FBI Director Says They’ve Assessed For Some Time That COVID Came From A Lab Leak

By William Teach March 1, 2023 – 10:30 am

What, exactly, is “assessed for some time”? How long has the FBI thought this? That would be an extremely important time frame, since anyone who said that it came from the Wuhan lab and was then shut down, blocked on social media, and treated like a nutty conspiracy theorist deserves an apology

‘Potential lab incident’: FBI director Wray speaks publicly for 1st time on COVID-19 origin

FBI director Christopher Wray on Tuesday spoke publicly for the first time on the bureau’s assessment that the COVID-19 virus “most likely” originated from a potential lab incident in Wuhan, China.

He also faulted the Chinese government in an interview with Fox News’ Bret Baier for, he said, trying to thwart the work of U.S. agencies investigating the beginnings of the global pandemic.

“The FBI has for quite some time now assessed that the origins of the pandemic are most likely a potential lab incident in Wuhan,” he said.

“Let’s step back for a second. You know, the FBI has folks agents, professionals, analysts, virologists, microbiologist, etc, who focus specifically on the dangers of biological threats, which include things like novel viruses like COVID and the concerns that they’re in the wrong hands,” he said, “some bad guys, a hostile nation state, a terrorist a criminal, the threats that those those could pose.

“So, here you’re talking about a potential leak from a Chinese government-controlled lab that killed millions of Americans, and that’s precisely what that capability was designed for,” he continued. “I should add that, that our work related to this continues. And there are not a whole lot of details I can share that aren’t — aren’t classified,” he told Baier.

The one necessary detail, again, is when this determination was made. What day, month, and year did they come to this finding? Was it recent? Last year? 2021? 2020?

Read: FBI Director Says They’ve Assessed For Some Time That COVID Came From A Lab Leak »

Posted in Bat Soup Virus | 13 Comments | Trackback URL

House Republicans Question Pentagon On Ukraine Funding

By William Teach March 1, 2023 – 6:45 am

Obviously, they didn’t get particularly satisfying or open answers, and, interestingly, some Democrats were also interested in protecting The People’s money and wondering just what’s going on

Lawmakers Question Pentagon on Ukraine Funds, Signaling Fresh Doubts

Republicans in Congress sharply questioned senior Pentagon officials on Tuesday about the tens of billions of dollars in military and other aid the United States has sent to Ukraine, casting doubt on whether they would embrace future spending as Democrats pleaded for a cleareyed assessment of how much more money would be needed.

The exchanges at committee hearings, coming just days after the anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, highlighted how concerns about the high cost of sending weapons to Kyiv have intensified on Capitol Hill. The growing doubts have threatened what was once a strong bipartisan consensus in favor of the aid and could make it more difficult for the Biden administration to win congressional approval of funds to replenish its military assistance accounts. The funding inflection point could come as soon as this summer, months earlier than previously expected.

The hearings also illustrated how members of both parties, despite expressing confidence that a majority in Congress remains committed to supporting Ukraine, are concerned that a determined minority — including right-wing Republicans who eschew U.S. involvement in foreign conflicts and liberal antiwar Democrats — may weaken that resolve if the war continues to drag on.

Yes, God forbid that Congress and We The People are provided with a clear and detailed explanation of where are money has gone, and, really, Americans are losing faith in continuing to prop up a corrupt and authoritarian regime in a war that could lead to something affecting the entire world.

“How many more times do you think Congress needs to provide aid?” Representative Ro Khanna, Democrat of California, asked Colin H. Kahl, the under secretary of defense for policy, during his appearance before the Armed Services panel. “What do you think, at the end, is the end game?”

Good question. It didn’t solicit much of an answer

Pentagon leaders were reluctant to commit to either a figure or a timeline upon which they would be seeking additional funds, saying that the vagaries of the war made it impossible to commit to a schedule.

Where’s the money going? Especially since

Russia will emerge from the Ukraine war a ‘shattered military power,’ top Pentagon official says

Russia will emerge from its war in Ukraine a “shattered military power,” a senior Pentagon official said on Tuesday, stressing that the country has yet to achieve any of its goals and is expected to continue to struggle on the battlefield.

