U.S. Getting Warnings Of Coming COVID Or Something

They’re really trying to make this happen

US warned to get ready as Europe deals with new COVID-19 rise

Rising COVID-19 cases in Europe are setting off warnings that the U.S. could experience a new surge this winter.

Previous jumps in the U.S. have followed a pattern in which cases first rise in Europe, making officials nervous they could see a spike in U.S. cases as the weather turns.

The most recent data from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control shows that cases began going up around the beginning of September in Europe

The seven-day average is roughly 230,000 cases per day, reflecting rates that were seen in late July when Europe was still dealing with the omicron BA.4/BA.5 subvariant wave.

World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated last week that a rise in cases in Europe was expected due to cooling temperatures, but stressed that hospitalizations and deaths did not have to rise as well due to the viral therapeutics that are now available.

I’m sure the powers that be will start crushing us with ads and such about getting vaxed and boosted, but, really, do most people really trust that anymore? It really has become basically a flu shot, where it mostly will just keep you from getting the Wuhan flu badly?

Ali Mokdad, epidemiologist and professor of Health Metrics Sciences at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington, told The Hill the contrast in the regions can be attributed to multiple factors, including warmer temperatures in the U.S. and differing levels of community immunity.

“In the U.S., we have a higher infection rate than many European countries, where more people have been infected here. So we have a little bit more immunity than they do, but still we have waning immunity,” Mokdad said.

Well, Europe opened up much earlier, they made sure that more people were exposed to COVID, giving them natural immunity, rather than keeping people locked down for too long

COVID-19 cases, deaths and hospitalizations in the U.S. will likely begin going up in three to four weeks, Mokdad said, though they won’t reach the same levels seen during the omicron wave last winter. He emphasized that this projection is contingent on a situation in which new coronavirus variants that are better at escaping immunity don’t rise in dominance.

Do you think they’ll try and implement masking again? And then when masking doesn’t work, vaccine mandates?

Experts who spoke with The Hill strongly encouraged people to get the updated bivalent booster ahead of the holiday season.

“The best holiday present that you can give — whatever you celebrate — that you give for yourself and your family members is protection and safety. And the best way to do it is to go and get your booster and your flu shot,” Mokdad said.

Read: U.S. Getting Warnings Of Coming COVID Or Something »

Say, Can Focusing On Climate Crisis (scam) Win Elections Or Something

No. It can’t. It damned sure didn’t help Jay Inslee in 2020, who couldn’t even get the hardcore leftists in Washington state to approve his climate apocalypse agenda, and he flamed out of the Democrat primaries early. Nor did it help Mike Bloomberg or Jay Inslee. All three made climate doom their focus

Can Focusing On Climate Change Help Win Elections?

“Our generation grew up watching as the climate crisis got worse and worse and politicians did nothing.” That might sound like a quote from teen climate activist Greta Thunberg, but it’s actually the opening line for a new series of political ads appearing in multiple states in the lead-up to the 2022 midterms — ads that the advocacy groups Climate Power Action and the League of Conservation Voters are hoping will tip the scales towards climate-focused Democrats.

Historically, however, climate change has not been much of a political kingmaker. Even when candidates trusted that their constituents did care deeply about the environment, it hasn’t been something that reliably changed votes. In the 2020 presidential election, for example, two-thirds of voters told exit pollster Edison Research that climate change was a “serious problem” — but 29 percent of that same group voted for then-President Donald Trump, a candidate whose position on climate change was … inconsistent … at best.

So a $12 million ad campaign aimed specifically at promoting Democratic candidates’ climate change bona fides seems, at first glance, like a fool’s errand. But even though the content of these ads makes it clear they’re meant for a narrow audience — young voters, who see themselves as part of a generation bearing the consequences of inaction on climate change — the ads aren’t even for all of them. Instead, the groups funding these ads are trying to reach a specific sliver of a slice of a subset of young voters. And yet there’s reason to think that, on those slender margins, climate change could be becoming an issue that really sways elections.

