Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup

Patriotic Pinup Fritz Willis

Happy Sunday! Another gorgeous day in the Once and Future Nation of America. The sun is shining, the birds are honking, and lots of people have fun levels of snow. This pinup is by Fritz Willis, with a wee bit of help.

What is happening in Ye Olde Blogosphere? The Fine 15

  1. Pacific Pundit notes Pelosi pledging to defend Ukraine
  2. Raised On Hoecakes discusses NYC teaching on $30k per year failing
  3. The First Street Journal covers George Soros’ effect on criminality
  4. The Last Refuge notes Nova Scotia making protesting with the truckers illegal
  5. The Lid discusses the Capital Police spying on Congressional staff and visitors
  6. The O.K. Corral has a great feel good story
  7. The People’s Cube covers the Coronazis
  8. Greenie Watch notes the cost of EV batteries
  9. Jo Nova highlights nations ending the Chinese coronavirus restrictions
  10. Not A Lot Of People notes that ‘climate change’ is waycist
  11. 357 Magnum has the Australian edition of cops behaving badly
  12. American Greatness notes that a court says Pa’s mail in voting law is unconstitutional
  13. Chicks On The Right covers a surprise in your Biden at-home COVID test
  14. Da Techguy’s Blog has some interesting last words
  15. And last, but, not least, Fisherville Mike has some fun dog stuff going on

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 »

Oregon Health Authority Files Permanent Rules On School, Health Center Masking

But, don’t call them permanent permanent, it’s just so that they don’t have to spend time reauthorizing any temporary rules every so often, you know

Oregon Health Authority begins filing ‘permanent’ COVID-19 rules

The Oregon Health Authority says it expects to file “permanent” rules on Friday for mask requirements in K-12 schools, as well as vaccination requirements for educators and staff.

Friday’s announcement does not include the statewide indoor mask mandate. State epidemiologist Dr. Dean Sidelinger said in a briefing that officials are still going over public comments before proceeding, which will most likely happen in the next week or two.

Permanent rules can be repealed by state agencies, which happened in 2021 before the Delta variant began to surge. By definition, temporary rules are only valid for 180 days.

“State health officials emphasized that the rule filing will maintain masking protections during the current Omicron surge,” OHA said in a statement. “State officials are developing measures to determine when it may be safe to lift the school mask rule.”

It’s nice that the state has given the OHA, an unelected bureaucracy, one which is completely unresponsive to the citizens of Oregon, the power to decide permanent rules for masking in schools, along with vaccination requirements, eh? Or, have they? With the state being run by Democrats, who’s going to stop them if they don’t have the authority? Anyone want to bet that the teacher’s union is behind this?

At Friday’s briefing, Dr. Sidelinger underlined that permanent rules can be loosened or rescinded as conditions change, pointing to COVID-19 hospitalizations that are nearing the Delta variant peak. (snip)

“So I would anticipate, in the coming weeks to month and a half, that we will see a significant decrease in the number of people with COVID in the hospital,” Sidelinger continued, “and at that time it’ll be a time to start talking about ‘Can we move from a requirement for masks in indoor public spaces to a recommendation for certain populations or in certain communities where rates are higher?’”

So why pass a permanent rule? Why not a temporary? Not that masks are necessary for kids. Most nations have avoided this. Surely just to placate the teacher’s union, which is full of COVID cultist Karens who lose their minds over people, and especially kids in class, not wearing a mask. And

Rules expected to be filed on Jan. 31 include:

  • OAR 333-019-1010 – COVID-19 Vaccination Requirement for Healthcare Providers and Healthcare Staff in Healthcare Settings.
  • OAR 333-019-1011 – Masking Requirements to Control COVID-19 in Health Care Settings.

But, again, do not worry, they aren’t permanent permanent

But just because the rules are “permanent” does not mean they are going to be in effect indefinitely, officials tried to ensure Oregonians. The rules can be loosened or rescinded as pandemic conditions change, particularly around hospitalizations.

So, no worries, right? Good thing the members of the Oregon Health Authority wear masks to show people the way, right?

Go figure. (from the second article)

Read: Oregon Health Authority Files Permanent Rules On School, Health Center Masking »

Spotify Chief Told Employees Joe Rogan’s Show Meets Standards

What Spotify’s communications chief should have said was “you’re employees. You do not run this company. You do not have that decision power. Maybe one day you will, but, as of now, you do not get to to decide who is on and who is off”

Spotify’s communications chief reportedly told employees that Joe Rogan episodes ‘didn’t meet the threshold for removal’

Leaked internal messages from Spotify offer a glimpse into the company’s decision to keep airing Joe Rogan’s podcast, which has come under fire for promoting COVID-19 misinformation.

