Brandonflation Driving Food Shoppers Away From Walmart

By William Teach August 13, 2022 – 7:00 am

Considering that Walmart typically has better food prices that the regular grocery stores, like Food Lion, Harris Teeter, Shoprite, Lowe’s Foods, and whatever else you have in your area, how are they doing when shopper are going even lower cost?

Inflation steers budget shoppers away from Walmart. Bringing them back may not be easy

Walmart Inc could face an uphill battle to reclaim U.S. shoppers who opted for the neighborhood dollar store or Aldi rather than driving farther to a Walmart Supercenter when gasoline was $5 a gallon.

While gasoline prices have dropped nearly 20% over the past month, there are no signs shoppers are returning to the nation’s biggest retailer, according to foot traffic data reviewed by Reuters and analysts.

Inflation remains at a 40-year high, devouring a large chunk of the grocery budgets of many Americans, especially Walmart’s legions of cost-conscious shoppers.

Foot traffic at Walmart’s 3,573 U.S. Supercenters and its 370 discount stores (as of Jan. 31, 2022) fell 2.7% on average from June 1 through July 25 versus a year earlier, according to data from Placer.ai, a location analytics firm.

Meanwhile, traffic rose 11.5% at Aldi, owned by German discount grocer Aldi Süd, and the number of shopper visits climbed 4.1% at Dollar General.

Interesting. Aldi isn’t necessarily less expensive than Walmart for many things, and, certainly aren’t as many nationwide. That more Americans are shopping at Dollar General should be very concerning to the government, but, really, people like Biden couldn’t care less about you peasants

McMillon recently told investors that shoppers – especially from lower-income households – bought fewer items in the three months through April 30, even they also consolidated their trips to the store in response to higher fuel prices.

So, Bidenflation is really hitting the lower class, who couldn’t afford to drive and purchase quality food (if you’ve never been in a Walmart supercenter, you’re missing out. I love tomatoes, and there are lots and lots to choose from. Fresh baked breads and cakes and all sorts of stuff. It’s really good).

Both Walmart and Target Corp issued profit warnings over the past two months, noting that U.S. shoppers responded to the rising cost of living by buying primarily lower-margin food and other essentials, while skipping aisles filled with clothes and sporting goods.

Walmart’s warning in late July was “a diagnostic look at the average American household,” Jefferies analyst Stephanie Wissink said. It showed the squeeze on shoppers’ monthly budgets that also led many to cut back on their trips to grocery stores, she said.

One Target I know has a pretty good grocery experience, the one in Knightdale is hot garbage. Their produce is terrible. Regardless, Bidenflation is causing lots of problems, especially for food. He’s doing such a great job.

Read: Brandonflation Driving Food Shoppers Away From Walmart »

Posted in Economy, Food and Drink | 22 Comments | Trackback URL

If All You See…

By William Teach August 12, 2022 – 4:20 pm

…are wonderful low carbon sailboats, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Blazing Cat Fur, with a post on what the FBI was supposedly looking for with their Trump raid.

Read: If All You See… »

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Great News: Democrats 100% Partisan Climate Bill Gets Us Most Of The Way Out Of Climate Doom

By William Teach August 12, 2022 – 3:00 pm

And you thought this was all about inflation reduction. That’s so last week

The US is making a big down payment on climate change. Here’s what needs to come next.

st greta carWith the U.S. House expected to pass the most consequential climate change legislation in the nation’s history on Friday, environmentalists and advocates are chilling the champagne for a surprise victory.

Just a month ago, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 appeared doomed after an apparent breakdown in Senate negotiations. But an unexpected deal emerged, prompting a party-line vote Sunday that promised $369 billion for incentives to move the nation away from fossil fuels and toward renewable energy sources while putting more drivers in electric cars and making more homes energy efficient.

Expert analysis projects the measures will get the U.S. most of the way toward a goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by half by 2030. Market momentum and regulatory tweaks could take care of the rest.

Hmm, that means there’s no need to do anything else, right? The climate nags can stop agitating for more measures, and go buy EVs for themselves, take the train instead of a fossil fueled flight, purchase solar panels for their homes, replace all their AC systems with heat pumps, and pay for new insulation, right?

Yet it may be premature to pop the cork just now. The ice, after all, is still melting.

Yeah, that’s what happens during a typical Holocene warm period

As remarkable as the turnaround has been, the promise of the Inflation Reduction Act was never meant to solve climate change on its own. A bigger test comes in 2050, when climate scientists say essentially all of the world needs to reach net zero emissions, a point of equilibrium where the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere stops growing and the climate stabilizes before it reaches a critical warming threshold of 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit.