The thing is, even for most of those young people, climate is important as a theory, not in practice, especially when they can’t afford food, housing, clothes, energy, cars, and, most importantly, traveling places to take selfies. And, all those who will buy into the ads were already hardcore Warmists and were going to vote Democrat anyhow. The ads won’t get Independents and barely Republicans to switch over, nor will it convince the moderate Democrats who will either vote GOP or just sit it out to go vote Democrat.

But the relationship between voters and climate policy has long fallen under the label of “it’s complicated.” There is an established gap between what voters say they want — action on climate change — and what they’re willing to do to achieve that. In 2019, for example, polling by Reuters and Ipsos found that while 69 percent of Americans wanted the government to take “aggressive” action on climate change, only 42 percent were likely to install solar panels on their own home; 38 percent were likely to begin carpooling to reduce emissions; and just 34 percent were likely to pay an extra $100 a year in taxes to support climate policies. And in 13 years of YouGov polls tracking which issues registered voters see as the most important, climate change has consistently taken a back seat to economic issues like jobs and inflation. As of Oct. 10, 12 percent of voters listed climate change and the environment as their No. 1 concern, while 22 percent cited inflation and high prices. It’s not that emphasizing climate change is a turn-off for voters — President Biden got a solid B+ on Greenpeace’s 2020 election Climate Scorecard. But neither is climate an issue that seems to attract voters on its own. Having the highest score on the Greenpeace scorecard during his candidacy was not enough to catapult Washington’s Democratic governor, Jay Inslee, to the White House.

How many of that 38% actually start carpooling? How about the 42% who say they are willing to install solar panels? Did they? In real terms, no one really cares enough to act on it in their own lives.

But the main goal of the LCV’s ad campaign appears to be persuading people to vote for a candidate because that person has gotten climate policy done — something that’s presented in the ads as a bit of a surprise, a “can you believe they actually did it?” moment. Years of research have shown that the persuasion effects created by advertising — whether political or otherwise — do not last very long, and they are very small, capable of maybe creating a percentage-point difference in swing, said Lynn Vavreck, a professor of politics and public policy at the University of California, Los Angeles. “But don’t confuse small in size with not being pivotal,” she said.

They would have voted for that Democrat anyhow. It’s not convincing new votes. And, it could convince some to vote Republican, as they already see how the Inflation Reduction Act, which won’t, will create more big government involved in their lives, raising the cost of energy and food.

Read: Say, Can Focusing On Climate Crisis (scam) Win Elections Or Something »

If All You See…

…is an area that lost its grass due to carbon pollution, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is No Tricks Zone, with a post St. Greta making German Greens upset over her support of nuclear power.

Read: If All You See… »

Surprise: Republicans Have The Edge On Mid-Terms

There are three big questions on this poll. The first is the notion that many are sandbagging when asked, and that they’re really supporting the GOP much more. The second is whether the young folks will show up. The third is the notion of how this plays out in each individual district

Republicans Gain Edge as Voters Worry About Economy, Times/Siena Poll Finds

Republicans enter the final weeks of the contest for control of Congress with a narrow but distinctive advantage as the economy and inflation have surged as the dominant concerns, giving the party momentum to take back power from Democrats in next month’s midterm elections, a New York Times/Siena College poll has found.

The poll shows that 49 percent of likely voters said they planned to vote for a Republican to represent them in Congress on Nov. 8, compared with 45 percent who planned to vote for a Democrat. The result represents an improvement for Republicans since September, when Democrats held a one-point edge among likely voters in the last Times/Siena poll. (The October poll’s unrounded margin is closer to three points, not the four points that the rounded figures imply.)

With inflation unrelenting and the stock market steadily on the decline, the share of likely voters who said economic concerns were the most important issues facing America has leaped since July, to 44 percent from 36 percent — far higher than any other issue. And voters most concerned with the economy favored Republicans overwhelmingly, by more than a two-to-one margin.

