But Of Course They’re Blaming Trump For Ohio Train Derailment

By William Teach February 20, 2023 – 7:00 am

As the saying went during the Bush years “who’s president NOW?” When a Democrat is president, it’s always the Other Guy’s fault, never their own. And, despite the Daily Beast headline, you have to go more than halfway into the article before they gently chide the Biden admin

Trump Admin Is to Blame in Ohio Disaster—but So Is Biden

The Trumpoids are blaming President Joe Biden for the train derailment in Ohio even though former President Trump scuttled a safety measure that would have minimized, even prevented the disaster.

And Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is blaming Trump even though he has had two years to do something about it.

No, not really. Only beyond partisan loons are blaming Biden or Mayor Pete. They are being blamed for their lackluster response, and the Credentialed Media should be blamed for not caring all that much.

Meanwhile, the people of East Palestine were left with the result, their all-American town turned to nightmare. Are they already poisoned with something that may take years to kill them? Can they breathe the air? Can they drink the water? Will they ever be able to? Are their homes contaminated?

They were not likely comforted by what Buttigieg tweeted. “We’re constrained by law on some areas of rail regulation (like the braking rule withdrawn by the Trump administration in 2018 because of a law passed by Congress in 2015), but we are using the powers we do have to keep people safe,” he tweeted, as if the Biden administration had no ability to rectify what Trump has undone.

Did they even know about the rule? Was it on the radar? Did the bureaucrats charged with this stuff know and where they saying that something should be done? If they did, well, Pete has mostly been either MIA or uninterested in doing the job. Just failing upwards. Anyhow, if they want to sort of blame someone, they can blame the GOP congress which passed the law which forced the Trump admin to kill off the rule, but, really, trains still derail well over 1,000 times a year. We’re actually lucky that so few dangerous ones derail.

Here’s where it gets stupid

On June 3, 2016, a train with 96 cars carrying 3 million gallons of oil derailed in Mosier, Oregon, narrowly missing a school and bursting into flames that raged for 14 hours. Computer modeling by the FRA determined that ECP brakes could have prevented the disaster, along with numerous other derailments since 2014. Mosier Mayor Arlene Burns was joined by Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler, Tacoma Mayor Ryan Mello, and other elected leaders in signing a declaration that rescinding the ECP brakes rule was “a clear case of the powerful railroad lobby and the Trump administration sacrificing the safety of local communities in favor of corporate profit.”

“The railroad industry and the Trump administration should stop placing profits ahead of safety,” it said.

Can anyone let the Daily Beast know who was president on that date? This is peak Trump Derangement Syndrome

In the aftermath, Buttigieg spoke of the measures the current administration has taken to improve passenger train lines such as Biden used to commute during his time in the Senate. The Biden people did not even try to explain why they have done nothing to revive the ECP brakes program after two years in office.

If this was so important, perhaps Joe could have take fewer weekends off. And Pete can get to work.

Read: But Of Course They’re Blaming Trump For Ohio Train Derailment »

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If All You See…

By William Teach February 19, 2023 – 2:35 pm

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

The blog of the day is The Right Scoop, with a post on Bernie Sanders trying to explain why his anti-capitalism book tour is so expensive.

It’s girls with guns week!

Read: If All You See… »

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Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup

By William Teach February 19, 2023 – 9:28 am

Patriotic Pinup

Happy Sunday! Another fine day in the Once And Future Nation of America. The Sun is peeking out, the squirrels are blazing through the bird seed, and the Devils keep winning. This pinup is by Bill Randall, with a wee bit of help.

What is happening in Ye Olde Blogosphere? The Fine 15

  1. Flag And Cross discusses a mother denied a heart transplant due to vaccination rules
  2. Jihad Watch notes yet another leftist lunatic is actually a white girl
  3. Legal Insurrection covers a book publisher writing children’s book to be Woke
  4. Maggie’s Farm discusses a mask study that shows they are pretty much worthless
  5. Moonbattery notes LA is replacing police with yoga
  6. neo-neocon has chatbots gone wild
  7. Pacific Pundit notes John Fetterman’s hospital stay being extended indefinitely
  8. Twitchy notes Fetterman being “forced” to contend with brain trauma and a demanding job
  9. The First Street Journal says it’s easy for uber-white liberals to support progressive politicians while living in safe neighborhoods
  10. The Hayride says car thefts are so bad in New Orleans that they’re stealing K-9 cop cars
  11. The Last Refuge covers FEMA deciding to support East Palestine right after Trump announced that he would visit
  12. The Other McCain discusses armed self defense in Dallas
  13. The Right Scoop highlights Andrea Mitchell staring blankly at Kamala’s word salad
  14. This ain’t Hell… has stupid people of the week
  15. And last, but, not least, Weasel Zippers covers shooting a $12 balloon down with a $400k missile

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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WWIII Watch: Former Ukraine President Says They Need Weapons, Sanctions, And NATO Membership

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

Well, the US and some EU nations have given them weapons. They’ve invoked sanctions that really aren’t doing much of anything. As for NATO membership, various NATO members have been blocking it for almost a decade, and there are enough to block it now, because that starts WWIII fast. Right now they’re just trying to saunter on up to WWIII. This is Petro Poroshenko, who served as president of Ukraine from 2014 to 2019.

