Next Masking Idea: Pantyhose

By William Teach February 4, 2022 – 10:30 am

Only wear a mask if you’re sick. Wear any face covering if you’re around a lot of people. Wear a mask at all times indoors even when no one is around. Wear 2 masks. Wear 3 masks. Wear an N95.

Sigh

In 2020, researchers from the University of Cambridge started testing out some of the ways people might adjust face masks to make them fit better on their faces. Their findings were finally released as a peer-reviewed study this week in the journal PLoS ONE.

A better seal around the edges of the masks means more protection from COVID-19, but most consumer-level surgical masks and KN95s leave gaps around the sides. The researchers tested seven different hacks that attempt to close the gaps, on surgical and KN95 masks:

  • Taping the edges of a mask to one’s face
  • Filling the sides of a mask with gauze
  • Binding the mask to the face with gauze (the “mummy” method)
  • Putting a knot in the ear loops
  • Rubber bands around the front to create a “brace” against the mouth
  • A slice of pantyhose wrapped around the face

All of these were better than nothing when tested by measuring concentrations of particles inside and around the mask. But the one that created the best seal was the pantyhose: they cut a section out of the thigh of some hose and yanked that over the wearer’s head and mask (except for one participant, who couldn’t get the hosiery over his head). The pressure of the stretchy fabric kept the mask on tight, but there was a catch: people really hated wearing it.

People hated wearing it? Shocking! In fact, every single one was uncomfortable…well, made the already uncomfortable masks even more uncomfortable.

“For most of the hacks, comfort was a big issue,” Eugenia O’Kelly, the paper’s first author, said in a press release. “The rubber bands for example, tended to put painful pressure on the ears and face, to the point where they hindered circulation to the ears. However, using an effective but uncomfortable hack may make good sense in some high-risk situations, where the discomfort is worth it for the added protection, but it would be harder to wear these hacks day in and day out.”

Piss off.

Read: Next Masking Idea: Pantyhose »

Posted in Bat Soup Virus, Unhinged Tools | 20 Comments | Trackback URL

‘Climate Change” Measures Have To Be Profitable Or Something

By William Teach February 4, 2022 – 7:00 am

At the end of the day, a lot of the things the climate cult wants are actually good ideas from an environmental point of view. Think about this: what if we could all drive EVs, and the skies would be mostly smog free? Remember during lockdown, when the air seemed so much clearer? I sure saw it, since, being an essential worker, I was going in every other week. It was great. Think about appliances which use less energy, are more efficient, are better for the environment, and cost you less. Makes sense, right?

Perspective: For climate change measures to work, they must be profitable

There is no path to fighting climate change without making the solutions profitable.

This is probably a shocking statement for many, but it’s actually fairly simple. With almost 10% of the global population living on less than $2 a day, and 13.4% of Americans living in poverty, people will always prioritize their survival, putting food on their table and providing for their families. As they should.

Unfortunately, the dialogue on climate thus far has largely been focused on ideas that appear solely applicable for the upper class. Electric vehicle costs are dropping, but they remain more expensive up-front than a normal internal combustion vehicle. People are being told that in order to save the planet, they must use energy sources that are more expensive than the alternative — a solution they can’t afford.

Now, some of the measures we have now, like refrigerators, were gradually mandated by government, along with companies simply making better products for consumers. Some things just make sense, and are beneficial. And affordable. That’s a much better word than profitable, at least at this time. Because most of the things being pushed are not affordable. They are for the rich

Examples of profit providing pro-climate results can be seen in our own homes, as well. Many Americans have switched to Nest, an at-home heating and cooling technology. Nest, which generated $726 million in revenue in 2017, allows everyday Americans to control their energy usage from an app. Families like mine have saved thousands of dollars in energy bills, lessened our overall energy usage and provided a profit for an up-and-coming company.

Except, that’s still for the middle and upper classes.

That’s something Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez gets right — climate solutions can’t just serve the upper class. Unfortunately, the AOC approach of more government control, more regulation and less competition for new technology only perpetuates this problem. We need climate solutions that work for all classes of people, not just the upper class.

Working-class people have to be able to fight climate change without thinking about it more, paying more and dramatically changing their way of life.

See, even if anthropogenic climate change is a big scam (it is), there wouldn’t be this massive pushback on “fixes” if those fixes weren’t so darned expensive, if they didn’t artificially drive up the cost of living, and didn’t require government taking our money and freedom. But, that’s what this is really about, government dominance over citizens. They don’t care about you. And they’ve brainwashed the peons into thinking that this is the way.