Here’s what it looks like

Whites go for the GOP 55-40. Blacks go Dem 78-18, once again voting for the party that works to keep them down, stoke race hatred, and turn black neighborhoods into crime infested areas. Hispanics are 60-34 Democrat. That’s one of those that could actually be much more towards the GOP, especially in border states.

We know the 65 and up group will show up. They always do. Same with the 45 to 64. But, what about the 18-29’s, and the lower end of 30-44?

‘Voting is too dumb’: Roe is gone, student debt is piling up and young people are mad. But will they vote?

For years Amini Bonane suffered from abnormal menstrual cycles. Getting doctors to take her and her reproductive health seriously was hard, until she was finally diagnosed with fibroids.

So when the Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision overturning Roe v. Wade was announced in June, Bonane was furious. The decision, she feared, would add even more difficulty for women like herself — especially young Black women — to get the care they need.

“It’s really disheartening that there’s decisions being made by people who aren’t affected by these things,” said Bonane, a 27-year-old women’s rights community organizer.

It’s really disheartening that these young people have bought into Scaremongering from people lying to them about Dobbs, that they don’t take the time to learn the reality, and that they don’t understand that it’s all about what the state will do.

Democrats are betting that a summer of unprecedented news could motivate young people to show up and vote. The overturning of the 1973 Roe decision in particular could prompt young voters to turn out at historic levels — especially young women and other people who can become pregnant, like transgender men and nonbinary people. 

Huh what? That is just very, very stupid. But, Democrats have decided to teach Alternative Science.

But young voters are notorious for skipping the polls, especially during midterm elections, fueling worries among some activists and campaigns that even such a momentous news year might not be enough to get those ballots in.

In a series of pre-midterm polls by youth voter organizations, young people listed abortion, the economy and climate change among their top issues — all issues that Democrats have targeted ahead of November’s elections through campaigning and policy.

Until the 2018 midterms, youth voter turnout had not surpassed 26% since at least 1994, with just 20% of young people turning out to vote in the 2014 midterms, according to Tufts University’s Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE).

Will they show up? More importantly, will they show up in those close elections, or just for the ones where a Democrat is going to win anyhow? It’s a very long piece, ending with

Julia Perrotta, a 21-year-old civic engagement coordinator for IGNITE, has always been motivated to vote. She said it’s barriers to voting, such as address changes in college and understanding where to get registered and vote, that prevent many of her peers from casting ballots, not a lack of interest.

“It’s really important to break the stigma that young people don’t care because they do,” Perrotta said. “Young people care so much about politics.”

So, they really care, but, aren’t smart enough to understand how to register and vote? Huh.

Read: Surprise: Republicans Have The Edge On Mid-Terms »

Brandon White House Looks To Modify Sunlight To Cool The Earth Or Something

What could possibly go wrong?

Once a dystopian fantasy, manipulating sunlight to cool the earth is now on the White House research agenda

The White House is coordinating a five-year research plan to study ways of modifying the amount of sunlight that reaches the earth to temper the effects of global warming, a process sometimes called solar geoengineering or sunlight reflection.

The research plan will assess climate interventions, including spraying aerosols into the stratosphere to reflect sunlight back into space, and should include goals for research, what’s necessary to analyze the atmosphere, and what impact these kinds of climate interventions may have on the Earth, according to the White House‘s Office of Science and Technology Policy. Congress directed the research plan be produced in its spending plan for 2022, which President Joe Biden signed in March.

Some of the techniques, such as spraying sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere, are known to have harmful effects on the environment and human health. But scientists and climate leaders who are concerned humanity will overshoot its emissions targets say research is important to figure out how to balance these risks against a possibly catastrophic rise in the earth’s temperature.