Piss off. Go mind your own business, leave the rest of us alone.

So is Robbie Orvis, senior director of energy policy design at the San Francisco-based climate think tank Energy Innovation. Orvis envisions a scenario in which the bill does the heavy front-end lifting by researching new technologies, developing industrial solutions and bringing down the costs of renewables and electric cars. Then, market forces and some additional government intervention combine to push the transition across the finish line.

If this was so promising companies would be dumping their own money into it.

If anything goes wrong – Americans don’t adopt new technologies quickly enough, supply chain or workforce limitations fail to meet demand – then the bill’s incentive-laden policies could fail to deliver in time. Saha said that creates a need for the Biden administration to quickly follow up the bill with regulations forcing greenhouse gas reductions in sectors of the economy like energy generation and transportation.

Well, hey, all the Warmists are going to rush out and buy EVs, right?

Read: Great News: Democrats 100% Partisan Climate Bill Gets Us Most Of The Way Out Of Climate Doom »

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CDC Loosens Wuhan Flu Guidance, Mentions Natural Immunity

By William Teach August 12, 2022 – 10:30 am

The changes are supposed to be an admission of reality

Dr. Bruce Farber, chief of public health and epidemiology at Northwell Health and the chief of infectious diseases at North Shore University Hospital and LIJ Medical Center, thinks changes like these are partly an “admission of reality” from the CDC.

“I can’t speak for the CDC, but I think in this particular case that their guidelines have to be, at least somewhat, in touch with what people are doing regardless of what their guidelines are,” he said.

In other words, most people haven’t bothered with CDC guidance in quite some time. They’ve moved on to live with COVID19. Except for politicians who love the power

CDC ends recommendations for social distancing and quarantine for Covid-19 control, no longer recommends test-to-stay in schools

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the nation should move away from restrictive measures such as quarantines and social distancing and focus on reducing severe disease from Covid-19.

Most of us have

In new guidelines released Thursday, the agency no longer recommends staying at least 6 feet away from other people to reduce the risk of exposure — a shift from guidance that had been in place since the early days of the pandemic.

The shift is a sign of how much has changed since the beginning of the pandemic more than two years ago. Nearly the entire US population has at least some immunity through vaccination, previous infection or, in some cases, both.

“The current conditions of this pandemic are very different from those of the last two years,” Greta Massetti, who leads the Field Epidemiology and Prevention Branch at the CDC, said Thursday.

“High levels of population immunity due to vaccination and previous infection and the many available tools to protect the general population, and protect people at higher risk, allow us to focus on protecting people from serious illness from Covid-19.”

Wait, hold on, what was that?

As SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, continues to circulate globally, high levels of vaccine- and infection-induced immunity and the availability of effective treatments and prevention tools have substantially reduced the risk for medically significant COVID-19 illness (severe acute illness and post–COVID-19 conditions) and associated hospitalization and death

That’s from the CDC guidelines. For what, 2 years, they told us that natural immunity really wasn’t a thing, particularly after the vaccines were released. Now they say it is thing.

Anyhow, there are lots of changes in terms of contact tracing, isolation if exposed but no symptoms, and doing away with the 6 foot rule (bummer, I like to keep my distance and do not like to shake hands. I’ll continue doing that. Don’t forget, the chances of getting it come more from people you know getting close than strangers. I’ll also continue washing my hands a lot, but, I did that before COVID)

But the guidance does keep some measures the same. It encourages testing for people with symptoms and their close contacts. It also says people who test positive should stay home for at least five days and wear a mask around others for 10 days. It also continues to recommend that people wear masks indoors in about half the country.

Huh? Masks don’t work. If you’re still sick, stay home. Keep away from the rest of us, just like if it is a flu or a cold.

Chin-Hong thinks some states, like California, will continue to go beyond the CDC’s guidance in their own recommendations, but by and large, he thinks these reflect the prevailing attitudes toward the pandemic. He sees it as a move by the CDC to try to regain the public’s trust.

That’s because Government likes controlling the citizens

A recent survey from the Annenberg Public Policy Center shows that most Americans (54%) are no longer masking indoors, and about 4 in 10 say they’ve fully returned to their pre-pandemic routines — up from 16% in January.

Where are these 46% who mask indoors? Around my area, I’d put it at 5-10%, and half of them are either wearing a worthless mask, like a cloth or medical one, not a K-95, and half of all, regardless of type of mask aren’t wearing it properly, leaving openings and uncovering their noses and even mouths.

