the project fails to comply with a new opinion the 9th Circuit issued last year that blocked a copper mine in Arizona based on a more stringent interpretation of the 1872 Mining Law regarding the use of neighboring lands to dispose of waste.

Rather, they more generally deferred to the expertise of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, which approved the mine in 2021, and the decision by U.S. District Judge Miranda Du in Reno earlier this year to allow construction to go forward even though she concluded the mine was not in complete compliance with the new interpretation of the Civil War-era mining law.

It’s rather humorous, and ironic, that to create all these “green” technologies the land and sea must be destroyed, eh? Heck, vast parts of Nevada are perfect for strip mining, as there is nothing there.

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Posted in AGW Idiocy, Global Warming | 6 Comments | Trackback URL

Bummer: Bud Light Posts Dismal 4th Of July Numbers

By William Teach July 19, 2023 – 6:45 am

Self inflicted wounds followed by stabbing yourself a few times then playing with broken glass are fun, eh?

Bud Light Suffers Another Loss as July 4 Sales Drop

As the boycott against Bud Light continues, new data shows the beer brand suffering yet another loss with a decline in sales over the Fourth of July holiday weekend.

On Monday, The Daily Caller obtained new Nielsen IQ sales data from Bump Williams Consulting, which shows Bud Light sales declining by 23.6 percent for the week ending on July 8, when compared to the same period a year earlier. Over a four-week period ending on July 8, the data showed a decline in Bud Light sales by 27.1 percent compared to the same period in 2022, the data showed. (snip)

For the week ending on July 1, Newsweek obtained Nielsen IQ sales data from Bump Williams Consulting showing a 28 percent decline in sales for the week, compared to the same period in 2022. A week earlier, Bud Light saw a decline of 27.9 percent in its sales revenue, when compared to the week ending on June 24, 2022.

They asked for this, and now they got it! And, again, it wasn’t just about the trans wackjob denigrating women, it was compounded by the marketing nutter denigrating the core consumer base, followed by silly talking points, not apologies, and dumb commercials.

Of course, Credentialed Media wackos have to attempt to defend Bud Light

Bud Light lost its crown as America’s ‘King of Beers’ — but it was going to happen even without the conservative boycott

Modelo is now the king of beers in the US, or perhaps El Rey de Cervezas is more fitting.

For the second-straight month, Modelo was America’s best-selling beer in June, according to data released last week by consulting firm Bump Williams, accounting for nearly 9% of all sales. It recently took the crown from Bud Light, which saw its market share drop to 7%.

Bud Light, which took the title as America’s best-selling beer in 2001, has seen its sales dip over the past few months following backlash from some conservatives to marketing promotion featuring transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney and subsequent anger from LGBTQ advocates over Anheuser-Busch’s response to the boycott calls. However, several signs show that the switch was inevitable, even before the protests.

Yeah, Modelo and Michelob Ultra (otherwise known as piss water) were rising, but, Bud Light has dropped quickly to #14. I’m pretty sure that was not part of the equation.

Read: Bummer: Bud Light Posts Dismal 4th Of July Numbers »

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Once Upon A Time, Longer Heatwaves “Turbo Driven” By You

By William Teach July 18, 2023 – 3:57 pm

Once upon a time, scientists say, what’s the difference? It’s all based on cult based science which is paid for by government demanding certain outcomes

Longer heatwaves driven by ‘turbo-charged’ climate change, say scientists

Scientists say “turbo-charged” climate change is driving the prolonged period of record temperatures currently baking much of the planet.

As the planet has heated, hotter-than-usual spells have become more intense and now last on average about 24 hours longer than 60 years ago, according to data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Noaa data from the 50 most populous cities in the US shows the heatwave season is 49 days longer now compared with the 1960s.

You mean when the Earth was in a slight cooling period, which flipped back to the expected warming for a Holocene warm period? What’s the big deal? This is what is expected.

Even though in the UK we may feel relief that we have escaped the deadly temperatures of mainland Europe, the effects can still be expected to reach us.

Gareth Redmond-King, the head of the international programme at the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit, said: “Even as Britain experiences a gloomy and relatively cool July, the extreme heat and droughts, torrential rains and flooding around the world have a direct hit for us too. We import half our food – half of that comes from climate-vulnerable countries. As harvests are hit by climate disasters, supplies are constrained and prices rise.”

