If All You See…

By William Teach February 10, 2022 – 1:00 pm

…is a horrible carbon pollution intensive sports arena, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is 357 Magnum, with a post on self defense being legal in Ohio.

Read: If All You See… »

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Surprise: Bloomberg Wants School Mask Mandates Ended

By William Teach February 10, 2022 – 10:30 am

Bloomberg, and their editorial board, have long advocated for people to be forced to wear masks, especially school kids. But, now? This was interesting enough to create a separate post rather than going back and adding on to the earlier one

For Kids, Mask Mandates No Longer Make Sense

So far, four states — Connecticut, Delaware, New Jersey and Oregon — have announced that they’ll do away with requirements that K-12 students and teachers wear masks at school. Others may soon follow suit. It’s time.

To be clear: There’s evidence that masks may have been useful in blocking Covid infections in schools. A recent study conducted in two large Arizona counties found that outbreaks were more prevalent in schools that did not require masks than they were in those that did. This is one reason that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — in contrast with the World Health Organization — has recommended indoor masking for all students and teachers at K-12 schools, regardless of age or community transmission levels.

But as numerous experts have noted, this study and others that the CDC has relied on have shortcomings. The two Arizona counties in the study, for instance, had different rates of vaccinations. Meanwhile, other analyses have found little evidence that student mask mandates significantly reduce transmission rates. It’s fair to say the evidence is mixed.

Most other 1st World nations did not require the kids to mask up in school, that was mostly an invention of Democratic Party politicians.

One might still make a plausible case that masks make sense as a precaution. But there are worrying signs that they’re imposing steep costs on children’s social development. Research indicates that people of all ages have trouble recognizing faces that are half-covered by protective masks. For children, the difficulty is much greater. Masks appear to make it harder for kids to mentally assess and and process faces as a whole, which may weaken their ability to read other people’s emotions and form social ties. They may also struggle to hear their teachers and to pick up on nonverbal cues.

Gee, just like Republicans have been saying all along, as well as many non-Progressive Democratic voting parents.

With omicron case numbers plummeting, it’s reasonable to recalculate the balance between the protection masks provide and the difficulties they impose. In doing so, it pays to keep in mind school-age children’s relatively low risk of hospitalization and death from Covid — especially if they’re vaccinated, as almost all of them should be. What’s more, there’s evidence that kids do not readily spread the coronavirus to their elders at school.

We knew this in 2020.

For now, and unless Covid resurges in some new form, the potential harm caused by masks seems to outweigh the benefits. States and districts need to make a plan for relaxing these mandates — and then scrapping them altogether.

I wonder what changed to make the editorial board write this? Expect to see more of this type of stuff as the mid-terms start approaching.

Read: Surprise: Bloomberg Wants School Mask Mandates Ended »

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Bummer: Infrastructure Bill Is Bad For Climate Crisis (scam)

By William Teach February 10, 2022 – 8:14 am

It wasn’t that long that the sycophants in the media, along with elected Democrats, were calling Biden’s infrastructure bill “historic” and super duper awesome. Times change because there’s a big cult around

How Billions in Infrastructure Funding Could Worsen Global Warming

st greta carThe highways in Colorado, one of the nation’s fastest-growing states, are frequently clogged with suburban workers driving into Denver, skiers heading high into the Rocky Mountains and trucks rumbling across the Interstates.

A Western frontier state with an affinity for the open road and Subaru Outbacks, Colorado’s traditional answer to traffic congestion could be summed up in two words: more asphalt.

But widening highways and paving new roads often just spurs people to drive more, research shows. And as concerns grow about how tailpipe emissions are heating the planet, Colorado is among a handful of car-dominated states that are rethinking road building.

In December, Colorado adopted a first-of-its-kind climate change regulation that will push transportation planners to redirect funding away from highway expansions and toward projects that cut vehicle pollution, such as buses and bike lanes.

Nothing like riding a bike a long distance with your tools or skis in cold, winter weather, right? But, hey, this is what you cultists voted for, don’t complain.

The new $1 trillion infrastructure law invests billions in climate-friendly programs like electric car chargers and public transit. But it also gives states $273 billion for highways over five years, with few strings attached. One analysis from the Georgetown Climate Center found that this money could significantly increase emissions if states keep adding highway lanes.

Well, that’s a bummer, eh?

