If All You See…

By William Teach June 13, 2022 – 1:00 pm

…is a cabana by the sea which will soon be wiped out be extreme waves, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is The Rio Norte Line, with a post on food shortages.

Read: If All You See… »

Posted in If All You See | 13 Comments | Trackback URL

Bidenflation: It’s Now Rooted In Necessities Of Life

By William Teach June 13, 2022 – 10:30 am

We’re now at the point where there are really no good solutions

Opinion: Inflation is now rooted in the necessities of life. Which means the Fed has little hope of lowering the cost of living without throwing millions out of work

There’s no escaping the ravages of inflation. Far from “peaking” as some hoped, the consumer price index accelerated in May, rising at a 12.3% annual rate, the government reported Friday. Not only are the costs of necessities becoming more unaffordable, so are the costs of escaping by taking a vacation or by curling up on the couch with a video.

Inflation has become embedded in the economy and it’s affecting more of the goods and services, especially the items that we can’t do without: Shelter, food, clothing, transportation, and health care.

As I wrote last month, the rising cost of renting or owning a primary residence is particularly worrisome. It’s the biggest item in the consumer-price index’s market basket. What’s more, the price of shelter is “sticky’—meaning once it goes up, it stays up.

It’s persistent, which is the opposite of “transitory.” That’s a big problem for American consumers, not to mention the headaches it creates for policy makers at the Federal Reserve who are assigned the job of bringing down inflation to tolerable levels.

Flexible prices (items that change prices frequently, such as gas and food) have long been driving inflation, but sticky prices (infrequent changes in prices, such as rents or subscriptions) have become a real contributor in recent months. The sticky prices CPI, produced by the Atlanta Fed based on data from Friday’s CPI report, rose at an annual rate of 7.5% in May and is up at a 6.8% annual rate over the past three months, a 40-year high.

You get things like fuel (up 4.1% in June), foods and beverages (1.1%), household energy (3.7%), and airline fares (12.6%) are big drivers. Vehicles were up .9%, but, really, they mostly hit their big peaks. Now it’s smaller increase, mostly to do with fuel costs of delivery and transportation

The Fed is trying to reduce demand for these items by raising interest rates, but it’s hard to see how that will work. On the margin, people can cut back. They can buy cheaper items at the grocery store, or squeeze another year’s life out of the old truck, or move in with a friend, but they’ll still need to eat and have a roof over their heads and heat the house and get to work. These are necessities, not luxuries.

Prices are rising for these items not because demand for them has suddenly surged, but because the supply has been constrained, frequently by global forces, including the COVID pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and other factors, including droughts and heat waves.

It’s a good point: demand is not higher, it’s that the supply is constrained, much like with available fuels. And, we all know that this is occurring around the world, it’s not just the U.S. It’s just that our inflation is one of the worst in the 1st World

For the most part, inflation is being caused by shortages of supply, not excesses of demand. But the only way the central banks can bring supply and demand back into balance is to destroy demand by any means necessary.

In practice, that means millions of people around the world will be required to lose their jobs. But I thought the problem was a shortage of workers…

Well, that sounds fun. I know we, and most other dealers, are at about 65 to 70 percent staffing in all departments. There’s no need for more. How many times have you gone to a fast food place and it’s drive through only? I wanted speakers installed in my car, the available appointments are over two weeks out, when you could buy the product and it would be installed right there before COVID.

‘Prices will not come back down’: Americans dip into their savings to cope with record-high inflation

Americans accumulated extra savings during the pandemic, but that money is fast dwindling because of inflation.

Some 70% of Americans are using their savings to cover rising prices, a recent Forbes Advisor survey of 2,000 U.S. adults concluded. Among those polled, older adults were more likely to say they have left their savings intact.

In fact, the personal savings rate for April 2022 hit 4.4% — the lowest level since September 2008 — down from 6% at the beginning of the year, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, a department of the U.S. Department of Commerce.

And the political elites do not care a bit.

Read: Bidenflation: It’s Now Rooted In Necessities Of Life »

Posted in Economy, Joe Biden | 11 Comments | Trackback URL

To Get Net Zero Mining Has To Double Or Something

By William Teach June 13, 2022 – 7:15 am

So, it’s not OK to mine for oil, coal, and natural gas, but, it’s fine to create massive environmental messes, often with the use of child labor, for Net Zero?

Climate change: Investment in mining ‘needs to nearly double’ to achieve net zero, BofA says

Current levels of metals needed to decarbonize economies won’t be sufficient to reach climate targets, a recent Bank of America (BAC) note cautioned, and investment in mining needs to double by 2050 in order to satisfy the growing demand for low carbon technologies.