The Verge reported Friday that Dustee Jenkins, Spotify’s head of global communications and public relations, broached the subject with concerned employees in an internal Slack channel.

Jenkins told them the company reviewed multiple episodes of podcast “The Joe Rogan Experience” but concluded they “didn’t meet the threshold for removal,” according to leaked screenshots of her message that were viewed by The Verge.

“We apply our policies consistently and objectively,” Jenkins wrote. “They are not influenced by the media cycle, calls from any one individual or from external partners. It doesn’t mean I personally agree with this content. But I trust our policies and the rationale behind them.”

But, see, all the little progressive Brownshirts get massively butthurt when people with different opinions are allowed to share them. Anything Wrongthink is verboten. I don’t like MSNBC. They consistently lie, they’re a bunch of little Fascists, and they’re utterly dishonest. So, I do not tune in. There are plenty of left leaning programs on iHeart Radio. I listen to rock a lot on the platform. I don’t care if they are also on it. I wouldn’t Demand they be removed. I just won’t listen. But, see, in Liberal World, if you aren’t with them, you’re a Nazi. A Klan member. The worst ever. So, you must be silenced.

Earlier this month, 270 scientists, healthcare workers, and educators signed an open letter calling on Spotify to stop the spread of misinformation on its platform following an episode of Rogan’s podcast in which he interviewed a doctor who baselessly claimed Americans were “hypnotized” into wearing masks and getting COVID-19 vaccines because of what he calls “mass formation psychosis.” Psychology experts have said there is no such phenomenon.

So what? Rebut Rogan. Realistically, attempting to silence gives him even more power.

Read: Spotify Chief Told Employees Joe Rogan’s Show Meets Standards »

If All You See…

…is a rough ocean from carbon pollution Bad Weather, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Moonbattery, with a post on the Pope being against free speech.

Read: If All You See… »

Your Fault: Nor’easter Snow Storm Being Linked To ‘Climate Change’

The snow storm was a big bust here in Raleigh, just a dusting. In other areas, you can watch the snow building up. It’s basically blizzard conditions at the Jersey shore. The beach I went to while growing up, Manasquan, is barely visible. The webcam for Atlantic City show lots of fun snow. Southampton Village, NY, has quite a bit. Bryant Park looks like about half a foot so far. And up into Massachusetts.  You can see lots more at that same site in other states. I get caught up when looking at the cams. Anyhow, this is your fault

That’s right, climate change can be linked to this nor’easter (the bombogenesis, if you prefer)

That’s not the sound of a howling wind — it’s thousands of climate-change scientists clapping back at the idea that the nor’easter about to blanket several states refutes global-warming warnings.

A powerful winter storm was forecast for the mid-Atlantic and Northeast from Friday night into Saturday, encasing Virginia to Maine in blizzard conditions.

Heavy snowfall and its accompanying chilly conditions often spark remarks to the tune of “so much for global warming” or other collective shoulder-shrugging that frustrates environmental groups and the scientific community.

This particular system is expected to form in the Atlantic Ocean just off the coast of Georgia, then rapidly strengthen — a process known as bombogenesis — overnight Friday and track Saturday up the East Coast. “Guidance indicates potential for this storm to undergo bombogenesis [because of a drop in pressure],” the Boston weather service office said. “This creates a very tight pressure gradient, meaning strong, potentially damaging winds will accompany the snow.”

Like has happened when it was just Native Americans and Vikings here. Many of those cameras shows some serious wind, like in Manasquan and Cape Cod Canal.

This is global warming, actually

Scientists offer some clarity on a blizzards and global warming paradox.

Although climate change is expected to lower the amount of overall snow the U.S. receives on an annual basis, it’s going to increase the number of nor’easters we see annually, according to a recent report from the federally funded National Center for Atmospheric Research’s nonprofit arm, the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, or UCAR.

Their report says nor’easters used to be something Americans saw every few years or so, but such storms are expected to be a more-frequent happening in the warming world.

Read: Your Fault: Nor’easter Snow Storm Being Linked To ‘Climate Change’ »

Federal Judge Acts On His Climate Cult Beliefs, Cancels Oil And Gas Leases

Law be damned, there’s a cult that needs feeding

A federal judge canceled major oil and gas leases over climate change

Late last year, just days after pledging to cut fossil fuels at international climate talks in Glasgow, Scotland, the Biden administration held the largest oil and gas lease sale in U.S. history.