Great idea, screwing with the health of people and the environment to fight a mostly fake issue

There are significant and well-known risks to some of these techniques — sulfur dioxide aerosol injection in particular.

First, spraying sulfur into the atmosphere will “mess with the ozone chemistry in a way that might delay the recovery of the ozone layer,” Parson told CNBC. (snip)

Also, sulfates injected into the atmosphere eventually come down as acid rain, which affects soil, water reservoirs, and local ecosystems.

Thirdly, the sulfur in the atmosphere forms very fine particulates that cause respiratory illness.

Great idea, eh? And it’s only supposed to cost $10 billion a year, surely funneled into all sorts of political connected companies.

Doing research is also important because many onlookers expect that some country, facing an unprecedented climate disaster, will act unilaterally to will try some version of sunlight modification anyway — even if it hasn’t been carefully studied.

Looking forward to creating the next ice age, and all the acid rain.

Read: Brandon White House Looks To Modify Sunlight To Cool The Earth Or Something »

NY Times Seems Pretty Upset That Combat Veterans Would Be Running For The House As Republicans

It’s like the Grey Lady would think that all combat veterans are snowflakes and SJWs, that they think it’s great that the military is more focused on ‘climate change’, raaaaacism, CRT, and the gender confused rather than protecting the U.S., and should run as Democrats (free read at Yahoo)

New Generation of Combat Vets, Eyeing House, Strike From the Right

In early 2019, as the Defense Department’s bureaucracy seemed to be slow-walking then-President Donald Trump’s order to withdraw all U.S. forces from Syria, Joe Kent, a CIA paramilitary officer, called his wife, Shannon, a Navy cryptologic technician who was still in Syria working against the Islamic State group.

“‘Make sure you’re not the last person to die in a war that everyone’s already forgotten about,’” Kent said he told his wife. “And that’s exactly what happened,” he added bitterly.

The suicide bombing that killed Kent and three other service members days later set off a chain of events — including a somber encounter with Trump — that has propelled Kent from a storied combat career to single parenthood, from comparing notes with other anti-war veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan to making increasingly loud pronouncements that the 2020 presidential election was stolen and that the Jan. 6, 2021, rioters are political prisoners.

In five weeks, Kent, 42, a candidate for a House seat in Washington state that was long represented by a soft-spoken moderate Republican, may well be elected to Congress. And he is far from alone.

A new breed of veterans, many with remarkable biographies and undeniable stories of heroism, are running for the House on the far right of the Republican Party, challenging old assumptions that adding veterans to Congress — men and women who fought for the country and defended the Constitution — would foster bipartisanship and cooperation. At the same time, they are embracing anti-interventionist military and foreign policies that, since the end of World War II, have been associated more with the Democratic left than the mainline GOP.

In other words, they’re mirroring the true Conservative base, who do not want all the unnecessary interventionism, who are pushing for freedom, liberty, and limited government, who are tired of all the elites, including the Republican elites, ie, GOPe, and want to stand up for We The People. This makes Elites like the NY Times upset.

Beyond their right-wing leanings, all share in common a deep skepticism about U.S. interventionism, borne of years of fighting in the post-9/11 war on terrorism and the belief that their sacrifices only gave rise to more instability and repression wherever the United States put boots on the ground.

Where earlier generations of combat veterans in Congress became die-hard defenders of a global military footprint, the new cohort is unafraid to launch ad hominem attacks on the men who still lead U.S. forces.

“I worked for Milley. I worked for Austin. I worked for Mattis,” Don Bolduc, 60, a retired brigadier general challenging Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., said of Gen. Mark Milley, chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the current and former defense secretaries, Lloyd Austin and Jim Mattis. “Their concerns centered around the military-industrial complex and maintaining the military-industrial complex, so as three- and four-star generals, they can roll right into very lucrative jobs.”