“Raw material markets are tight already and will likely get tighter going forward,” the analysts wrote. “Based on the current resource endowment and market balances, we don’t expect the 1.5°C global warming target to be achieved by 2050: 1.7-1.8°C looks likely. One solution to resolving shortages and constraints, as ever, lies in investment.”

The cost of shifting from fossil fuels to low carbon alternatives won’t be cheap, the note stated, citing UN estimates that adoption will cost developing countries alone $140-$300 billion per year by 2030.

“To prevent metal shortages and achieve net zero, mining [capital expenditure] needs to nearly double,” the analysts stated.

Due to the urgent nature of addressing the climate crisis, returns could be sizable. Using somewhat simplified calculations, the analysts suggested “the return on mining investment could be an impressive +94- 317%.”

Who’s going to pay for this? That’s right, you! Bet the climate cultists didn’t see that coming. Or that a bunch of bankers, investors, and rich folks are going to make more money off your suffering.

Although many of the technologies needed to achieve net-zero targets have been developed, scaling these technologies will require vast amounts of minerals and metals relative to current levels. Between 2020 and 2030, for instance, the analysts contend that nickel demand could grow by 40% while lithium demand could increase by 38%.

In other words, it appears that demand will outstrip supply unless mining capacity increases — and that supply-demand imbalance could impact how rapidly decarbonization occurs.

Which would seriously drive up the price.

Child labour, toxic leaks: the price we could pay for a greener future

…

But scientists warn there will be an environmental price to pay for this drive to create a world powered by green technology. Prospecting for the materials to construct these devices, then mining them, could have very serious ecological consequences and major impacts on biodiversity, they say. (snip)

Metals such as lithium and cobalt provide examples of the awkward issues that lie ahead, said Herrington. Both elements are needed to make lightweight rechargeable batteries for electric cars and for storing power from wind and solar plants. Their production is likely to increase significantly over the next decade – and that could cause serious ecological problems.

In the case of cobalt, 60% of the world’s supply comes from the Democratic Republic of the Congo where large numbers of unregulated mines use children as young as seven as miners. There they breathe in cobalt-laden dust that can cause fatal lung ailments while working tunnels that are liable to collapse.

Good job, Warmists

Read: To Get Net Zero Mining Has To Double Or Something »

Posted in Climate Cult, Global Warming | 5 Comments | Trackback URL

Bipartisan Group Of Senators Comes Out With Gun Laws

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

Most of these will not satisfy either side, especially the leftist gun grabbers. Nor would most of these have stopped any of the shooters

Bipartisan Gun Deal Announced: No ‘Assault Weapons’ Ban, No Raised Minimum Rifle Age

A bipartisan group of senators announced a deal on gun control legislation Sunday in the wake of recent mass shootings — though the compromise excludes President Joe Biden’s “assault weapons” ban and a raised minimum age for rifle purchases.

The deal includes Republican priorities such as expanded mental health services and school safety. It nods to Democratic priorities by adding expanded background checks for those under the age of 21, who will now have juvenile records screened before gun purchases.

A press released from the bipartisan group outlines the contours of the proposed legislation (original emphasis) :

WASHINGTON–U.S. Senators Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), Cory Booker (D- N.J.), Richard Burr (R-N.C.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Angus King (I-Maine), Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Mitt Romney (R-Utah), Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), and Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) issued the following statement:

“Today, we are announcing a commonsense, bipartisan proposal to protect America’s children, keep our schools safe, and reduce the threat of violence across our country. Families are scared, and it is our duty to come together and get something done that will help restore their sense of safety and security in their communities. Our plan increases needed mental health resources, improves school safety and support for students, and helps ensure dangerous criminals and those who are adjudicated as mentally ill can’t purchase weapons. Most importantly, our plan saves lives while also protecting the constitutional rights of law-abiding Americans. We look forward to earning broad, bipartisan support and passing our commonsense proposal into law.”The proposal includes:Support for State Crisis

But of course North Carolina’s two weenie Senators joined in. Burr has almost always been a disappointment, plus, he’s retiring. Tillis started strong, has gone complete RINO. Anyhow, this is what they are proposing

Intervention Orders
?     Provides resources to states and tribes to create and administer laws that help ensure deadly weapons are kept out of the hands of individuals whom a court has determined to be a significant danger to themselves or others, consistent with state and federal due process and constitutional protections. (The intervention orders are pretty much in every state anyhow, and are not the the red flag laws which blow off due process that Democrats want. This is just a way to get the feds more involved in state affairs. )