The agency removed the recommendation that kids in different classrooms avoid mixing, a practice known as cohorting. It also removed advice that kids who are contacts of someone who tested positive for Covid-19 take regular tests — and test negative — to remain in the classroom, which was known as test-to-stay.

But, schools being the uber-liberal hotbeds they are, will probably force kids to do things like masking, even as the guidance was loosened a while ago. They love that power. But, really, most of us have moved on to some degree.

Read: CDC Loosens Wuhan Flu Guidance, Mentions Natural Immunity »

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The Federal Government Won’t Save Us From Climate Doom Or Something

By William Teach August 12, 2022 – 7:15 am

You know what would? All those who believe the minor 1.5F increase in global temperatures since 1850 has been caused by the actions of mankind to practice what they preach. Oh, wait, no, that’s not what this piece means

The Federal Government Alone Won’t Save Us from Climate Change

ON THE MORNING of June 30, the last day of a U.S. Supreme Court term that oversaw disastrous decisions on guns and abortion, the Court issued its long-awaited opinion in West Virginia v. Environmental Protection Agency. To the chagrin of environmental and pro-regulation groups alike, the Court’s devastating and regressive ruling severely hampered the EPA’s authority to restrict greenhouse gas emissions from power plants, weakening the ability of the federal agency to take significant action on major issues such as climate change.

How dare the Supreme Court rule in favor of the Constitution!

Fortunately, West Virginia v. EPA does not limit the authority of states, cities, and local municipalities to wean themselves off fossil fuels. Given the state of the Supreme Court and industry-backed efforts to delay action on federal climate legislation, states and local authorities must urgently move forward in tackling the crisis. It’s clear that the federal government has not been up to the task.

Oh, cool, so the cities and states should force compliance? At least that would be Constitutional. Anyway, have at it, Red states. Show us the way. Every experiment needs experimental groups. Let’s see how that works out. Should be a hoot.

Read: The Federal Government Won’t Save Us From Climate Doom Or Something »

Posted in AGW Socialism, Global Warming | 3 Comments | Trackback URL

Good News: Grocery Prices Up 13.1% In July Over 2021

By William Teach August 12, 2022 – 7:00 am

The Inflation Reduction Bill will totally do something about this, right? Oh, wait, it will make energy more expensive, it’s screw with food prices, and the Biden admin was already making things difficult for farmers

Inflation: Grocery prices increased 13.1% in July

Americans can still expect sticker shock when they head to their local grocery stories due to inflation.

Despite inflation cooling down a bit in July, up 8.5%, Americans are still paying significantly more for food.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ July Consumer Price Index (CPI), the cost of food rose 10.9% , with food in the at-home category rising 13.1%, higher than the year-over-year rise in recent months. For the overall food category, that’s the highest increase since May of 1979, but for the food-at-home category, which is household groceries, it’s the highest since March of 1979, according to Steve Reed, an economist at the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

Compared to June of 2022, the grocery category increased 1.4%

Well, yes, when you’re comparing the same products. Sure seems low for many products, but, perhaps when you’re looking at all the different items, some barely went up, some went up a lot. Again, two of my favorite brands of ice cream barely went up, one jumped to $7.99 from $5.99. Microwave meals are up at least 25%. Of course, as I’ve mentioned before, there are some products you just no longer find, and have to buy the more expensive versions.

On a 12-month basis, cereal and bakery products led the spike with an increase of 15% — with flour and prepared flour mixes up 22.7%. This leap was followed by the other food at-home categories including dairy and related products, up 14.9%, with milk specifically up 15.6%, which is only up 0.1 on monthly basis.

Milk already had its big jump previously.

Meanwhile, the meats, poultry fish and eggs category, up 10.9%, saw a bit of relief where the cost of beef and veal decreased 0.1% and hot dogs dropped 6.0% compared to last month, but it was largely offset by eggs, up 38% compared to a year ago and 4.3% compared to June of 2022.

The Democrats in the Senate and House, along with the Biden admin, do not care, because they’re rich, it doesn’t hurt them personally, and the taxpayers pay for a lot of their food and travel.

Read: Good News: Grocery Prices Up 13.1% In July Over 2021 »

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Bummer: Few Are Mentioning Climate Crisis (scam) In Midterms Ads

By William Teach August 11, 2022 – 3:00 pm

Well, yeah. First, because Americans are paying a whole lot more for everything, including food. Microwave meals, like Stouffers and Lean Cuisine, are up almost a dollar from last year. I pay almost a dollar more for a head of lettuce. Lidl stopped having their own brand of eggs recently, which were just over a dollar for 12. Now, the other egg supplier is $2.50 for 12. Lots of other things are, obviously, up. On the bright side, two of the 3 ice cream makers I like are not. The other is up $2 a half gallon. Second, people care about Doing Something about ‘climate change’ is popular in theory, not in practice, and people do not want to hear how the Government is going to force them to comply. Would Dems really think this is a winning campaign strategy, yammering about Doom?