On Thursday, a federal judge invalidated that sale in the Gulf of Mexico, saying the administration didn’t adequately consider the costs to the world’s climate.

The administration used an analysis conducted under former President Donald Trump that environmental groups alleged was critically flawed.

The decision represents a major win for a coalition of environmental groups that challenged the controversial sale, calling it a “huge climate bomb.”

Those leases will be vacated by the U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia’s decision, and the Interior Department will have to conduct a new environmental analysis if it decides to hold another sale. (snip)

U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras wrote that the Interior Department acted “arbitrarily and capriciously in excluding foreign consumption from their greenhouse gas emissions,” adding that the “error was indeed a serious failing.”

Under what law or Constitutional principle? That sure seems like imposing foreign law on legal sales under U.S. law. I think it’s safe to say that this will be appealed, and, really, this judge should be impeached for breach of duty.

Oh, and when prices go up, who will the Warmists blame for spiking gas and oil prices? Especially when they won’t give up their own use of fossil fuels?

Read: Federal Judge Acts On His Climate Cult Beliefs, Cancels Oil And Gas Leases »

Surprise: 72% Of West Virginia Voters Back Manchin On Build Back Bad

I probably disagree with Joe Manchin on the majority of his political beliefs. He may not be a hardcore leftist, but, he’s still a Democrat. However, he seems to understand his #1 duty is to serve the People of WV. That’s it. Not his Party. That’s the point of a Senator, to represent the needs and wants of their states, even if that goes against their Party. And he’s listening to them

72 percent of West Virginia voters back Manchin’s call to suspend Build Back Better talks: poll

Seventy-two percent of West Virginia voters support Sen. Joe Manchin’s (D-W.Va.) decision to walk away from Democrats’ Build Back Better negotiations over concerns about inflation, according to a new poll obtained first by The Hill.

The survey, conducted by Remington Research Group on behalf of the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors (NAW), a business group that is lobbying lawmakers to abandon the bill, found that 66 percent of voters in key swing states including Nevada and Arizona believe that the $2.2 trillion plan would make inflation worse.

“It’s clear: Americans are feeling the pressure of inflation, and they want Congress to focus on relief – not massive new spending bills that could make inflation worse and stall our economic recovery,” NAW CEO Eric Hoplin said in a statement. (snip)

The NAW poll found that 66 percent of swing state voters have seen their finances hurt by higher prices at grocery stores or gas stations. Another 9 in 10 voters said that they were either “somewhat concerned” or “very concerned” about rising costs.

Too bad they didn’t ask the specific question regarding Kysten Sinema since they were polling people in Arizona, because, like Joe, she seems to be focused on the people of her state. Before the 17th Amendment Senators were appointed by the state general assemblies, so they would do the business of the state solely. Party made no difference. These days, with direct election, senators seem to be doing the business of the special interests who are outside of their states who give them campaign bucks, along with the extremists in the Democratic party.

Of course, this isn’t going to make Joe’s donors happy, since 90% of his funding comes from out of state. Which is one of the highest I’ve seen. Sinema is at 75%. It’s beyond time that elected officials, public servants, start listening to the people of their states and districts first.

Read: Surprise: 72% Of West Virginia Voters Back Manchin On Build Back Bad »

Climate Cultists Looking To Get The Vote Out In 2022

They don’t do much else, like practicing what they preach, because this is a cultish political movement, not science

Climate change activists look to increase voter turnout in 2022 and beyond

When engineering geologist Betsy Mathieson, 66, thought about her retirement, she imagined putting her scientific expertise to use by volunteering for an environmentalist organization like the Sierra Club. But when the U.S. elected climate change denier Donald Trump president in 2016, she decided to retire early to volunteer on increasing voter turnout.

“I came to realize that if people who care about the planet don’t vote, my environmental volunteering would be of little use,” Mathieson, of Alameda, Calif., told Yahoo News. So instead of volunteering for a traditional environmental advocacy organization, she now spends several hours a week phone banking on behalf of the Environmental Voter Project (EVP), a nonpartisan nonprofit that focuses on increasing turnout among irregular voters who are likely to care about the environment.

Founded in 2015 by Boston-based lawyer and activist Nathaniel Stinnett, EVP has just five staffers and a singular mission: to identify registered voters who don’t always vote and — based on demographic and consumer data — would be likely to name the environment or climate change as their No. 1 issue, and to get them to vote.