Investment in Children and Family Mental Health Services
?     National expansion of community behavioral health center model; major investments to increase access to mental health and suicide prevention programs; and other support services available in the community, including crisis and trauma intervention and recovery. (This is just a way to get the feds more involved in state affairs. )

Protections for Victims of Domestic Violence
?     Convicted domestic violence abusers and individuals subject to domestic violence restraining orders are included in NICS, including those who have or have had a continuing relationship of a romantic or intimate nature. (Shouldn’t they already be in the NICS? Typically, yes, but, it requires reporting)

Funding for School-Based Mental Health and Supportive Services
?     Invests in programs to expand mental health and supportive services in schools, including: early identification and intervention programs and school based mental health and wrap-around services. (This is just a way to get the feds more involved in state affairs. )

Funding for School Safety Resources
?     Invests in programs to help institute safety measures in and around primary and secondary schools, support school violence prevention efforts and provide training to school personnel and students. (This is just a way to get the feds more involved in state affairs. And Dems will think this sounds dangerously close to LEOs in schools, which they’re against)

Clarification of Definition of Federally Licensed Firearms Dealer
?     Cracks down on criminals who illegally evade licensing requirements. (Um, shouldn’t that be happening already? Pretty sure there’s law on this now, but, this will allow Democrats to wipe out lots of dealers)

Telehealth Investments
?     Invests in programs that increase access to mental and behavioral health services for youth and families in crisis via telehealth. (This is just a way to get the feds more involved in state affairs. )

Under 21 Enhanced Review Process
?     For buyers under 21 years of age, requires an investigative period to review juvenile and mental health records, including checks with state databases and local law enforcement.

Penalties for Straw Purchasing
?     Cracks down on criminals who illegally straw purchase and traffic guns. (Um, we already have laws on this. Perhaps they should ask Joe about the Fast and Furious gun running program his boss, Barack Obama, ran)

I know many Conservatives might disagree, but, the only one on here which really makes sense is the under 21 enhanced review process. There certainly could be things in a juvenile record which would stop the purchase. But, they’ll have to be very careful on this in terms of violating a lot of laws that protect juvenile records. Perhaps a check with local law enforcement and prosecutors and judges could determine if it is necessary to open up the juvenile records.

The question here is whether there are enough votes to break the 60 vote threshold. Might not even be enough to hit 51. This is not gun grabbing enough for Democrats. Also, the danger here is giving Dems an inch, because then they’ll want a lot more quickly.

Read: Bipartisan Group Of Senators Comes Out With Gun Laws »

Posted in 2nd Amendment | 22 Comments | Trackback URL

If All You See…

By William Teach June 12, 2022 – 2:42 pm

…are sunflowers growing abnormally large due to carbon pollution, which is Bad, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is The Right Scoop, with a post on NY schools showering money on drag shows.

It’s sundress week

Read: If All You See… »

Posted in If All You See | 6 Comments | Trackback URL

Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup

By William Teach June 12, 2022 – 10:02 am

Patriotic Pinup Roger Wilkerson

Happy Sunday. Another great day in the Once And Future Nation Of America. The Sun is shining, the birds are singing, and Americans are resilient. Oh, and Tampa Bay beat the Rangers to go to the Stanley Cup Finals. It’s rather tiring having the Lightning in the Finals, but, if there is one team I never ever root for it’s the Rangers. There’s an old joke about “the only way I’d root for them is if they were playing Al Qaeda, but, I’d have to think hard on it.” Anyway, this pinup is by Roger Wilkerson, with a wee bit of help.

What is happening in Ye Olde Blogosphere? The Fine 15

  1. Ace Of Spades discusses the baby formula recipes being rather old
  2. Blazing Cat Fur covers one surprising revelation from the J6 hearings
  3. Chicks On The Right notes Biden’s call to Do Something
  4. Cold Fury says no to Democracy
  5. Common Cents delves into the latest inflation numbers
  6. DC Clothesline covers the nutters now equating obesity with racism
  7. Flag And Cross notes a Dem lawmaker making a joke making drag queen story time mandatory
  8. GeeeZ… has your Sunday faith blog
  9. Geller Report has the Jan6th TV ratings
  10. Gen Z Conservative discusses a hero dog saving his owner
  11. IOTW Report features Brandon’s 10 most honest lies
  12. Jihad Watch covers Jews being under extreme threat in Germany
  13. Legal Insurrection notes the wackos saying it’s racist to ask people to renew their voter registrations
  14. Maggie’s Farm shows what is excessive zoning
  15. And last, but, not least, Moonbattery features a Methodist church having a drag queen as an associate pastor