Already, there are signs that even states with ambitious climate goals like Washington, Illinois and Nevada hope to use federal funds to expand roadways, such as adding lanes to a congested section of the Eisenhower Freeway near Chicago. In 2019, states spent one-third of their highway dollars on new road capacity, roughly $19.3 billion, with the rest spent on repairs.

“This is a major blind spot for politicians who say they care about climate change,” said Kevin DeGood, director of infrastructure policy at the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank. “Everyone gets that oil pipelines are carbon infrastructure. But new highways are carbon infrastructure, too. Both lock in place 40 to 50 years of emissions.”

That’s horrible! How dare politicians listen to citizens who want less congested roads!

Read: Bummer: Infrastructure Bill Is Bad For Climate Crisis (scam) »

Posted in AGW Idiocy, Democrats, Global Warming | 3 Comments | Trackback URL

With Midterms Coming, Democrat Governors Break From Biden On Mandates

By William Teach February 10, 2022 – 8:01 am

Remember when all these Democrats were screeching about “everyone’s gonna die!!!!” when Republicans, especially newly elected Virginia Governor Glen Youngkin, were removing all mask mandates and telling lower level government they cannot implement a mask mandate, especially in schools? What changed?

Democrats scramble to reverse course on COVID restrictions ahead of midterms

Democrats across the country are scrambling to reverse course on COVID-19 restrictions as this year’s midterm elections loom.

With the notable exception of the White House, Democrats at every level are signaling their support for returning to normal as polls show Americans are weary of coronavirus restrictions, which Republican states have largely done away with.

According to a recent poll by Monmouth University, 70% of Americans say it’s time for the country to move on from the pandemic, and a decreasing number of Americans support COVID-related mandates. President Biden’s approval ratings on handling COVID, once a strength, are also now underwater, with 43% approving and 53% disapproving, according to the poll.

Biden has chosen to follow the lead of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which still recommends universal masking indoors and in schools.

Except, there’s one thing Biden and most ignore from the CDC:

If you are 2 years or older and are not up to date with your COVID-19 vaccines, wear a mask indoors in public.

How often do you hear that one? That there’s no need to wear a mask indoors if you are vaccinated? Certainly, the local Raleigh and Wake County mask mandates make zero mention of that. As AARP notes

Nine states — California, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Oregon and Washington — require most people to wear masks in indoor public places, whether or not they have been vaccinated against COVID-19. Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico have similar orders in place.

Connecticut has an indoor mandate that extends only to the unvaccinated. Rhode Island has a hybrid order that requires face-covering for all in large venues but gives smaller businesses leeway based on patrons’ vaccination status.

Remember, Biden’s EO requires masks in all federal buildings regardless of vaccination status. Which many of the Elites blow off. Back to original article

But with the midterms ahead, many Democrats who once led the way in issuing lockdown orders and mandates over the course of the pandemic are easing restrictions in their states in defiance of the administration.

Numerous blue state governors this week have announced that they are rolling back coronavirus restrictions, and prominent congressional Democrats have also signaled their support for returning to normal.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced that her state will end its COVID-19 mandate requiring face coverings in most indoor public settings but will keep it for schools. Illinois announced the same.

Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee said Wednesday his state will end its indoor vaccine-or-mask requirement this week, followed by the school mask mandate in March. Massachusetts, which is generally considered a blue state but has a centrist Republican governor, will end its school mask mandate at the end of the month.

Earlier this week, New Jersey, Connecticut and Delaware all disclosed plans to join states that have lifted or never had mask requirements for their schools.

California will like lift those mandates for those who are not vaccinated. The science has not changed, and the infection rates are still well above where they were prior to Omicron when these Democrats were hardcore maskers. So, yeah, they’re doing it for politics.

The shift in Democratic messaging surrounding the pandemic was buoyed in part by Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s upset win in Virginia in November. Focus group findings by Third Way, a think tank aligned with Democrats, found that swing voters who voted for Youngkin over Democratic candidate Terry McAuliffe were motivated by COVID-19 restrictions and school closures even more so than critical race theory being taught in the classroom, NBC News reported.

The school mandates are heavily driving this, as parents revolt. Suzy Weiss has a long piece on the Chinese coronavirus moms, so many of whom typically vote Democrat, were Never Trump, and are very upset about all the masking restrictions on their kids in schools, on the hybrid schooling models, on being called terrorists for wanting their kids in school, unmasked, so they can learn.