Dang, these people really are doomsday cultists. Meanwhile, how about linking Noah’s Ark to ‘climate change?

(ASU News) Jeffrey Cohen, dean of humanities at The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Arizona State University, has always loved researching the topics that intrigue him, from writing on what monsters reveal about the cultures that dream them to the long history of humans using stones as communication devices that cross the ages.

His newest book, “Noah’s Arkive,” came from that same curiosity but also held a powerful meaning.

Co-authored by Cohen and Julian Yates, the book, released in June, examines the legacies of Noah’s Ark and accounts of global warming dating back thousands of years to the present.

Through illustrations from various artists and narratives that span millennia, the book addresses the less familiar stories of the ark, how we think about climate change and “how the story of the ark can frame how we think about environmental catastrophe and refuge, conservation and exclusion, offering hope for a better future by heeding what we know from the past,” the book’s abstract says.

“The book’s goal is to make these powerful and forgotten stories of Noah’s Ark better known,” Cohen said. “When it comes to climate catastrophe and climate justice, we too often resign ourselves to loss — and repeat a narrow version of the Noah tale over and over again. We have better versions of the story.”

Oh, good grief. These cultists really can’t do anything or think anything without dragging their Beliefs in.

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If All You See…

By William Teach July 18, 2023 – 1:00 pm

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

The blog of the day is This ain’t Hell…, with a post on your Tuesday feel good stories.

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Biden Plans To Expand HIPAA To Abortions

By William Teach July 18, 2023 – 10:30 am

Well, of course he does, because abortion is the number one sacrament under the Democratic Party. Let’s start with the New York Times

Trump and Allies Forge Plans to Increase Presidential Power in 2025

Donald Trump and his allies are planning a sweeping expansion of presidential power over the machinery of government if voters return him to the White House in 2025, reshaping the structure of the executive branch to concentrate far greater authority directly in his hands.

Their plans to centralize more power in the Oval Office stretch far beyond the former president’s recent remarks that he would order a criminal investigation into his political rival, President Joe Biden, signaling his intent to end the post-Watergate norm of Justice Department independence from White House political control.

There’s a lot of this in the NY Times article, which actually misses the point in that Trump wants to decrease the power of federal agencies, weeding out the extras and those who have become partisan tools against the People for the Democratic Party. Further, criminal investigations? You know that all these criminal attacks against Trump come from the highest levels, which must include Biden and his top advisors. But, the same Times never seems to notice Biden’s expansion of presidential power, such as

Biden’s HIPAA expansion for abortion draws criticism, lawsuit threats

The Biden administration’s effort to wield the nation’s premier health-privacy law to protect abortion rights is under fire from Republicans who accuse the president of overreaching — and from Democrats who call it too weak.

The Department of Health and Human Services is preparing to release a final rule later this year that would expand the protections of the decadesold Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPAA, with the aim of shielding people who seek, obtain or provide abortions from red state probes — one of the most concrete steps the administration has taken to defend abortion rights since the Supreme Court ended Roe v. Wade a year ago.

But conservatives, including Republican attorneys general and former Trump administration officials, say the move would violate states’ rights as well as the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision — and would be ripe for a lawsuit.

There is “absolutely” a potential for legal challenges, said Roger Severino, who served as the head of HHS’ Office for Civil Rights under former President Donald Trump and is now vice president of domestic policy at the Heritage Foundation. “I would imagine, at the very least, that a challenge would come from state attorneys general, because the administration is interfering with their ability to enforce their own laws.”

In Democrat World unfettered abortion must be protected at all costs. There can be no restrictions at all, and the ability to get one anytime anyplace should be easy.

Dozens of top Democrats in the House and Senate, meanwhile, say the draft rules are inadequate for a post-Roe environment in which Republican-controlled states are seeking to more aggressively target abortion providers and anyone who helps a patient circumvent state restrictions.

The attacks from both sides highlight the precarious path the Biden administration has tried to navigate since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last summer. With no hope of restoring abortion protections through legislation in a divided Congress, the White House has largely leaned on rulemaking and executive orders — many of which are drawing criticism from progressives and the right.

