…is a wonderful low carbon bicycle that Everyone Else should be forced to ride, you might just be a Warmist
The blog of the day is DC Clothesline, with a post on Democrats wanting the unvaccinated on a “no fly” list and ban them from all flights
Read: If All You See… »
Oh, and they can make things worse
Those Anti-Covid Plastic Barriers Probably Don’t Help and May Make Things Worse
Covid precautions have turned many parts of our world into a giant salad bar, with plastic barriers separating sales clerks from shoppers, dividing customers at nail salons and shielding students from their classmates.
Intuition tells us a plastic shield would be protective against germs. But scientists who study aerosols, air flow and ventilation say that much of the time, the barriers don’t help and probably give people a false sense of security. And sometimes the barriers can make things worse.
Research suggests that in some instances, a barrier protecting a clerk behind a checkout counter may redirect the germs to another worker or customer. Rows of clear plastic shields, like those you might find in a nail salon or classroom, can also impede normal air flow and ventilation.
Under normal conditions in stores, classrooms and offices, exhaled breath particles disperse, carried by air currents and, depending on the ventilation system, are replaced by fresh air roughly every 15 to 30 minutes. But erecting plastic barriers can change air flow in a room, disrupt normal ventilation and create “dead zones,†where viral aerosol particles can build up and become highly concentrated. (snip)
But Covid-19 spreads largely through unseen aerosol particles. While there isn’t much real-world research on the impact of transparent barriers and the risk of disease, scientists in the United States and Britain have begun to study the issue, and the findings are not reassuring.
Well, let’s consider that when COVID hit there were lots of concerns, and we didn’t have answers, so people just tried anything. All the cleaning that occurred. Remember that? Some still do it. Yet, most studies show that you will not catch COVID from surfaces. Locking people down didn’t really kill it, yet, governments still try this. Slapping up all these barrier seemed like a good idea at the time. Now we’re finding out different.
A study published in June and led by researchers from Johns Hopkins, for example, showed that desk screens in classrooms were associated with an increased risk of coronavirus infection. In a Massachusetts school district, researchers found that plexiglass dividers with side walls in the main office were impeding air flow. A study looking at schools in Georgia found that desk barriers had little effect on the spread of the coronavirus compared with ventilation improvements and masking.
It’s one of the main reasons why they say airplanes are safe despite zero distancing: air flow.
The article delves into many studies, including one from 2013, which, you would have thought the People In Charge would have known about. But, we should give them a bit of a break, since we should remember all the panic that was occurring in the early part of 2020. Of course, why aren’t they saying anything now? Heck, they barely mention the smart stuff: wash your hands, don’t touch your face, social distance, don’t touch people. They want masks, which also don’t work, just like barriers.
Won’t someone think of the children?
A billion children at ‘extreme risk’ from climate impacts – Unicef
Almost half the world’s 2.2 billion children are already at “extremely high risk†from the impacts of the climate crisis and pollution, according to a report from Unicef. The UN agency’s head called the situation “unimaginably direâ€.
Nearly every child around the world was at risk from at least one of these impacts today, including heatwaves, floods, cyclones, disease, drought, and air pollution, the report said. But 1 billion children live in 33 countries facing three or four impacts simultaneously. The countries include India, Nigeria and the Philippines, and much of sub-Saharan Africa.
The report is the first to combine high-resolution maps of climate and environmental impacts with maps of child vulnerability, such as poverty and access to clean water, healthcare and education. “It essentially [shows] the likelihood of a child’s ability to survive climate change,†said Nick Rees, one of the report’s authors.
Right, right, things that have always happened are now assigned as caused by witchcraft, er, ‘climate change’. This is the in the upper tiers of scaremongering, using children as shields to give government more of your money and reducing your freedom and choice. Really, in a sane world, these people would be shamed for using children in this manner.
The report calls for the inclusion of young people in all climate negotiations and decisions, including at the UN Cop26 summit in Glasgow in November. “The decisions will define their future,†said Fore. “Children and young people need to be recognised as the rightful heirs of this planet that we all share.â€
Yeah, let’s include the people with no knowledge.
Thunberg said: “We are not just victims, we are also leading the fight. But [the world] is still not treating the climate crisis like an emergency. We are still just talking and greenwashing things instead of taking real action. But, on the other hand, there have been many millions of people mobilised, especially young people, and that is a very important step in the right direction.â€
Yes, let’s take real action
Read: A Billion Kids Could Maybe Be At “Extreme Risk” From Scaremongering, Er, Climate Crisis (scam) »
This might make some sense if the chaos had simply occurred, but, in this case, the chaos was caused by the Biden admin’s horrible, no good Afghanistan exit plan, which left all these Americans scrambling to not just get a flight out, but, running the gauntlet to get to the airport
The Biden administration continued to inform American citizens in Afghanistan as of Thursday evening they could have to pay more than $2,000 to board an evacuation flight out of the country, despite the State Department telling the press hours before that it had no intention of levying any such charges.
The U.S. Embassy in Afghanistan has stated in multiple security advisories since Monday that any U.S. citizen seeking to evacuate the country must complete an online form in order to secure their repatriation flight. “This form is the only way to communicate interest in flight options,†the embassy said in a security advisory Wednesday.