“Democrats’ plan to fight COVID is working — cases are down & vaccines are widely available,” Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, tweeted Wednesday. “Now, it’s time to give people their lives back. With science as our guide, we’re ready to start getting back to normal.”

“People are ready to pivot” from the pandemic, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Wednesday.

It’s a stark contrast to what the left was saying just a month ago when Youngkin banned school mask mandates in Virginia.

“Kids will die,” CNN political pundit Joe Lockhart tweeted three weeks ago.

The question for the midterms is “are they doing this too late?” People were ready to pivot last year. Will Republicans highlight what the Democrats did in a concerted effort?

Read: With Midterms Coming, Democrat Governors Break From Biden On Mandates »

Posted in Bat Soup Virus, Democrats, Elections | 3 Comments | Trackback URL

Poll Finds That Other People Should Pay For Fixing Climate Crisis (scam)

By William Teach February 9, 2022 – 3:00 pm

It’s so weird that the people who believe in climate emergency doom want to pay for it about as much as those who don’t believe in it

Climate change will be expensive. Who should pay?

Global efforts to combat climate change will require trillions of dollars, and a lot of people want companies to bear the cost.

A POLITICO Morning Consult Global Sustainability Poll asked people in 13 countries who should pay — governments, taxpayers, consumers, other countries, or the private sector. In every country but one — India — respondents singled out companies.

That finding dovetails with an anyone-but-us sentiment reflected in the poll. Respondents in every country surveyed were united against increasing costs to taxpayers or consumers. In the U.S., 15 percent of adults said climate change costs should be borne by consumers through higher prices. Eighteen percent said taxpayers should pay a lot of the cost.

“Anyone-but-us”

Among U.S. respondents, 41 percent said corporations should fund “a lot” of the costs associated with combating global warming. Nearly 70 percent of people said the private sector should pay “a lot” or “some.” No other group came close.

The sentiment was particularly marked among high earners, 54 percent of whom said companies should shoulder a lot of the burden.

Well, high earners won’t have to worry about all the costs being passed on to the consumers like the middle and lower earners. I’d almost like to see this happen just to see the shocked faces of the Warmists when they realize that they will, in fact, be paying for it themselves. Does anyone think that skyrocketing costs will really affect Obama, Biden, Senator Whitehouse, Hollywood celebs, and so forth?

The sentiment isn’t limited to the U.S. More than 40 percent of respondents in the U.K., Canada, France, Germany, Mexico, Russia, and South Africa also said companies should bear a lot of climate change’s cost. In Brazil, the number shot up to 56 percent.

See, That Guy needs to pay.

The poll is here, but, it’s a formatting mess, and really long.

Read: Poll Finds That Other People Should Pay For Fixing Climate Crisis (scam) »

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

If All You See…

By William Teach February 9, 2022 – 1:00 pm

…is a horrible fossil fueled vehicle parking lot, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is The First Street Journal, with a post wondering where our privacy is.

Read: If All You See… »

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Bummer: Tow Trucks Refuse To Help Ottawa Remove Freedom Truckers Trucks

By William Teach February 9, 2022 – 10:30 am

Blue collar folks refusing to help The Man go after other Blue Collar folks

Ottawa officials say towing companies are refusing to move the Canadian truckers protesting vaccine mandates in the city’s streets

Ottawa city officials say towing companies contracted to work with the city are refusing to move vehicles used in the protests by Canadian truck drivers who oppose COVID-19 vaccine mandates.

“I’ve contacted them all and they’re all refusing, as of today, to provide heavy tow truck work,” city manager Steve Kanellakos told reporters Monday evening, the CBC reported.

The streets of Ottawa are littered with hundreds of trucks and other vehicles as protesters — who have dubbed themselves the “Freedom Convoy” — have illegally parked in the streets, clogging the city’s blocks. The demonstration has been in progress for nearly two weeks.

According to the CBC, the protesters have said they will only leave their posts when vaccine mandates are lifted, and it is very difficult to tow a truck without the help of the driver.

The Progressive elites do not like when their worker bee base revolts and refuses to do what they say. And inconveniences the elites. And the progressives who aren’t elites but Believe that they are Special. Blue collar folks are just another sector for the Elites to use when convenient, abuse when they aren’t.

Saskatchewan to remove proof of COVID-19 vaccination, negative test requirement on Feb. 14

On Monday, Feb. 14 at 12:01 a.m., Saskatchewan will put an end to the requirement to provide proof of vaccination or proof of a negative COVID-19 test result to access businesses and other public spaces.