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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Suddenly, WHO Says China Lab Leak Should Be Investigated

By William Teach June 12, 2022 – 8:37 am

Well, gee wiz, only well over two years too late

WHO now says theory that COVID-19 leaked from Chinese lab should be studied more

Over two years after the coronavirus was first detected in China, and after at least 6.3 million deaths have been counted worldwide from the pandemic, the World Health Organization is recommending in its strongest terms yet that a deeper probe is required into whether a lab accident may be to blame.

That stance marks a sharp reversal of the U.N. health agency’s initial assessment of the pandemic’s origins, and comes after many critics accused WHO of being too quick to dismiss or underplay a lab-leak theory that put Chinese officials on the defensive.

WHO concluded last year that it was “extremely unlikely” COVID-19 might have spilled into humans in the city of Wuhan from a lab. Many scientists suspect the coronavirus jumped into people from bats, possibly via another animal.

Yet in a report released Thursday, WHO’s expert group said “key pieces of data” to explain how the pandemic began were still missing. The scientists said the group would “remain open to any and all scientific evidence that becomes available in the future to allow for comprehensive testing of all reasonable hypotheses.”

Let’s see, a virus that flew around the world within months, that tended to primarily kill the old and people of all ages with pre-existing conditions, kept people sick for long periods of time, spun out many variants, and, according to the sources, didn’t kill Chinese people that much, tending to affect those in the 1st World, Russia, and South America. But, hey, right, it’s because someone in a wet market at a bat or something. And somehow ended up on cruise ships in the Caribbean quickly? No way it came from a lab, right?

WHO’s expert group also noted that since lab accidents in the past have triggered some outbreaks, the highly politicized theory could not be discounted.

Jean-Claude Manuguerra, a co-chair of the 27-member international advisory group, acknowledged that some scientists might be “allergic” to the idea of investigating the lab leak theory, but said they needed to be “open-minded” enough to examine it.

It’s not like there have been previous lab leaks from the Wuhan facility. Or that China pressured WHO to dismiss the notion of a lab leak. Or that there’s lots of evidence for a lab leak.

Former U.S. President Donald Trump speculated repeatedly — without evidence — that COVID-19 was started in a Chinese lab. He also accused WHO of “ colluding” with China to cover up the initial outbreak, citing the U.N. health agency’s continued public praise of the country despite China’s refusal to share crucial data.

Without evidence. There was no evidence it came from a bad meal. And, with the Wuhan Institute of Virology right down the road, which seems more likely?

To investigate whether COVID-19 might have been the result of a lab accident, WHO’s experts said interviews should be conducted “with the staff in the laboratories tasked with managing and implementing biosafety and biosecurity.”

Yeah, well, good luck, because you can bet the labs have been sterilized of anything related to coronaviruses and the staff will have been threatened to keep their mouths shut.

Read: Suddenly, WHO Says China Lab Leak Should Be Investigated »

Posted in Bat Soup Virus | 11 Comments | Trackback URL

Say, Are Reports Of Climate Apocalypse Making Things Worse?

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

The Baltimore Sun has thoughts, as reprinted in the Daily Jefferson County Union

Climate change: Are reports of our doom making matters worse?

Even the most casual observer of current events has to admit there is much to be gloomy about. From public health (monkeypox and COVID-19 variants) to mass shootings (Buffalo, New York, and Uvalde, Texas, among others) to the inability of opinion leaders to agree on basic facts (see the events of Jan. 6, 2021), there is a certain deficit of optimism of late. Throw in some election-year fearmongering on inflation, the stock markets and gasoline prices, and it does seem like the best way to cheer up might be to disconnect from all electronic devices.

Yet in the midst of this profoundly somber time, what subject matter has the commentariat yakking about how doomy forecasts have gone too far and risk unleashing a dangerously apocalyptic mindset upon the populace?

That would be climate change.

Yes, that’s right. Apparently, a lot of folks have gotten too Negative Nancy about how the use of fossil fuels has been fundamentally changing the planet’s climate and not for the better. That’s not to dispute that climate change is a problem exactly (although you can still find plenty in right-wing media casually describing it as a fiction created by political extremists instead of, you know, a demonstrable, carefully measurable trend studied closely by leading scientists). But the critics worry that the circumstances have been cast in such frightening and absolute terms that it may fuel violence. Or it might be creating such despair, especially among young people, that we do little or nothing about the problem. On the internet, people have coined a term, climate “doomers” to describe people who are extremely fatalistic about the problem, and it’s considered really, really bad by both those who accept climate change science and those who deny it.