Read: ‘Climate Change” Measures Have To Be Profitable Or Something »

Posted in AGW Socialism, Global Warming | 7 Comments | Trackback URL

Know What’s Really Bad? Talking About Lab Leaks

By William Teach February 4, 2022 – 6:45 am

See, it’s not China releasing the Wuhan flu, intentionally or unintentionally that’s bad, it’s talking about it

Covid lab leak theories ‘have put world at risk of a new pandemic’

Covid lab leak theories have put the world at risk of a new pandemic, claims a leading British scientist who was integral in shutting down debate over the origin of the coronavirus.

Sir Jeremy Farrar, the director of the Wellcome Trust, told a webinar on Thursday the theory meant that people started dishing out blame to Chinese authorities and academics in early 2020.

This, he said, ruined international co-operation, “shut the door” on identifying the possible animal origins of the virus, and left people exposed to zoonotic diseases.

“I think we are now very, very vulnerable to further animal viruses coming across [into people] because we have no international co-operation going on in terms of identifying animal viruses that would be a threat to humanity,” he said during the Royal Society of Medicine discussion.

Or, you know, China could just not f*** around with coronaviruses, with the help of people like Anthony Fauci, putting the world at risk.

“I believe we shut that door in January and February of 2020 [with the lab leak debate]. And, as a result, I’m afraid we’re at greater risk today than we’ve been throughout my professional career.”

We’d be at less risk if China was blamed properly, if this was fully investigated, and China was made to stop messing around with essentially biological weapons. But, the people who are beholden to China and look to curry favor with China want to protect China.

However, recently uncovered, unredacted emails reveal Sir Jeremy himself believed it was a possibility when he signed the now infamous letter.

In emails dated Feb 2, Sir Jeremy told Dr Anthony Fauci, the chief medical adviser to the US president, that “a likely explanation” for Covid’s origin was that it rapidly evolved from a Sars-like virus in human tissues kept in a low-security lab at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

He said this could have “accidentally created a virus primed for rapid transmission between humans”. In the same email, he said he was “70:30 or 60:40” in favour of a lab leak.

What could have possibly changed? Perhaps we need to be investigating his links to China and Wuhan.

Read: Know What’s Really Bad? Talking About Lab Leaks »

Posted in Bat Soup Virus | 4 Comments | Trackback URL

If All You See…

By William Teach February 3, 2022 – 5:00 pm

…is a wonderful low carbon bike, which Everyone Else should be forced to ride, you might be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Irons In The Fire, with a post on running if you see a Georgtown law degree.

Read: If All You See… »

Posted in If All You See | 9 Comments | Trackback URL

Your Fault: Earth Might Maybe Possibly Hit 1.5C Within 10 Years

By William Teach February 3, 2022 – 3:06 pm

They feel it might happen, and this is your fault for refusing to buy an EV at the same price as a tiny house

Earth is likely just a decade a way from hitting 1.5°C of global warming — and scientists say it will be “catastrophic” for coral reefs

The United Nations has warned the continued use of fossil fuels is hurtling the planet to 1.5°C of global warming, relative to 1850-1900 levels, a threshold that will result in “unprecedented” extreme weather events. According to new research, climate change will also result in coral bleaching that will be “catastrophic” for reefs, and potentially, the marine life that live around them.

Is this the same UN that held a ‘climate change’ conference in Scotland, one where so many private jets were flown that they had to deadhead (fly with no passengers) them to other airports? They supposedly were going to ferry the Elites around in EVs, yet, there are no photos of that occurring. Strange, eh?

Once the planet hits 1.5°C of warming, researchers said, just 0.2% of Earth’s thermal refugia will have enough time to recover between extreme heat events, and more than 90% of those reefs will suffer “an intolerable level of thermal stress.” At 2°C, researchers found, no thermal refugia will remain, and all coral reefs will be exposed and vulnerable.

They do realize that corals built islands when the seas were much higher and the oceans much warmer, right?

This study was published the same day that other researchers concluded that marine heat is the “new normal” for oceans.

Until the earth hits another cool period. Then we get another warm period. Then cool.

Anyhow, when the Earth doesn’t hit 1.5C in 10 years, who gets called on the carpet? Who gets sanctioned for scaremongering? Who loses their job?

Read: Your Fault: Earth Might Maybe Possibly Hit 1.5C Within 10 Years »

Posted in AGW Scaremongering, Global Warming | 15 Comments | Trackback URL

J6 Inquisition Demands Phone Records Of Kelli Ward And Husband

By William Teach February 3, 2022 – 10:30 am

At this point, the J6 investigation is expanding well beyond their initial point, which was about the mostly peaceful protest in D.C., which saw a bunch of people calmly walking around the Congressional building, some in very silly hats. The people running J6 still whine about “McCarthyism”, which really occurred when he was mostly out of power, and in the House, not the Senate, via the House Un-American Activities Committee. That committee was investigating private citizens for communist sympathies, so, yes, that was an abuse of power, even during the Cold War. McCarthy at least mostly investigated government employees for Soviet Union ties.