“Proof of vaccination has been an effective policy, but its effectiveness has run its course,” a statement from premier Scott Moe reads.

“The benefits no longer outweigh the costs. It’s time to heal the divisions over vaccination in our families, in our communities and in our province. It’s time for proof of vaccination requirements to end.”

Just a coincidence.

Canada: Alberta Will End Mandated Vaccine Passports at Midnight

Just a coincidence. Alberta and many other provinces are also looking to slowly remove their mask mandates. These are the same provinces which refused to remove any mandates when the COVID positivity rate was under 5%.

Meanwhile, there are also protests at the Ambassador Bridge, which goes between Windsor and Detroit, and accounts for 27% of cross border trade. The bridge has been, at times, completely shut down over the past few days.

(Breitbart) Windsor-Essex Regional Chamber of Commerce CEO Rakesh Naidu was less sympathetic to the protesters.

“Many businesses have been through so much in the last two years. This couldn’t come at a worse time. To constrict the border like this will impact everyone not just in Windsor, but Ontario and Canada. You have thousands of businesses that rely on the border and trade coming through. You have inventory based on just-in-time delivery,” Naidu told the Windsor Star on Tuesday.

“Any disruption of supply can lead to shifts being canceled and if it continues, closing operations,” Naidu cautioned. “All of that doesn’t just impact the businesses in all the different sectors, but consumers like you and me. This is not just manufacturing, but goods we all consume as well, like fresh produce, or chemicals and fuel that we need.”

See, it’s fine when the Powers That Be lock everyone down, force them to comply, mess with businesses and the economy, but, when the peons do it to get rid of mandates, well, that’s a step too far. Anyhow, if the government was smart they’d simply remove the vaccination requirement for cross border truckers, which was the original demand, and just move on.

Read: Bummer: Tow Trucks Refuse To Help Ottawa Remove Freedom Truckers Trucks »

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Good News: Army To Make Themselves Less Capable With Electric Vehicles

By William Teach February 9, 2022 – 7:45 am

It’s bad enough that the US Army is allowing in transgenders (who have a much higher rate of mental health issues, suicidal tendencies around military grade weapons), reducing physical fitness standards, and raft of other Woke stuff. So, sure, let’s worry more about ‘climate change’ rather than protecting the U.S. and being able to project power

U.S. Army’s first climate plan calls to slash emissions and build electric vehicle fleet

The U.S. Army on Tuesday unveiled its first climate strategy focused on protecting and training soldiers amid worsening climate disasters like floods, heat waves and drought and cutting the service’s greenhouse gas emissions.

The Army’s plan, a response to President Joe Biden’s executive orders calling on agencies to adapt to climate change, directs the service to slash its emissions in half from 2005 levels by 2030 and reach net-zero emissions by 2050.

As part of the strategy, the Army plans to install a microgrid on all of its installations by 2035 and have an fully electric non-tactical vehicle fleet by 2035. It will also work to cut emissions from buildings and include climate change threat mitigation into its land management decisions.

The military considers non-tactical vehicles as

Non-Tactical Vehicles (NTV) comprise of any commercial motor vehicle, trailer, material handling or engineering equipment that carries passengers or cargo acquired for administrative, direct mission, or operational support of military functions. Sedans, station wagons, carryalls, vans, and buses, leased or owned, are considered “non-tactical.”

Well, thankfully this doesn’t apply to true mission vehicles. Yet.

The service has already started or completed 950 renewable energy projects, including a 2.1 megawatt solar field at Fort Knox in Kentucky, and 25 microgrid projects scoped and planned through 2024, according to the strategy.

Oh, good, turning training commands and other bases into climate cult centers. How will this work when they actually have to deploy?

A rise in extreme weather events has already cost the department billions of dollars and will prompt more demand for U.S. troops while damaging military bases, degrading mission capabilities and putting service members at risk.

“Climate change threatens America’s security and is altering the geostrategic landscape as we know it,” Army Secretary Christine Wormuth said in a statement.

And they want to turn the military into a Bad Weather response team. We’re doomed.