Former Ukrainian President: We Need Weapons, Sanctions, and NATO Membership

The winning formula for Ukraine is simple: Supplies of weapons, economic sanctions against Russia, helping to strengthen Ukraine’s resilience, the de-Putinization of Russia, and the accession of Ukraine to the European Union and NATO. Only all the elements of this formula combined would guarantee permanent security for Europe and the whole world.

Napoleon is credited with once saying that to wage war, he needed three things: first, money; second, money; and third, money. Money is the fuel that powers the deadly military machine of Russia that kills Ukrainians. To bring this machine to a stop it will take more than military action. There must be powerful financial punches—indeed an economic crisis—and even social upheaval.

The price for aggression must constantly rise, becoming ever more unbearable. This is the way to change the Russian bear’s behavior, drive it backwards, and spoil its appetite. Putin cannot be stopped by half-steps and half-measures. He will always look for gaps, loopholes, and allies of convenience.

How many weapons does it take? Because Russia has a lot more than could be supplied, unless NATO countries want to strip themselves bare.

The Suez Canal must also be closed to Russian cargo. Doing so would add three to four weeks for a tanker to get from Russia’s western ports to India and China, huge consumers of Putin’s oil and coal. The longer these routes are, the more transportation costs, the greater Russia’s losses, the fewer Ukrainians will die.

Anyone want to take a guess how that would turn out? Think Russia would take that well? Of course, Egypt is a pretty big trading partner with Russia, and isn’t really taking sides between the West and Russia.

The Russian economy is highly dependent on imports. The exhaustion of gold and currency reserves would force the government to further reduce imports, leading to the absence of many vital goods on shelves and the curtailment of many industries. In short, it would kill Russian imports, which means it would kill the economy. Inflation and a sharp drop in living standards would strike directly at the heart of the Russian people. Putin needs his people to at least stay quiet—if not supportive—if he wants to remain in power. But without Putin the world would definitely be a better place.

These people are pushing for Russia to commit to an all out assault on Ukraine, and trying to drag the world in a war.

Is the West escalating the Ukraine war?
One year on, there is no sign of an endgame

Barely a day had gone by from Ukraine’s successful request for German Leopard-2 tanks when the government in Kyiv called on Nato countries to yet again prove their solidarity by supplying it with US-made F-16 fighter jets. While military experts doubt these vehicles will significantly alter the situation on the battlefield, Kyiv touts them as important symbols of Western political resolve. (snip through lots of interesting info worth reading)

For it is in Kyiv’s interests to steer Nato into becoming more closely entangled in the war. Ukraine has resorted to a combination of tactics — including information warfare and exploiting historic Western guilt — to instigate an informational and reputational cascade among Nato members that would assure accedence to Ukrainian demands. Given its clear long-term weaknesses in quality manpower, artillery, and ammunition, the Zelenskyy government has shrewdly fought a hybrid war from the start, knowing that Ukraine cannot defeat Russia without Nato fighting on its side. The question now is whether the West should allow itself to be entrapped into that war and jeopardise the fate of the entire world in doing so.

There seems to be no strategy other than Ukraine dragging the West deeper and deeper. And there seems to be no strategy from the West except to be dragged deeper and deeper. There seems no plan. It’s like going into the Super Bowl without game planning, just winging it. Of course, if you lose the game, the world doesn’t blow up.

Read: WWIII Watch: Former Ukraine President Says They Need Weapons, Sanctions, And NATO Membership »

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Your Fault: Climate Crisis (scam) Making Tampons More Expensive

By William Teach February 18, 2023 – 3:11 pm

See, if you do not Believe in anthropogenic climate change and aren’t willing to give up your money, freedom, and liberty, you’re a sexist. You hate women (though, most Warmists have trouble defining what is actually a woman these days, because science)

How Climate Change Is Making Tampons (and Lots of Other Stuff) More Expensive

When the Agriculture Department finished its calculations last month, the findings were startling: 2022 was a disaster for upland cotton in Texas, the state where the coarse fiber is primarily grown and then sold around the globe in the form of tampons, cloth diapers, gauze pads and other products.