January 6 committee subpoenaed Arizona GOP chair Kelli Ward, who told election officials in the state ‘we need you to stop counting the votes’

The select House committee investigating the Capitol riot subpoenaed the phone records of Kelli Ward, the chair of the Republican party in Arizona, and her husband, Michael Ward, according to a lawsuit filed by the couple on Tuesday, Politico reported.

The Wards are suing the committee, Chairman Bennie Thompson, and T-Mobile to block the company from providing their phone records. The lawsuit said T-Mobile received the subpoena from the committee on January 24, and that they are seeking phone records from November 1, 2020, to January 31, 2021.

The lawsuit argues that providing the records would infringe upon their right to privacy and doctor-patient privilege, as the Wards are both doctors and use their phones to talk to patients, as well as violate their First and Fourth Amendment rights.

Both of the Wards were among those who signed documents that falsely claimed they were the presidential electors for their state in the 2020 election, declaring former President Donald Trump the winner of Arizona’s electoral votes, despite the state being won by President Joe Biden, Politico reported.

Now, if the document is true, then that’s one thing. Scrolling through someone’s private communications who wasn’t even present at the mostly peaceful protest is something different, and a pure fishing expedition against a political opponent, using the power of Government to harass citizens. Especially when the time frame isn’t even right around January 6, and extends to the end of January. The Democrats, and a few unhinged wackadoodle traitor Republicans, are using the Committee For Investigating People Walking Around the Congressional Building, Many Wearing Funny Hats, as a witch hunt, as a means to exact political revenge. Where, exactly, does it stop?

Read: J6 Inquisition Demands Phone Records Of Kelli Ward And Husband »

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Mining For Lithium For Electric Vehicles Is Bad For The Environment

By William Teach February 3, 2022 – 7:00 am

Let’s see, first they said ethanol was a great answer for fossil fuels. Nope, bad for the environment. Then they wanted to push diesel vehicles. Nope, also bad. Then they pushed hybrids hard (not a bad idea, IMO). But, that wasn’t good enough, so now they’re pushing EVs, which most people cannot afford, and

From the article

unintended consequencesLithium extraction fields in South America have been captured by an aerial photographer in stunning high definition.

But while the images may be breathtaking to look at, they represent the dark side of our swiftly electrifying world.

Lithium represents a route out of our reliance on fossil fuel production. As the lightest known metal on the planet, it is now widely used in electric devices from mobile phones and laptops, to cars and aircraft.

Lithium-ion batteries are most famous for powering electric vehicles, which are set to account for up to 60 per cent of new car sales by 2030. The battery of a Tesla Model S, for example, uses around 12 kg of lithium.

These batteries are the key to lightweight, rechargeable power. As it stands, demand for lithium is unprecedented and many say it is crucial in order to transition to renewables.

However, this doesn’t come without a cost – mining the chemical element can be harmful to the environment.

And what kinds of problems? Well, it can cause air contamination and

Any type of resource extraction is harmful to the planet. This is because removing these raw materials can result in soil degradation, water shortages, biodiversity loss, damage to ecosystem functions and an increase in global warming.

Oops.

Read: Mining For Lithium For Electric Vehicles Is Bad For The Environment »

Posted in Energy, Environment, Global Warming | 6 Comments | Trackback URL

AOC Makes Sense On Congressional Stock Trades

By William Teach February 3, 2022 – 6:45 am

I have zero problem agreeing with her. When someone is correct, they’re correct

AOC says it’s ‘not really a mystery’ why Congress hasn’t passed a stock trading ban for lawmakers given that ‘an enormous amount’ of them trade stocks

Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York offered a blunt assessment of why members of Congress haven’t voted to ban themselves from trading stocks: because many of them hold lots of stock themselves.

In an interview with Yahoo Finance published on Wednesday, the progressive congresswoman said that it’s “not a mystery to me” why a stock trading ban is “difficult to pass” in Congress, given that “an enormous amount” of members hold stock.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if it was the majority of members of Congress holding and trading and individual stock,” she said. “I don’t know the actual numbers, but it is a very large degree.”

Insider’s “Conflicted Congress” investigation found that 277 lawmakers did not report owning individual stock investments in 2020 — which would mean just under half of lawmakers do have such investments.

Insider also found that existing provisions to combat insider trading, particular the STOCK Act, are poorly enforced, and dozens of lawmakers and nearly 200 staffers have violated the law’s disclosure provisions.

And she’s part of legislation

The New York congresswoman is a co-sponsor of the Ban Conflicted Trading Act, one of several different bills that would ban lawmakers from trading stocks. Notably, the bill allows members to continue holding widely held investment funds.

However, the ban supported by Ocasio-Cortez does not include spouses, which some have identified as a potential “loophole” in any potential reforms, given that spouses presumably discuss personal finances with one another.