Read: Good News: Army To Make Themselves Less Capable With Electric Vehicles »

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

Surprise: Natural Immunity To COVID Is Rather Real

By William Teach February 9, 2022 – 7:00 am

Remember early on when people who had had COVID were thought to have created big resistance, even immunity, to the Chinese coronavirus, and, when coupled with those getting the just released vaccines, this would be a good thing? But, then, Brandon won the election, and Democrats, their pet media, and the Popular Medical Experts said everyone needed to get the vaccine, because natural immunity was bunk? That it was meaningless? That it didn’t really exist? That it didn’t matter? Take the damned vaccine, peons, and we might maybe possibly let you have your lives back. Or not.

Tweets and Facebooks posts were censored, as were videos on Youtube and other social media sites, or, at least, given a “disinformation” label. And now?

The future of the pandemic is looking clearer as we learn more about infection

surprise surprise surpriseDuring the early days of the pandemic, scientists and doctors were concerned that being infected with SARS-CoV-2 might not trigger a strong immune response in many people – thus an infection might not provide long-term protection.

“Immunity to Covid-19 could be lost in months, UK study suggests,” a headline from The Guardian alerted back in July 2020. “King’s College London team found steep drops in patients’ antibody levels three months after infection,” the story warned.

But that idea was based on preliminary data from the laboratory — and on a faulty understanding of how the immune system works. Now about a year and a half later, better data is painting a more optimistic picture about immunity after a bout of COVID-19. In fact, a symptomatic infection triggers a remarkable immune response in the general population, likely offering protection against severe disease and death for a few years.

And if you’re vaccinated on top of it, your protection is likely even better, studies are consistently showing.

Here are several key questions people have been asking throughout the pandemic – and ones that researchers are beginning to answer.

So, natural immunity is rather real? Huh. Where are all the apologies from the Powers That Be?

With SARS-CoV-2, your immune system generates two types of protection: protection against reinfection and protection against severe illness upon that second infection. Let’s start with the latter.

If you’re under age 50 and healthy, then a bout of COVID-19 offers good protection against severe disease if you were to be infected again in a future surge, says epidemiologist Laith Abu-Raddad, at Weill-Cornell Medical-Qatar. “That’s really important because eventually, every one of us will get infected,” he says. “But if reinfections prove to be more mild, in general, it will allow us to live with this pandemic in a much easier way.” (snip)

These findings, published in the New England Journal of Medicine in December, are consistent with data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last month. In that study, a prior infection reduced the risk of hospitalization during the delta surge by more than 50 times compared with in people who hadn’t had a prior infection and were not vaccinated. People who had had both a prior infection and were vaccinated had the most protection.

I wonder if the Usual Suspects will block the content from NPR, the study, and the CDC?

Read: Surprise: Natural Immunity To COVID Is Rather Real »

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Good News: Solar Panels And Wind Turbines Can Bring World Peace!

By William Teach February 8, 2022 – 3:00 pm

Especially if we get them from China, right?

From the Daily Caller article

Department of Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm suggested that solar panels and wind farms could be the key to ensuring world peace in the future.

Solar, wind and other renewable sources would be key for the U.S. and its European allies to have energy security, Granholm said during her remarks at the U.S.-EU Energy Ministerial hosted by the State Department on Monday. The energy secretary added that fossil fuel dependence puts the West at greater risk of volatile energy prices.

“High energy prices have been putting strains on households on both sides of the Atlantic,” Granholm remarked. “In Europe, you have seen prices go through the roof. Of course, tensions between Russia and Ukraine pose threats to the energy security of the European Union, our friends and partners.”

“All of this underscores the benefits of clean energy,” she continued. “I was at a ministerial last week and my counterpart in Ireland, Minister Ryan, said words that I thought were very interesting. No country has been held hostage to access to the sun. No country has been hostage to the wind. This is not just an energy and climate issue, it is also potentially the greatest peace plan that ever existed.

So, she took a long fossil fueled flight to discuss this? Huh. In fairness, she’s not wrong, energy independence does mean there is no need to rely upon energy from nations like Russia, China, Middle East, Iran, Venezuela. We could do that right now by allow drilling for petroleum and natural gas here in the U.S., while working towards making “renewables” viable, reliable, and affordable, without the need to cover everywhere with solar panels and wind turbines. And, let’s not forget building next gen nuclear power plants.

However, not everything violence is about energy. The Islamic jihadis aren’t fighting due to energy. Russia is not really looking to invade Ukraine over energy.

As for high energy prices, well, the policies of the climate cult elites have done this.

Read: Good News: Solar Panels And Wind Turbines Can Bring World Peace! »

Posted in AGW Idiocy, Energy, Global Warming | 9 Comments | Trackback URL
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