In the biggest loss on record, Texas farmers abandoned 74 percent of their planted crops — nearly six million acres — because of heat and parched soil, hallmarks of a megadrought made worse by climate change.

They can’t really say how much worse it was made because you drive a fossil fueled vehicle and eat meat, but, it’s the worst since the 800’s….if only they hadn’t been driving fossil fueled bikes and heating their homes with coal back then, right?

That crash has helped to push up the price of tampons in the United States 13 percent over the past year. The price of cloth diapers spiked 21 percent. Cotton balls climbed 9 percent and gauze bandages increased by 8 percent. All of that was well above the country’s overall inflation rate of 6.5 percent in 2022, according to data provided by the market research firms NielsonIQ and The NPD Group.

It’s an example of how climate change is reshaping the cost of daily life in ways that consumers might not realize.

“Climate change is a secret driver of inflation,” said Nicole Corbett, a vice president at NielsonIQ. “As extreme weather continues to impact crops and production capacity, the cost of necessities will continue to rise.”

Halfway around the world in Pakistan, the world’s sixth-largest producer of upland cotton, severe flooding, made worse by climate change, destroyed half that country’s cotton crop.

So, it causes drought and flood. It does everything! Because it’s a cult. Last excerpt

For decades, the Southwestern cotton crop has depended on water pumped from the Ogallala Aquifer, which stretches underneath eight western states from Wyoming to Texas.

But the Ogallala is declining, in part because of climate change, according to the 2018 National Climate Assessment, a report issued by 13 federal agencies. “Major portions of the Ogallala Aquifer should now be considered a nonrenewable resource,” it said.

That is the same region that was abandoned by more than two million people during the Dust Bowl of the 1930s, caused by severe drought and poor farming practices. John Steinbeck famously chronicled the trauma in his epic “The Grapes of Wrath,” about a family of cotton farmers driven from their Oklahoma home. Lately, the novel has been weighing on the mind of Mark Brusberg, a meteorologist at the Agriculture Department.

So, it wasn’t ‘climate change’ back then? When CO2 was below the “safe” level of 350ppm? Huh.

Read: Your Fault: Climate Crisis (scam) Making Tampons More Expensive »

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If All You See…

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

…is a horrible pool made with lots of evil concrete, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Common Cents Blog, with a post on the Ohio train derailment being worse than they’re telling us.

Doubleshot below the fold, check out Dissecting Leftism, with a post on the Republicans COVID origins inquiry.

Read More »

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Bipartisan Warmonger Coalition Wants Biden To Send F-16’s To Ukraine

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

Ukraine already has fighter jets, about 81, comprised of Russian made Sukhoi Su-27 and Mikoyan MiG-29. What, exactly would giving them F-16s do, considering they would need to spend months and months training to use them?

Democrats, Republicans join up to urge Biden to send F-16s to Ukraine

A bipartisan group of lawmakers is pressing President Joe Biden directly to send F-16 warplanes to Ukraine as the fight against Russia’s invasion enters its second year.

Five House members argued modern jets — which Kyiv has sought, but the administration has so far not agreed to — “could prove decisive for control of Ukrainian airspace this year” in a Thursday letter to Biden obtained by POLITICO.

“The provision of such aircraft is necessary to help Ukraine protect its airspace, particularly in light of renewed Russian offensives and considering the expected increase in large-scale combat operations,” the lawmakers wrote.

The letter was organized by Maine Democrat Jared Golden. Also signing on were Democrats Jason Crow of Colorado and Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania and Republicans Tony Gonzales of Texas and Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin.

Russia has over 900 fighter jets, most of them multi-role, along with 121 bombers and 197 close air support, plus all sorts of others. Did these 5 war mongers consider that the Ukrainian air force would still be overwhelmed if Putin decided to truly involve Russia’s air force? Did they consider that Ukraine, once they actually received the F-16s and were trained, might decide to use them for direct strikes inside Russian borders?

The lawmakers contend that fighters — either the Lockheed Martin-manufactured F-16 or something similar — would give Ukrainian forces greater capability than ground-based artillery provided by the U.S. and other nations.

“F-16s or similar fourth generation fighter aircraft would provide Ukraine with a highly mobile platform from which to target Russian air-to-air missiles and drones, to protect Ukrainian ground forces as they engage Russian troops, as well as to engage Russian fighters for contested air superiority,” they argued.