Despite dire warnings, climate change getting few mentions in midterm campaign ads

In a recent campaign ad, Morgan McGarvey, Kentucky’s Senate minority leader who is running for a U.S. House seat, vows to “take real action on climate change” if elected.

But despite constant reminders about the worsening impacts of climate change, the Kentucky Democrat appears to be a rarity in this year’s congressional midterm elections.

A review by Spectrum News of 126 television and online video ads found just eight, or just 6.3%, that referenced climate change. All but one mention came from Democrats, with the lone Republican being Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski.

The ads that were reviewed were all from different candidates — half from Republicans, half from Democrats. The ads included a mix of both incumbents and candidates who don’t currently occupy the offices they’re seeking.

They were chosen at random other than to ensure balance between the two major parties and that candidates from all 50 states were represented. The review did not include ads placed by political action committees, which are barred from coordinating with candidates about messaging.

I would love to ask any candidate yammering about Doing Something about ‘climate change’ what they’ve done in their own lives. Stopped using fossil fueled travel themselves?

“It is frustrating because climate change is happening right now, and people are feeling the impacts of it,” Anusha Narayanan, climate campaign manager for Greenpeace USA, said of the lack of attention the issue is receiving in midterm campaigns. “In this moment, we’re seeing extreme heat waves that people have experienced throughout the country this summer. And it’s heartbreaking to see the impacts of the flooding events in Kentucky and how people’s lives are getting impacted.”

You know what, mind your f’ing business. Stop trying to make everyone else conform with your cultish beliefs.

There were 10 other issues that were cited more often than climate change in the ads reviewed. Abortion was the most-mentioned issue overall (19%), as well as among Democrats. Inflation/gas prices (17.4%) was No. 2. And immigration/border security (16.7%) was third — all coming from Republicans, who mentioned that issue more than any other.

Health care/prescription drug prices, guns, jobs/unions, the COVID-19 pandemic response, government spending/taxes, former President Donald Trump and education also were mentioned more than climate change.

Because people do not care in practice.

Read: Bummer: Few Are Mentioning Climate Crisis (scam) In Midterms Ads »

Posted in Global Warming, Politics | 17 Comments | Trackback URL

If All You See…

By William Teach August 11, 2022 – 1:00 pm

…is an evil 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 the Kentucky floods and ‘climate change’.

Read: If All You See… »

Posted in If All You See | 26 Comments | Trackback URL

GOP Is Totally Misrepresenting The 87K New IRS Agents Or Something

By William Teach August 11, 2022 – 10:30 am

The plan totally doesn’t exist, you know!

See? From the link

“Do you make $75,000 or less?” tweeted House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy. “Democrats’ new army of 87,000 IRS agents will be coming for you—with 710,000 new audits for Americans who earn less than $75k.” Richard Grenell, Trump’s former Acting Director of National Intelligence, wrote on the social media platform: “The FBI raids Trump’s house and the Democrats vote to add 87,000 new IRS agents to go after Americans. Wake up, America.”

Other high-profile conservatives have insinuated that the Biden administration intends to direct those additional auditors to dig up dirt on the President’s political opponents. “After todays raid on Mar A Lago what do you think the left plans to use those 87,000 new IRS agents for?” tweeted Sen. Marco Rubio.

There’s only one problem. It’s not true.

The Inflation Reduction Act, a landmark climate, health care and tax package that passed the Senate on Sunday and is expected to head to Biden’s desk after the House approves it on Friday, includes roughly $78 billion for the IRS to be phased in over 10 years. A Treasury Department report from May 2021 estimated that such an investment would enable the agency to hire roughly 87,000 employees by 2031. But most of those hires would not be Internal Revenue agents, and wouldn’t be new positions.

OK, so, it is actually true that the IRS is looking to hire 87,000 employees with a doubling of their budget, which is what they got. Not all would be actual agents, they’d be IT, support staff

According to a Treasury Department official, the funds would cover a wide range of positions including IT technicians and taxpayer services support staff, as well as experienced auditors who would be largely tasked with cracking down on corporate and high-income tax evaders.