Realistically, no one working on Capitol Hill should be allowed to trade stock, from elected officials to their staff to high ranking appointed Executive Office officials, to those working directly for the President and VP. It’d be nice if spouses and family members were restricted, but, as “private” citizens, restricting them would probably be illegal. But, they can be investigated quite a bit.

(Market Watch) (the link goes to Pocket, since the article is behind a paywall) So who were the biggest traders? The table below, based on a Capitol Trades analysis, shows the 41 members of Congress who made stock buys or sells in 2021 with an estimated value of at least $500,000 — or had family members who made such trades.

At the top of the list of the biggest traders on Capitol Hill by dollar volume is Rep. Michael McCaul, a Texas Republican, who disclosed an estimated $31 million in stock buys and $35 million in stock sales. He’s followed by Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna of California with $34 million in estimated purchases and $19 million in sales, GOP Rep. Mark Green of Tennessee with $26 million in estimated buys and $26 million in sells, and Democratic Rep. Suzan DelBene of Washington state with $15 million in estimated buys and $31 million in sells.

Pelosi, in case you’re wondering, had $12 million in transactions. It’s a nice little bipartisan list, and we see things like

(Ro) Khanna’s (D-Ca) biggest trades included purchases by his spouse of shares in Walgreens Boots Alliance WBA and Microsoft MSFT, along with purchases by a child of shares in Apple AAPL, communications company RingCentral RNG and Facebook parent Meta Platforms FB. The California congressman’s spokeswoman said he “does not own any individual stocks and complies fully with the Ban Conflicted Trading Act, which would prohibit lawmakers from buying or selling individual stocks.” That’s a reference to legislation that has attracted 35 co-sponsors in the House and three in the Senate.

“These are his wife’s assets prior to marriage and managed by an outside financial advisor. No trading is done through joint accounts,” Khanna’s spokeswoman also said.

Wink wink. He’s totally not involved, certainly not giving her info on legislation.

“I let a manager handle it,” Green said in that interview, when asked about efforts to ban lawmakers from trading in individual stocks. “I’ve written it into a letter: ‘Do not take any instructions from me. Don’t listen to me on television and make any decisions.’ And I let him make all of the decisions. I’m for people doing it that way.”

He also said “getting insider information is a crime,” and laws against it “should be enforced.”

That would be Mark Green (R-Tn). And he could be on the up and up, as could a lot of them. But, without serious enforcement, how are we to know.

Read: AOC Makes Sense On Congressional Stock Trades »

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Climate Cult Keeps Trying To Blame Snowstorms On Climate Crisis (scam)

By William Teach February 2, 2022 – 3:08 pm

This is the hallmark of a cult: they just keep repeating the same delirium that was invented to reinforce their cultish beliefs

What does climate change have to do with snowstorms?

(THE CONVERSATION) Bostonians may have grumbled about digging out from almost 2 feet of snow after a historic snowstorm clobbered the Northeast in late January 2022, but it shouldn’t have been a surprise. This part of the U.S. has been seeing a lot of storms like this in recent decades.

In fact, over a century of reliable weather records show many of the Northeast’s heaviest snowfalls have occurred since 1990 – including seven of the top 10 in both Boston and New York.

At the same time, winters in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast have warmed by approximately 4 degrees Fahrenheit (2.2 C) since the late 1800s.

How can the spate of big snowstorms be reconciled with our warming climate? I’m an atmospheric scientist. Let’s look at an important law of physics and some theories that can help explain the changes.

Warmer air, more moisture

First, warmer air can hold more moisture than cold air.

Think of the atmosphere like a sponge. Air holds about 4% more water vapor for each additional degree Fahrenheit increase in temperature (that’s about 7% per degree Celsius). The physical law that explains this relationship is known as the Clausius-Clapyron relation.

The worst storm in recorded Boston history was in 1717, which dumped around 5 feet, and caused 16 foot drifts. There were plenty of snowstorms during the 1600’s, 1700’s, and to mid-1800’s, during the Little Ice Age. How did that happen? Apparently it only snows heavy during a warm period? Do they ever listen to what they’re pushing? Do they believe that people with brains will listen and belief this?

Skipping to end

The sharp increase in high-impact Northeast winter storms is an expected manifestation of a warming climate. It’s another risk the U.S. will have to prepare for as extreme events become more common with climate change.

Read: Climate Cult Keeps Trying To Blame Snowstorms On Climate Crisis (scam) »

Posted in Climate Cult, Collapsing Science, Global Warming | 11 Comments | Trackback URL

If All You See…

By William Teach February 2, 2022 – 1:00 pm

…are wonderful woods which will soon be decimated by too much CO2, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Gen Z Conservative, with a post on Brandon yelling randomly.

Read: If All You See… »

Posted in If All You See | 2 Comments | Trackback URL
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