If this is their argument, it’s a piss poor one, which fails to truly explain how the Ukrainian air force could operate in a theater where their numbers would be overwhelmed by Russian forces, and would simply escalate the conflict. And where Russia could become peeved that U.S. made fighter jets supplied to Ukraine where attacking Russian troops, bases, and planes.

And, who maintains them? It takes about 25 people per plane to do so, and 16 hours of maintenance per hour of flying. And then you need all the weapons, which are different from what is loaded on the Russian made jets. Will we be supplying them, too? And, from that link about the number of Russian jets

As we’ve already discussed regarding the establishment of a NATO-enforced no-fly zone over Ukraine, advanced Russian air defense systems like the S-400 Triumpf have an operational range of around 250 miles. That means Ukrainian fighters would need to engage air defense systems inside Russia and potentially even Belarus in order to take control of their airspace (as multiple Ukrainian officials and pilots have championed as part of the request for these fighters). Otherwise, these air defense platforms could continue to shoot down Ukrainian jets that strayed too close to Russian territory.

But Russian air defense systems aren’t the biggest reason Ukraine would need to send its newly-gained F-15 and F-16 fleets into Russia—the biggest reason is that most Russian airstrikes are launched by aircraft that never leave Russian airspace.

Well, this is just a wonderful idea, right? If you want to push towards WWIII.

Read: Bipartisan Warmonger Coalition Wants Biden To Send F-16’s To Ukraine »

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Could Ending Fossil Fuels Actually Hurt The Environment?

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

I’m skeptical of studies like this, just as I am with pro-climate cult ones. I’ve said many times that I am not a big fan of fossil fuels, which do damage the environment as pollutants, air, sea, and land. That said, a big thing to remember is that the environment is different from the climate scam.

Going black, not green: Curbing US oil, gas production would hurt the environment, report finds

Environmentalists seeking to halt U.S. oil and gas production in the name of combating climate change are undermining their own agenda and risking greater damage to the planet, according to a new report.

The Institute for Energy Research (IER) released a paper showing that the U.S. is the most environmentally friendly major energy producer and arguing that, like it or not, because petroleum products are here to stay, limiting U.S. production would have a devastating effect on the environment.

There have been vast strides over the past 50+ years in making fossil fuels cleaner (though, I don’t buy the clean coal thing). I noticed a lot of pollution from motors in the waterways back during the days of growing up at the beach, and this has gotten much better over the years.

A major hurdle for the Brandon administration, according to IER, is that global efforts to curb oil and gas production haven’t lessened the world’s reliance on fossil fuels for energy — petroleum products are entrenched in modern society to such a degree that fossil fuels and modernity have become all but inseparable.

“Nearly every facet of modern developed economies requires petroleum products and natural gas to function and provide the comfortable lifestyles that citizens of developed countries have come to expect,” the report states. “These resources are necessary for agriculture, heavy industry, transportation by all modes — road, rail, air, or ship — and a great number of the products that we take for granted. They’re ingrained in almost everything.”

As a result, the report continues, efforts to reduce or eliminate oil and gas production in developed countries will simply shift production to other countries in order to meet global demand that’s not going away.

In other words, if the U.S., the world’s largest producer of both oil and natural gas, reduced its production significantly, other energy producers — such as China, Russia, and Saudi Arabia, among others — would likely pick up the slack, thereby not leading to any drop in global fossil fuel use.

One day the Earth will be able to transition away from most use of fossil fuels for energy and transportation, but, good grief, do the climate cultists and extreme enviros realize how much is made with fossil fuels? This site provides a partial list of 144 of about 6,000 products. Someone is going to produce it, and a lot of these nations will be a lot less careful about being as environmentally responsible as possible.

Oh, and it would probably skyrocket the cost of all the goods.

Read: Could Ending Fossil Fuels Actually Hurt The Environment? »

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Bidenconomy: A Bread Shortage Is Coming

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

This is causing people to make their own bread. Not because they had lots and lots of time on their hands while locked down in 2020, but, because of the availability of goods

With a possible bread shortage on the horizon, TikTokers are turning to bread makers to bring home the dough

In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, life seems forever-altered by rising food costs and shortages. Household staples like eggs and lettuce have taken a hit, with prices skyrocketing as these once-common products become more scarce. Now, bread may be the next kitchen must-have to fly off grocery store shelves and increase in price.

The Consumer Price Index reports that, in the last year alone, bread prices have already risen by nearly 15%. Now, people are turning to an old friend — the tried-and-true bread maker — to bake fresh loaves at home and avoid rising costs and the lack of bread on store shelves.

Alex C., who lives in western Idaho and prefers to keep her last name anonymous for privacy reasons, says she hasn’t bought bread from a store in months. She took to TikTok, where she posts as @its.me.alexc, to share her bread-making journey, and was surprised to find a whole community of people doing the same as her.