Colin Kahl, the under secretary of defense for policy, told US lawmakers that the situation looked “dire and pessimistic” for Ukraine when Russian forces first invaded in late February 2022, but after a year of fighting, it has become clear that Russian President Vladimir Putin has “lost” the war.

They like to make lots of pronouncements, but, not a lot of real answers. Or accountability.

Read: House Republicans Question Pentagon On Ukraine Funding »

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Surprise: St. Greta Wants Wind Farm Blocked

By William Teach February 28, 2023 – 3:00 pm

Have you ever noticed that Warmists say they love “green” energy, but, when it comes time to construct it they block it?

Uh huh. From the link

Dozens of activists, including Greta Thunberg of neighboring Sweden, blocked the entrance to Norway’s energy ministry in Oslo Monday to protest a wind farm they say hinders the rights of the Sami Indigenous people to raise reindeer in Arctic Norway.

The activists, mainly teenagers, lay outside the ministry entrance holding Sami flags and a poster reading “Land Back.”

The protesters from organizations called Young Friends of The Earth Norway and the Norwegian Sami Association’s youth council NSR-Nuorat, said “the ongoing human rights violations” against Sami reindeer herders “must come to an end.” Several of the activists donned the Sami’s traditional bright-colored dress and put up a tent used by the Arctic people.

In October 2021, Norway’s Supreme Court ruled that the construction of the wind turbines violated the rights of the Sami, who have been using the land to raise reindeer for centuries. However, the wind farm is still operating.

“It is absurd that the Norwegian government has chosen to ignore the ruling,” said Thunberg, who joined the protest early Monday.

They have a point, however, last time I checked St. Greta wasn’t a Norwegian citizen. Why is she involved?

Read: Surprise: St. Greta Wants Wind Farm Blocked »

Posted in Energy, Global Warming | 8 Comments | Trackback URL

If All You See…

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

…is wonderful orange juice, which will soon come from orange trees in Canada, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Jo Nova, with a post on China approving 2 new coal plants every week for when renewables fail.

Read: If All You See… »

Posted in If All You See | 5 Comments | Trackback URL

DOT Inspector General Is A Big Fan Of Mayor Pete’s Private Jet Travel

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

So much so, the IG plans to inspect Pete’s use of private jets

Inspector general investigating Pete Buttigieg’s extensive private jet travel after Fox News Digital report

The Department of Transportation’s (DOT) internal watchdog is opening an audit into Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg over his extensive use of private jets, the agency confirmed to Fox News Digital on Monday.

The DOT Inspector General investigation comes roughly two months following a Fox News Digital report that showed Buttigieg, who has repeatedly argued in favor of aggressive action to combat climate change, has taken at least 18 flights using taxpayer-funded private jets since taking office in early 2021. Flight records reviewed by Fox News Digital aligned with Buttigieg’s internal calendar obtained at the time by government watchdog group Americans for Public Trust (APT).

“After Americans for Public Trust helped determine Secretary Buttigieg’s excessive use of taxpayer-funded government jets, we are pleased to see that his air travel is now under investigation,” APT executive director Caitlin Sutherland told Fox News Digital on Monday.

“Everyday Americans have faced unprecedented flight cancelations and disruptions, but Buttigieg has continued to fly private, even on a Coast Guard plane and even when commercial options were readily available.” (snip through a bunch of examples)

The transportation secretary also took a military aircraft to attend the Fifth Invictus Games in Europe with his husband Chasten Buttigieg in April 2022. And, that same month, Buttigieg jetted off to New York City on one of the government planes for a radio interview and two brief meetings before returning hours later.

On another occassion, he flew on a government jet to Canada for an aviation conference, and to attend an LGBT conference. Pete responded

Which seems to be not so. Further, why is Pete flying at all? He keeps yammering about how bad having a carbon footprint is and how great trains, buses, and other public transportation are. Why doesn’t he take those wonderful trains? It was almost a year ago that he was yammering about how awesome it was that the infrastructure bill had $4.5 billion for trains and buses and how public transportation was the solution to the climate crisis (scam). And wanted laws about it.