That sounds like an expansion of executive power, NY Times. And the Supreme Court ruling was rather specific: this is a States Rights issue. Not a federal one.

In a letter to HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra shared first with POLITICO, Democrats led by Sens. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Patty Murray (D-Wash.) make several demands, including that the administration require law enforcement to “obtain a warrant before forcing doctors, pharmacists, and other health care providers to turn over their patients’ [protected health information].”

Interesting, since Los Federales required employees to share their private medical information on whether or not they took a Wuhan Flu vaccine. We’re supposed to leave it all up to women, but, the government, mostly Democrats required them to wear masks, take a vaccine, and locked them down, followed by implementing work from home.

Read: Biden Plans To Expand HIPAA To Abortions »

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Having Solved All Problems, NYC To Fine Restaurants Which Include Plastic Utensils Without Being Asked

By William Teach July 18, 2023 – 7:15 am

These are the real criminals, not those people who mass-loot stores

New York will now fine restaurants for including a common takeout add-on in their to-go meals: ‘Years in the making’

In an effort to reduce plastic use, New York will start fining restaurants and third-party delivery services that provide disposable utensils, soy sauce packets, and similar items without the customer requesting them.

In late June, New York City announced plans to implement its new “Skip the Stuff” bill, which aims to reduce plastic use by fining restaurants and delivery services handing out unsolicited plastic items like ketchup and cutlery.

Food vendors and delivery services have a moment to adapt. Actual fines won’t start being handed out until July of 2024, and until then, violators will only receive warnings, Bloomberg reports.

How will The Authorities know? Will they run sting operations? Will they request patrons snitch when they are given plastic forks and condiments? They are counting on 3rd party delivery services to snitch, for one thing. Usually the bags are sealed. Will the delivery snitches open your bag?

With the popularity of takeout and delivery steadily rising, this new rule is arriving at an opportune time. It will encourage businesses and consumers to be more conscious about plastic use habits and hopefully curtail the impact of single-use plastic on the environment.

The environment stands a lot to gain, too. That little packet of hot sauce or singular plastic spoon might seem harmless, but over half of the plastic utensils wind up being tossed out instead of recycled. Many end up in our waterways, contaminating some sources of water and harming marine wildlife.

Well, on one hand, that’s not bad, because single use plastic is an real environmental issue and is rarely recycled, polluting the land and waters. But, guess what’s next

Additionally, the mere production of such items causes pollution. In fact, creating one ton of plastic cutlery results in roughly 1,350 to 3,800 more pounds of harmful carbon pollution than disposable wooden cutlery.

The fines will range from $50 to $250 for restaurants, food delivery and third-party courier services.

Read: Having Solved All Problems, NYC To Fine Restaurants Which Include Plastic Utensils Without Being Asked »

Posted in AGW Socialism, Democrats, Global Warming | 6 Comments | Trackback URL

Sacramento Bee Seems Upset Over GOP Calling Out California Dems For Voting Against Protecting Children

By William Teach July 18, 2023 – 7:00 am

There’s hot-takes, and then there’s this insanity

There’s a big time paywall, so, you can read it in full at Yahoo News

California Democrats spent the final few days before summer recess in an unusual spot: embroiled in a legislative fight with Republicans, who typically operate in the shadow of the state’s blue supermajority.

The cause? A bill to strengthen penalties for child sex traffickers that lawmakers killed ahead of a looming legislative deadline.

By the time they left Sacramento last week, Democrats had doubled back and advanced Senate Bill 14 in an emergency hearing of the Senate Public Safety committee, likely at the behest of both Gov. Gavin Newsom and Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas, D-Hollister.

And Republicans were celebrating a “win for law and order in California” with bill author Sen. Shannon Grove, R-Bakersfield.

How did a party with almost no power in California manage to achieve a political win?

In part by employing simplistic, fear-based messaging that exploited the divide between progressive and moderate Democrats on criminal justice reform. Social media posts amplifying the bill’s failure suggested Democrats are soft on crime, especially related to children.

Democrats had voted AGAINST a bill that protected children from child trafficking. And, without that messaging, the GOP would have had zero power. They cannot do anything in the California general assembly. And Democrats would have simply moved on

Their arguments in favor of the bill also carried a whiff of the far-right GOP conspiracy theory related to Democrats and pedophilia.