It is time to stop intervening in everything, and, when we do get involved, it needs to make sense, be targeted, and go there to win. Going after Afghanistan and Iraq were the right things to do: how we did it was the problem. We weren’t there to kick ass and take names, we were there to “nation build”, which is why we were in Afghanistan for 20 years. And pretty much nothing to show for it.

It’s a long, long piece, and, reading between the lines, a hit job, painting them all as far right wackjobs who Hate Democracy. It’s all the NY Times knows.

Read: NY Times Seems Pretty Upset That Combat Veterans Would Be Running For The House As Republicans »

If All You See…

…are Evil fossil fueled vehicles, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Real Climate Science, with a post updating on the Australian permanent drought.

It’s sweater week!

Read: If All You See… »

Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup

Patriotic Pinup

Happy Sunday! Another gorgeous day in the Once And Future Nation Of America. The Sun is shining, the birds are singing, and….hmm, Devils lost their 2nd game, but, it’s a long season. Dodgers blew it and are out. But, my Pirates won a triple OT thriller, so, there’s that, and the Giants have a chance today. This pinup is by Peter Driben, with a wee bit of help.

What is happening in Ye Olde Blogosphere? The Fine 15

  1. American Power discusses temporary Republicans saving us from the Left
  2. Blazing Cat Fur notes a Colorado school recruiting drag queens as crossing guards
  3. Chicks On The Right covers CNN whining that people care more about inflation than J6
  4. Da Techguy’s Blog highlights the Navy having racial/gender quotas
  5. Dissecting Leftism discusses being told that vaccines prevent transmission
  6. Gates Of Vienna has Elites saying “let them wear sweaters”
  7. Gen Z Conservative features the cancel culture nuts coming after Gwen Stefani
  8. Jihad Watch highlights the difference in treatment over protesting school parents and Muslim parents
  9. Legal Insurrection features Biden clinging to his public health declaration
  10. Moonbattery covers the rational for forcing vaccines was a lie
  11. neo-neocon points out Dems want parents prosecuted for not affirming their child’s gender delusions
  12. Pacific Pundit covers the NBA giving out warning cards if you’re mean to players
  13. Powerline wonders what comes next for Tulsi Gabbard
  14. Sultan Knish notes Marxists killing each other to control America’s cocaine trade
  15. And last, but, not least, The American Conservative highlights abortion safe zones in the UK

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 »

Sanctuary City Of D.C.’s DA To Open Investigation On Migrant Busing

It’s almost like all the open borders liberals in D.C. like illegals/migrants in theory, but, not practice, at least when they end up in the liberal sanctuary cities, eh?

DC attorney general opens investigation into migrant buses that arrived in capital

Attorney General Karl Racine (D) has opened an investigation into whether migrants sent north by southern governors were misled when they boarded transportation taking them hundreds of miles away.

The Texas Tribune and ProPublica co-published an article on Friday that Racine’s office is looking to determine if trip organizers deceived the migrants into getting on buses that took them to D.C. in recent months.

Racine told the outlets that migrants have “talked persuasively” about being misled with promises of “services” to be provided in interviews with investigators. He did not provide them with more specifics about the probe, including whether it is a criminal or civil matter.

Deceived? You mean like how the open borders advocates have essentially enticed hundreds of thousand, if not millions, to head to the U.S. for easy money, housing, clothing, food, education, medical care, and citizenship, even though that is against U.S. law? That all these illegals/migrants are super-welcome, as long as they go to non-Democrat cities? How about all the illegals Biden flies in the middle of the night and dumps in small town America?

Abbott’s press secretary told The Texas Tribune and ProPublica that no deceit was used in sending the migrants north. She said the migrants signed a voluntary consent form that was available in multiple languages upon boarding.

A spokesperson for (Arizona gov) Ducey told the outlets that Arizona is working with a regional health center to ensure the migrants are treated well and get to their destinations.

They dotted their i’s and crossed their t’s, and sanctuary cities like D.C. are just upset that they’re getting a small taste of what border cities have to deal with. And the more they whine the more Florida, Texas, and Arizona will send the illegals to sanctuary cities.