Read: DOT Inspector General Is A Big Fan Of Mayor Pete’s Private Jet Travel »

Posted in Climahypocrites, Democrats, Global Warming | 8 Comments | Trackback URL

Climate Cult: California’s Snowy Weather Is Your Fault

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

It’s really a hallmark of cult’s that they just don’t consider how insane their ramblings sound like, and they’ll try and convince people that what they’re pushing is totally real

How climate change is making California’s weather more extreme

In the midst of a two-decades-long megadrought that climate scientists say has been made worse because of rising global temperatures, California has been hit with an especially cold and wet winter, in which low temperature records have been set and the Sierra snowpack is poised to eclipse its all-time high.

But the whiplash from one extreme to another is consistent with climate change, experts say. Since the start of the Industrial Revolution, California’s average temperatures have risen between 2-4 degrees Fahrenheit, and the dramatic variability seen in recent years is a consequence of that fact.

“A lot of folks are saying, ‘Everything is getting more extreme, it’s wetter and drier and hotter and colder.’ One of those isn’t true,” UCLA climate scientist Daniel Swain told Yahoo News. “Three out of the four are in California. The one thing that isn’t happening is it’s not getting colder.”

No matter what happens, the answer is always ‘climate change’. Is it any wonder I started referring to it as Hotcoldwetdry for well over a decade? Somehow, greenhouse gases are making it so hot that it snows in Los Angeles. Which, by the way, happened as far back as 1879 (in recorded history). And two inches during the CO2 safe period of 1932.

So, while some parts of Southern California saw rare blizzard conditions last week, and snow fell at unusually low elevations in places like the Bay Area, those events in no way disprove climate change, which is measured over a longer time horizon than a single week, month or season. Nor do the brutal cold snaps show that climate change is simultaneously causing the world to undergo cooling.

Despite saying this is the long term, they blamed a short term on You. This is all just the ramblings of a doomsday cult. If we had an impartial, skeptical, and honest media they would be pointing this out. They apparently do not realize that with the implementation of authoritarian government these same journalists will be under the complete thumb of government, and will be told how to do their jobs, what they can investigate, and what they can write.

Read: Climate Cult: California’s Snowy Weather Is Your Fault »

Posted in Climate Cult, Global Warming | 14 Comments | Trackback URL

For Some Reason, US Treasury Secretary Flies To Ukraine

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

Good news, Janet Yellen is promising to spending a boatload more of your tax dollars to rebuild Ukraine, all while our economy is in the doldrums, lots of Americans are homeless, infrastructure is having issues, savings are down, credit card debt is up. Oh, and Ukraine isn’t even reasonably close to winning the war, probably won’t, and we’re dumping more and more money into Ukraine

US will ‘help you rebuild’: Treasury Secretary Yellen visits Kyiv, announces aid transfer. Live Ukraine updates.

Days after a surprise trip by President Joe Biden, his top economic official also visited Kyiv and reiterated the administration’s support for Ukraine.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, who met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, announced the first transfer of $1.2 billion as part of a nearly $10 billion package in civilian aid for the embattled country.

“Just as security assistance bolsters the front lines, I believe that this economic assistance is fortifying the home front, thereby strengthening Ukraine’s resistance,” she said.

Besides echoing Biden’s words that the U.S. will stand with Ukraine as long as necessary, Yellen praised Zelenskyy’s efforts to ensure transparency in how aid for his country is spent.

Really? Does anyone really know where the $100+ billion is going? I can’t find any reports showing what they are doing with U.S. funding

Yellen also visited a renovated school that sustained significant damage from a Russian missile that landed nearby in March and told students and teachers, “America stands with you in this fight for freedom, and we will be by your side and help you rebuild.”

We keep being told that a huge number of U.S. bridges need repair, and around 8& are structurally deficient. The infrastructure bill doesn’t really fix this. All this money could be used for our needs, not to a country with massive amounts of corruption, for which Zelesky is accused of being a part of.

Read: For Some Reason, US Treasury Secretary Flies To Ukraine »

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Cobolt Mining Looks Super Green!

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

So, we’re replacing strip mining for coal and spills here and there with fossil fuels for this?

Bleak photos show the reality of the cobalt mining industry responsible for the batteries in your phone, computer, and car

Cobalt is the new blood diamond.

It’s highly valuable and dangerous to extract. The Democratic Republic of Congo is responsible for about 70% of the world’s supply of Cobalt.

As the world transitions to renewable energies to fight climate change, the demand — and the price — for cobalt, a crucial ingredient used to make lithium batteries, has skyrocketed.