All of whom would enable the people who do the audits to go after lots and lots of people. Only a die hard leftist thinks all those extra employees think that it will only be big corporations and high tax evaders. Right up till the IRS audits them. Which won’t necessarily in person. It can be as simple as the IRS checking their tax returns with a fine tooth comb. This is simply nit-picking the talking point

(Breitbart) Ro Khanna (D-Ca) answered, “I tell them, like everyone, pay your taxes. I mean, this is not designed for clever schemes, this is going after people who just aren’t honestly paying their taxes. And there is almost a trillion dollars of revenue because of that. That’s not me, that’s Larry Summers. He did this groundbreaking paper that a lot of…revenue we’re not collecting because people aren’t being honest about it. Most people, our teachers or firefighters, you have to on the W-2, you’re honest about your taxes, and if people are honest about their taxes, this won’t be an issue.”

No, nothing to worry about.

AP FACT CHECK: GOP skews budget bill’s impact on IRS, taxes

Republican politicians and candidates are distorting how a major economic bill passed over the weekend by the Senate would reform the IRS and affect taxes for the middle class.

The “ Inflation Reduction Act,” which awaits a House vote after passing in the Senate on Sunday, would increase the ranks of the IRS, but it would not create a mob of armed auditors looking to harass middle-class taxpayers, as some Republicans are claiming.

While experts say corporate tax increases could indirectly burden people in the middle class, claims that they will face higher taxes are not supported by what is in the legislation.

The AP tries the same thing as the Time piece. Perhaps they should fact check the name of the bill itself, which does really nothing to reduce inflation, rather than typical political yammering.

Read: GOP Is Totally Misrepresenting The 87K New IRS Agents Or Something »

Posted in Democrats, Taxation, Wonky Media | 4 Comments | Trackback URL

Europe Turning Off Street Lights To Save Energy

By William Teach August 11, 2022 – 7:15 am

Wait, are they not getting enough energy from wind turbines and solar panels?

Europe’s streets go dark to save energy

Pushed by a looming energy crisis, cities across Europe are switching off the lights.

While Spain has made such measures mandatory, ordering shops to turn their lights off at night, in other places local authorities are voluntarily hitting the switch, arguing it’s a good time to trial light-saving measures.

Berlin is switching off the spotlights illuminating 200 of its historic buildings and monuments, and a number of towns and cities in Austria, Germany and Italy have reduced street lighting or turned off commercial signs.

In France, 14 communes in the Val d’Oise department north of Paris are trialing measures to fully switch off public lighting at night. Local authorities estimate shutting off street lights for three-and-a-half hours every night will help curb energy consumption by about a quarter.

Perhaps they should restart some nuclear and coal plants. Nah. They voted for this green stuff, let them deal with it. I have to wonder, will the government buildings, especially for the elected officials, also have the power turned off?

But the communes are keen to highlight that the experiment will also tamp down on light pollution. More darkness will help “respect the rhythm of day and night, allowing species to regenerate,” said Carole Faidherbe, the first deputy mayor of Taverny.

Look, I’m good with reducing light pollution, but, this is in a city

Most of the concerns raised by locals revolve around safety, according to Faidherbe, the official from Taverny, though she also stressed that the backlash wasn’t as strong as she’d expected.

The measures were designed with safety in mind, she said. The time window accounts for the arrival of the last train of the night and the departure of the first train of the morning and can be adjusted on national holidays, when streets are busier than usual at night. She added that video surveillance continues to operate even when the lights are off.

That’s all well and good, but, do we not think that the criminals will take advantage of this, especially all the migrants let in over the years?

Spain Air Conditioning Crackdown Set to Take Effect

Escaping the sweltering heat baking much of Spain just got a little bit harder. The government last week declared that businesses will not be allowed to run their air conditioning below 80 degrees Fahrenheit (27 degrees Celsius), part of a broader effort to save energy as Europe contends with record heat and races to cut its dependence on Russian gas.

Starting on Aug. 9 and lasting through November 2023, commercial buildings will have to keep summer air conditioning above 80 degrees — matching a policy in place at public buildings — and winter heating below 66 degrees Fahrenheit (19 degrees Celsius). The new rules apply to theaters, cinemas, museums, restaurants and shopping malls, while kindergartens, hospitals, schools and universities are off the hook. So are gyms, hair salons and laundries.

Well, that will seriously reduce income at theaters, cinemas, museums, restaurants, and shopping malls. And, who’s going to want to work there, either sweating or being cold? If only Europe had listened to Donald Trump about their reliance on Russia energy, instead of laughing.

Read: Europe Turning Off Street Lights To Save Energy »

Posted in Energy, Europe | 5 Comments | Trackback URL
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