Doomers? Haven’t really seen much of that at all. Perhaps written as climate Doom, but, they’re usually called Warmists, Alarmists, or cultists. Doom is usually reserved as an adjective, not a noun. But, see, it’s OK to prognosticate doom

There may be something to be said about the hazards of doomsaying. Once there’s no hope, what’s the point, right? But the problem here is that climate change denial remains so rampant that advocates for action feel a need to provide a full-throated warning. According to Pew Research Center, most Americans favor the nation pressing toward carbon neutrality by 2050, but they also favor proving more natural gas, a fossil fuel, to Europe. This suggests a certain lack of firmness in our resolve. Democrats and Democratic-leaning voters overwhelmingly favor U.S. support of international efforts to reduce climate change impacts (92%). But among voters who define themselves as conservative Republicans? A majority would oppose that (57%).

The “Doomers” might be going full-throated, but, few of them are making any changes in their own lives.

Yet color us skeptical that the threat of climate change has been described in too extreme, calamitous terms. For one thing, denial is still too high to believe everyone has gotten the word on the basic premise of global warming. On the other, the outlook does, in fact, look pretty dire. Last year was one of the seven hottest ever recorded, and each decade since the 1980s has been hotter than the previous one. Does anyone seriously believe that enough is being done right now to forestall disaster? Sorry, it can’t be described in rosier terms.

Does this put you in a state of deep despair? What it should do is cause you to advocate for sensible energy policies that might still soften the blow of climate change. Is that too much to expect?

Has the Baltimore Sun stopped using fossil fuels in their own operations? How about the Daily Jefferson? Turned off the AC? Disallowed meat at work?

Read: Say, Are Reports Of Climate Apocalypse Making Things Worse? »

Posted in AGW Scaremongering, Global Warming | 13 Comments | Trackback URL

If All You See…

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

…is an area flooded by carbon pollution fueled Bad Weather, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is 357 Magnum, with a post noting that shoplifting is not a crime in NYC.

Read: If All You See… »

Posted in If All You See | 11 Comments | Trackback URL

Federal Judge Blocks Biden Rule On Discretionary Deportation

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

Once again, Joe Biden loses in court. And you know if this had occurred with Trump, or any Republican, in the White House, the headline would read “Trump policy encouraging discretion in deportation blocked by judge”.

DHS policy encouraging discretion in deportations blocked by judge

In fairness, CBS News and Reuters did go with Biden, instead of DHS. Of course, they seem to be the only ones covering this along with the aforementioned The Hill piece. Nothing from the NY Times, Washington Post, ABC News, or NBC News

A judge in Texas on Friday threw out a policy instituted by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) last year that directed border officials to exercise discretion in deportation cases.

Introduced last September, the policy encourages officials not to deport noncitizens who have lived in the country for years without incident and to focus on those who have a serious criminal record.

In a scathing 96-page ruling, U.S. District Judge Drew Tipton argued that the policy overstepped the executive branch’s authority regarding immigration enforcement.

“True, the Executive Branch has case-by-case discretion to abandon immigration enforcement as to a particular individual. This case, however, does not involve individualized decisionmaking. Instead, this case is about a rule that binds Department of Homeland Security officials in a generalized, prospective manner—all in contravention of Congress’s detention mandate,” Tipton, an appointee of former President Trump, wrote.

Well, not so much as a mandate, but, actual law.

Last September, DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas argued both that the policy was just, saying most undocumented immigrants “have been contributing members of our communities for years,” and that it was needed due to limited resources.

“The fact that an individual is a removable noncitizen should not alone be the basis of an enforcement action against them,” he added. “We focus our resources because they are limited, and because of our dedication to doing justice.”

But, DHS was tasked with simply ignoring most illegals unless they were the worst of the worst. The law says if they are known and caught they be deported. Period.

“It is also true that the Executive Branch may prioritize its resources. But it must do so within the bounds set by Congress. Whatever the outer limits of its authority, the Executive Branch does not have the authority to change the law,” Tipton said.

Since when did Biden care about the letter of the law? And he and DHS will probably ignore the judge’s order.

Read: Federal Judge Blocks Biden Rule On Discretionary Deportation »

Posted in Illegal Immigration, Joe Biden | 5 Comments | Trackback URL
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