Stinnett was inspired by polling that showed a larger proportion of Americans rate climate change or the environment as their top issue than the percentage of likely voters who choose climate as their main priority — a tendency replicated in EVP’s own polling.

At the end of the day, few people actually consider ‘climate change’ as an important issue, hence why, even in far left states like Washington, people will vote against this. Because it’s popular in theory, not practice.

Read: Climate Cultists Looking To Get The Vote Out In 2022 »

If All You See…

…is a beach that will soon be submerged under the sea from carbon pollution, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Irons In The Fire, with a post on remembering that all cultures are equal.

Read: If All You See… »

Mayor Pete Promises To Tackle Road Fatalities, Pushes “Zero Deaths”

After being mostly absent on the supply chain issues, like clogged ports, Mayor Pete has decided to look at a pie in the sky adventure. Sure, it’s nice to say, but, it won’t happen

Tucker Carlson: $1.2 trillion in infrastructure spending should mean better roads, but it doesn’t

Think back, you may remember Joe Biden’s infrastructure bill this fall. That bill emerged from Congress in November with a price tag of $1.2 trillion dollars. That so many zeros it’s hard to imagine. How much is it? It’s more than the entire GDP of the Nation of Mexico, one of the world’s biggest oil producers, by the way. So that’s a ton of money.

So for a bill that size, you would expect, well, big results. You’d certainly want better roads than they’ve got in Mexico. So we’re getting those what are we getting exactly from that bill? Well, today the Transportation Department, which is now run by Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, finally told us the answer. Effective immediately, we learned this country will undergo a “paradigm shift” in the way we think about infrastructure. (big snip, including through how many bridges and roads have problems)

So what are we going to do about this? What is the $1.2 trillion dollar plan going to do for our crumbling infrastructure? Well, Pete Buttigieg has a plan. Here it is: More speed cameras, according to The Associated Press, Pete Buttigieg would like to quote promote greater use of speed cameras, which the department says could provide more equitable enforcement than police traffic stops.

Got that? So because of equity, you’re about to get a lot more speeding tickets from robots. See how that works? Shut up, racist, pay the fine. The government does need the money for infrastructure even after $1.2 trillion.

Alright, some might think Tucker is being over-the-top. Nope. Here’s the Associated Press, as printed by KTLA

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is pledging to tackle rising traffic fatalities through a national strategy aimed at reducing speed, redesigning roads and enhancing car safety features such as automatic emergency braking.

Buttigieg said his department is embracing a new “safe system” approach urged by auto safety advocates to bolster initiatives, underway in several cities, that seek to eliminate fatalities by taking into account more than just driver behavior.

Over the next two years, he said, his department will provide guidance as well as $5 billion in grants to states to spur lower speed limits and embrace safer road design such as dedicated bike and bus lanes, better lighting and crosswalks. When roads become safer for bicyclists and pedestrians, that opens up transit options overall and can lead to fewer dangerous cars on the road, he said.

Money for the grants is included in President Joe Biden’s infrastructure law, which has an additional $4 billion in funding through the Highway Safety Improvement Program.

Ask your local police department about traffic cameras. That they don’t work very well, and actually cost more than they bring in. And, yes, this is quite a bit about forcing you out of your vehicle. Now, if he was pushing initiatives to get people to drive safer, stop blowing stop signs, I’d be on-board.

The strategy recommends pilot programs to study and promote greater use of speed cameras, which the department says could provide more equitable enforcement than police traffic stops. Automakers will be prodded to adopt more crash avoidance features and publish detailed information about them for consumers on window stickers for new car sales.

A goodly chunk of vehicles already have crash avoidance systems. But, they are designed not to stop a crash, but, to warn on when closing speed is high up to slamming on brakes to reduce the power of impact. If they were designed to stop, everyone’s vehicles would be slamming on brakes all the time. As for the cameras? What happens if “minorities” are getting more tickets than whites? Will they be called raaaaacist?

Jennifer Homendy, chair of the National Transportation Safety Board and a strong advocate for the broader “safe systems” approach, also has praised the department’s initial steps but stressed the importance of a sustained effort to get full cooperation from states, communities and automakers.

Last week, Homendy criticized the NHTSA for moving too slowly in removing from its website statistics that suggested that 94% of serious crashes are solely due to driver error; in fact, the agency’s own research describes it as one of several key contributing factors. The NHTSA has since removed the language.

Can’t have the real data out there, you know, when it gets in the way of a paradigm shift.

Read: Mayor Pete Promises To Tackle Road Fatalities, Pushes “Zero Deaths” »

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