I have to interrupt. “Bread making journey”? Stop that. It’s sill, very silly. This whole silly stuff of everything being a journey these days bugs the ever-loving crap out of me. You’re just making bread. It’s not a journey. Rant off

In addition to the simplicity and savings a bread maker offers, it provides peace of mind. “You don’t have to worry about the store running out of your favorite bread when you can just make it at home,” says Alex C., who recently shared her go-to homemade bread recipe on TikTok. “I also think a lot of people are starting to open up to the realization of what is in products we buy from the store, such as bread, and it’s not good things. We’ve forgotten about a loaf of bread from the store in our cupboard for several weeks and it doesn’t even have any mold on it — that’s scary. I love knowing every single ingredient I’m feeding my family.”

Also, like with most TikTok stuff, it’s all stuff that other people came up with. It’s not new. Stop portraying it as if you came up with it. Regardless, there is actually a bread shortage. There were also shortages in 2020-2022, due to productions that had nothing to do with Russia invading Ukraine (and wouldn’t have really made a difference in U.S. bread productions.) Many products have been ended or seriously scaled back, especially in the no-name/lower price products. I barely ever see Walmart brand bagels and English muffins anymore, going back to 2020. Just a month ago you could get 2 fresh baked donuts there for $1.49. Now they’re $1.99.

How bad could it get? Good question. What’s Biden doing? Nothing. Well, maybe trying to create WWIII.

Read: Bidenconomy: A Bread Shortage Is Coming »

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Climate Cult Cheers NY Moving One Step Closer To Ending Fossil Fueled Power

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

Is there any real difference between the Democratic Socialists Of America and the climate cult?

Socialists cheer Dem state’s climate bill mandating fossil fuel shutdown: ‘Will transform New York’

Send the kids out in the cold weather to clean them off

The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) celebrated after the New York State Senate passed a sweeping climate bill Wednesday evening, bringing it one step closer to being enacted.

The state’s Senate passed the so-called Build Public Renewables Act in a near party-line vote of 37-22 with two Democrats, Sens. John Mannion and Jessica Scarcella-Spanton, voting against the bill and no Republicans voting in favor of it. The legislation, which now moves to the New York State Assembly for approval, would give the state-run power authority greater ability to build renewable generation and mandate fossil fuel plant shutdowns.

“With the passage of the Build Public Renewables Act in the Senate, New York took a vital step toward the sustainable and pro-worker future our state needs,” the DSA’s New York City chapter said in a statement Wednesday. “We’ve been proud to work with labor and working class New Yorkers across the state to fight for this bill, which will transform New York into a global model for clean public power.”

“Today’s vote is a welcome signal that the State Senate, unlike Governor Hochul and her allies, is committed to an energy transition that benefits workers, guarantees we build the clean energy grid we need, and creates an energy system that serves New Yorkers — not shareholders,” the statement continued.

It would end the use of natural gas for power, which a lot of New Yorkers outside NYC and the major metropolitan areas rely on for heating and other needs. Solar panels won’t work when they’re covered with snow, wind turbines won’t turn when they are frozen. Not too mention the huge tracts of land that have to be used, including being clearcut, to put up the panels and wind turbines. Who wants to bet that the same people voting for this Act have not given up their own use of fossil fuels?

But, hey, if NY wants to go the way of California

Energy expert sounds alarm over California power grid: ‘Stressed to the limit’

As California leaders continue to push a renewable energy agenda, one state policy expert is sounding off on the pricey costs and lack of infrastructure that could bring the Golden State’s electric grid to the brink of collapse.

“The California power grid is stressed pretty much to the limit,” California Policy Center co-founder and senior fellow Edward Ring said on “The Big Money Show” Tuesday. “Our ability to import energy as well as our ability to generate energy from renewables just isn’t there, the storage isn’t there or the transmission lines as well.”

Ring, along with other energy experts, have warned California’s power grid faces years of potential blackouts as state politicians prematurely push a renewable energy transition.

Consumers would likely take on a “ridiculous” burden, he further argued, while noting it will be “incredibly expensive” to generate enough wind and solar energy supply.

Well, hey, the majority of Californian’s voted for this, so, they should just shut their mouths and suck it. Same with New Yorkers. Of course, Californians and New Yorkers are abandoning their respective states in droves. Those who voted for the Modern Socialist/Climate Cult madness either need to stay there, or don’t even think about pushing this cult crap in their new states.

Read: Climate Cult Cheers NY Moving One Step Closer To Ending Fossil Fueled Power »

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