Read: Sanctuary City Of D.C.’s DA To Open Investigation On Migrant Busing »

How Will The Poor Afford EVs In The People’s Republik Of California?

Obviously, through massive government help. Government creates the problem, then provides the “solution”

California wants everyone to drive EVs. How will low-income people afford them?

Electric vehicleWhen Graciela Deniz worked as a health educator at a medical office in Kerman, California, it seemed like all the doctors drove Teslas.

Deniz, 32, assumed electric vehicles were a luxury reserved for those with high incomes, until she started a new job last year as a community health worker at the Central California Asthma Collaborative. The organization was involved with the EV Equity program, an initiative to help low-income residents in the San Joaquin Valley buy electric vehicles.

By switching to an EV, Deniz hoped to save money on gas and reduce her contribution to the San Joaquin Valley’s high levels of air pollution, which contribute to some of the highest asthma rates in the state. Right around that time, her own daughter was diagnosed with asthma. “I knew about the link between the environment and health,” Deniz said. “But that was when it really came full circle for me.”

That would be smog, not CO2

The EV Equity program helped Deniz find an electric vehicle that fit her needs and guided her through the process of applying for two income-based grants from California’s Driving Clean Assistance Program (DCAP) and the Clean Vehicle Rebate Project (CVRP). She received a total of $9,500 for a down payment and purchased a Chevrolet Bolt EUV in July 2021. With one fewer gas-powered car, Deniz and her husband were able to cut their fuel budget by half.

Where are they charging it?

But much has changed since Deniz purchased her EV – two of the state-funded assistance programs for low-income buyers have shut down after running out of money. The average price of an EV in the US reached $66,000 this summer, and lower earners are struggling to compete for cars in a hostile market with high markups and sparse inventory. Strong demand for EVs has been exacerbated by gas prices that again averaged as much as $6.43 a gallon in California last week.

If you notice, the vast majority of EVs being released are in what’s called “high-line”, ie, BMW, Mercedes, Lincoln, etc. There aren’t that many for the average working and middle class folks, who can’t really charge them at their apartments.

Low-income households in the US spend a much higher percentage of their income on transportation. According to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, the lowest quintile of households in terms of earning spent 26.9% of their income on transportation in 2021, almost twice the nationwide average of 13.9%.

This economic burden is being exacerbated by the sharp rise in gas prices. “Inflation is crazy, and they don’t have enough money to be paying for gas,” said Irvin Rivero, beneficial electrification associate at Acterra, a Bay Area non-profit that helps income-qualified buyers apply for the incentive programs. “And if they’re low-income, they usually tend to travel pretty far to their work, so they’ll be filling up a lot.”

Not mentioned is that the cost of energy is spiking, too, which means it will cost more to charge them.

But EVs are still largely unaffordable for lower earners, even if they are pre-owned. The average price for a used EV surpassed $40,000 this July, according to Recurrent, a tech startup in the used-EV industry. Financial assistance in the form of upfront grants can provide a crucial way to close the affordability gap.

And there it is: just give them money. Make them more dependent on Government, after Government created the problems.

Quentin Nelms, 43, a low-voltage technician for the Tulare school district in the San Joaquin Valley, qualified for the $5,000 CVAP grant in January, before the program closed. But when he began shopping, Nelms found that the prices of EVs at dealerships that participated in the grant program were marked up by as much as $12,000.

“I started telling the dealers, ‘I don’t think it’s fair that you guys are part of this program and you are now charging a markup,’” he said, “‘because I put in time and work into this grant program and you’re absorbing the whole grant.”

You can tell them whatever you want, they don’t have to listen. If the government gives all this money, the price of those goods will go up. That’s economics. And $5k won’t make all that much difference with an average price of $40k for used.

Read: How Will The Poor Afford EVs In The People’s Republik Of California? »

Pirate's Cove