But even as the cost increases, the working conditions of the people mining it can be brutal, and the pay is almost nothing — The Guardian found in an investigation that workers were getting paid about 35 cents an hour.

Here’s the reality of where cobalt comes from and how it is mined.

In the Democratic Republic of Congo, deep craters are dug into the earth to mine cobalt, a natural resource required to make lithium batteries.

In all fairness, cobalt is used in many other types of products, like batteries for smarphones, tablets, computers, and more, along with wear-resistant and high-strength alloys, such as for airplanes, plus in glass, ceramics, inks, paints and varnishes to give it that blue color

The demand for cobalt keeps growing, as does its price. In mid 2020, it was worth $29,000 per metric ton. By March 2022, it was up to $82,000 per ton. Experts agree the demand is only going to increase.

And that demand is skyrocketing, due to demand for EVs and other green projects, mostly along the lines of power storage. It has been called “critical” for the green energy transition. What does it look like?

There are a lot more photos of this (and I know I’ve done at least one post on this) at the article

Now, as much of the world attempts to fight climate change by transitioning to renewable energy, the demand for cobalt has never been higher.

Although the intention is good, it comes at a cost for those living in the DRC.

What’s that saying about good intentions?

Read: Cobolt Mining Looks Super Green! »

Posted in Enviroweenies, Global Warming | 15 Comments | Trackback URL

If All You See…

By William Teach February 27, 2023 – 1:00 pm

…is an Evil 1%er fossil fueled vehicle, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Not A Lot Of People Know That, with a post on drivers maybe getting hit with a tyre tax to crackdown on emissions.

Read: If All You See… »

Posted in If All You See | 5 Comments | Trackback URL

Many NY Dems Are Extremely Concerned Over Hochul’s Housing And Tax Proposals

By William Teach February 27, 2023 – 10:30 am

This shows one of the exact problems with politics

NY Gov. Hochul’s controversial housing, tax proposals have some Democrats on edge: ‘Extinction-level events’

Controversial proposals by New York Gov. Kathy Hochul to increase the MTA payroll levy and override local zoning laws is worrying some Long Island Democrats that they could cost them their seats, with one lawmaker likening them to “extinction-level events.”

The Democratic governor’s MTA package relies, in part, on increasing a payroll tax on city-area employers to raise $800 million annually. The move is intended to help offset lower ridership and revenues since the COVID-19 pandemic.

The other proposal drawing some scrutiny would allow a state panel to override local zoning decisions if local municipalities fail to meet the state’s housing goals.

Democratic state Sens. Kevin Thomas of Levittown and Monica Martinez of Brentwood said housing initiatives should be decided locally. (snip)

Speaking on the possible impact on Democrats in Long Island, Democratic Assemblymember Fred Thiele of Sag Habor called both proposals: “extinction-level events” in comments to Newsday.

By extinction-level events, they mean their jobs, which are secondary to the financial pain that their constituents would see if the state general assembly passes these proposals. The Newsday article says

“Those are extinction-level events,” Assemb. Fred Thiele (D-Sag Harbor) said about the possible impact on Democrats in Nassau and Suffolk counties if Hochul’s proposals were to be adopted as-is.

Republicans do not have the power to stop the policy proposals, as they only control about a third of the GA. A whole bunch of Democrats would have to vote no, and, are there enough? This could be stuff buried in a bill with tons of other stuff? Oh, and it wouldn’t be “necessary” if NY government was so authoritarian during COVID, causing the tax influx dips. Perhaps they shouldn’t have been throwing on restrictions like mask requirements on the trains.

Gov. Hochul unveiled her $227 billion state budget proposal earlier this month as she warned of tougher economic times ahead.

The wide-ranging spending plan also includes a public university tuition hike, a 10% jump in school aid and a proposal to revise yet again state bail law, which is expected to meet resistance from liberal state lawmakers.

Hochul said caring for new migrants and the solvency of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which runs subways and other public transit in the downstate region, are among the most pressing issues facing the state.

But, hey, a goodly chunk of the NYC and area residents voted for Hochul and Democrats, so, they should want to pony up, right?

Read: Many NY Dems Are Extremely Concerned Over Hochul’s Housing And Tax Proposals »

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