Now, just imagine that it was the GOP who voted against significantly increase the felony penalties on child traffickers. How would the SacBee frame that?

California has spent the past 15 years moving away from the tough-on-crime sentencing laws that created overcrowded prisons filled with Black and brown people. A panel of federal judges in 2009 ordered the state to begin reducing the incarcerated population.

That resulted in a series of changes that reclassified some lower-level crimes from felonies to misdemeanors, shifted some prison inmates to county jails and increased opportunities for people to earn credits and reduce their sentences.

Progressive Democrats have been hesitant to support bills that would increase penalties, wanting to avoid a return to policies promoting mass incarceration.

And look at what this has gotten California. But, we’re also talking about trafficking children, and Democrats are so soft on crime they refused to strengthen the law.

Human trafficking has long been a strong issue for Republicans. This is especially true in far right corners of the party, where conspiracy theorists have perpetuated myths that Democratic leaders are trafficking children.

Maybe there wouldn’t be a conspiracy theory if Democrats weren’t so weak on protecting kids, much less crime overall. The authors call this a political issue. It shouldn’t be, but, Democrats are batshit insane, and no matter how much their pet media wants to position it, most of the parents in California do not want to go soft on child traffickers.

Read: Sacramento Bee Seems Upset Over GOP Calling Out California Dems For Voting Against Protecting Children »

Posted in Democrats, Journalistic Malpractice | 20 Comments | Trackback URL

AI Lyrics Vs Real Lyrics

By William Teach July 17, 2023 – 7:03 pm

I have some thoughts on AI generated lyrics, was having a discussion on them in Real Life, maybe I’ll discuss later, but, what about the difference on these. Below the fold

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Death Valley Continues To Sizzle And It Is All Your Fault

By William Teach July 17, 2023 – 3:00 pm

You could have given up your fossil fueled travel, stopped using an ice maker, turned the AC up to 80, only bought second hand clothes, given up eating meat, and moved into a tiny apartment in a Progressive city, but, no, you had to do you and cause the Earth to burn

California’s Death Valley sizzles as brutal heat wave continues

Long the hottest place on Earth, Death Valley put a sizzling exclamation point Sunday on a record warm summer that is baking nearly the entire globe by flirting with some of the hottest temperatures ever recorded, meteorologists said.

Temperatures in Death Valley, which runs along part of central California’s border with Nevada, reached 128 degrees Fahrenheit (53.33 degrees Celsius) on Sunday at the aptly named Furnace Creek, the National Weather Service said.

The hottest temperature ever recorded on Earth was 134 F (56.67 C) in July 1913 at Furnace Creek, said Randy Ceverny of the World Meteorological Organization, the body recognized as keeper of world records. Temperatures at or above 130 F (54.44 C) have only been recorded on Earth a handful of times, mostly in Death Valley.

“With global warming, such temperatures are becoming more and more likely to occur,” Ceverny, the World Meteorological Organization’s records coordinator, said in an email. “Long-term: Global warming is causing higher and more frequent temperature extremes. Short-term: This particular weekend is being driven by a very very strong upper-level ridge of high pressure over the Western U.S.”

More likely! ZOMG! We’re doomed…..wait, what was that part about 1913? When carbon pollution was below the “safe” level of 350ppm? How did that happen? And was it all your fault?

Anyhow, they call it Death Valley for a reason

Heat records are being shattered all over the U.S. South, from California to Florida. But it’s far more than that. It’s worldwide, with devastating heat hitting Europe along with dramatic floods in the U.S. Northeast, India, Japan and China.

First, they told us that El Nino was going to spike temperatures which are already up because we are in a Holocene warm period, so, the cultists are using this as an excuse. Second, floods have always happened. People have very short term memories about this stuff, so, it’s easy for the cult to fearmonger.

A combination of long-term human-caused climate change from the burning of coal, oil and natural gas is making the world hotter by the decade, with ups and downs year by year. Many of those ups and downs are caused by the natural El Nino and La Nina cycle. An El Nino cycle, the warming of part of the Pacific that changes the world’s weather, adds even more heat to the already rising temperatures.

So what happened in 1913 when we didn’t have all those fossil fueled vehicles and such?

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