State Department spokesman Ned Price told the Daily Caller News Foundation and other news outlets late Thursday afternoon that the Biden administration has “no intention of seeking any reimbursement from those fleeing Afghanistan.â€
However, the online form American citizens are directed to fill out to secure their evacuation from Afghanistan continued to state well into Thursday evening that they travelers will have to pay their own way out of the country.
“Repatriation flights are not free,†Question 14 of the form stated when accessed by the DCNF around 10 p.m. Thursday, over two-and-a-half hours after Price issued his statement.
“All passengers will need to reimburse the U.S. Government for the flight. A promissory note for the full cost of the flight, which may exceed $2000 per person, must be signed by each adult passenger before boarding,†the form stated.
The U.S. citizens wouldn’t be in this position without Biden and his Woke Generals implementing a plan that was a complete turd and led to this chaos.
“No cash or credit card payments will be accepted,†the form added.
So, the U.S. government won’t accept their own cash? People are supposed to write a check? Really?
Whatever your views on Donald Trump, it’s hard to argue with the logic. pic.twitter.com/leXiEnDGNp
— Miranda Devine (@mirandadevine) August 19, 2021
Joe did exactly the opposite. Except, no bombings. The Taliban now has all the equipment, and will sell a lot to China and Russia. Many planes are taking off half full and even empty. This is what you call utter incompetence. But, you can bet that no one will pay the price. No one will resign or be fired.
Read: Joe Hiden Admin Charging Americans To Fly Out Of Afghanistan »
Do you have climate anxiety?
If you’re anxious about climate change, here are some ways to feel more empowered
Last week’s report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) sounded the alarm once again on climate change, with the authors calling it a “code red for humanity.”
Over the summer months, many of us have been glued to TV and social media, watching images of B.C. forests burning, turning the sky — thick with smoke — an eerie orange-red. This has been accompanied by heat waves, floods, droughts and other fires around the world flashing across our screens. (snip)
First, there’s a measure of self-care. Cox says it’s important to acknowledge dark feelings and manage them, by taking walks in nature, getting good sleep and eating well. And it’s important to also take in moments of delight to help combat feelings of despair.
And that’s pretty much it. I recommend that they give up all trappings of the modern world.
Developing nations push to define ‘unacceptably vague’ adaptation goal
As scientists warn of worsening climate impacts to come, there is renewed impetus to define what global ambition on adaptation should look like.
The latest report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change underscored that weather extremes will intensify and sea levels rise this century in all emissions scenarios.
Yet six years after the Paris Agreement established a global goal to help people cope with these threats, what that means in practice remains “unacceptably vagueâ€, according to vulnerable countries. They want the next UN climate summit, Cop26, in November, to focus political attention on the issue.
South Africa is proposing a quantitative target: to increase the climate resilience of the global population 50% by 2030 and at least 90% by 2050.
Yeah, this is really all about redistributing money from the 1st World to other countries. South Africa has basically become a 3rd world shithole.
Climate change gets leading role in Gavin Newsom recall election in California
Mail-in ballots began arriving this week for the Sept. 14 recall election of California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a contest that Democrats and environmentalists are increasingly framing in terms of its impact on the state’s efforts to fight climate change.
While a group called the California Patriot Coalition began circulating petitions to recall Newsom in early 2020 in protest of his policies on taxes, the state’s ongoing drought, homelessness and immigration, the accumulation of the more than 1.5 million signatures necessary to trigger a new election was aided by frustrations over COVID-19 restrictions.
But with wildfires made worse by climate change continuing to threaten much of the state, Democrats quickly began highlighting that issue, on which Newsom has taken aggressive action.
By “aggressive action”, do them mean allowing the conditions to propagate so when someone or a company makes a mistake, or it’s arson, the dead brush lights up and destroys everything? Anyhow, it would be very interesting if a Republican wins, most likely Larry Elder, and rolls back every initiative he can. And just stops enforcing others, because you know there’s zero chance of getting the majority Democrat controlled general assembly to pass laws.
Read: Climate Today: Anxiety, Give Us Money, California Recall »
…is a street meant for Evil fossil fueled vehicles, you might just be a Warmist
The blog of the day is This ain’t Hell…, with a post on the UN ambassador sending the Taliban a strongly worded letter.
Read: If All You See… »
Hey, remember this?
Taliban vow to respect women, despite history of oppression
The Taliban vowed Tuesday to respect women’s rights, forgive those who fought them and ensure Afghanistan does not become a haven for terrorists as part of a publicity blitz aimed at reassuring world powers and a fearful population. (snip)
Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban’s longtime spokesman, emerged from the shadows Tuesday in his first-ever public appearance to address those concerns at a news conference.
He promised the Taliban would honor women’s rights within the norms of Islamic law, without elaborating. The Taliban have encouraged women to return to work and have allowed girls to return to school, handing out Islamic headscarves at the door. A female news anchor interviewed a Taliban official Monday in a TV studio.
And then
Taliban kill woman for not wearing burqa on same day they vow to honor women’s rights
Taliban fighters shot and killed a woman for not wearing a burqa in Afghanistan on Tuesday — the same day the group pledged to usher in a new inclusive era in the country that honors “women’s rights.â€
A photo emerged of a woman in Takhar province lying in a pool of blood, with loved ones crouched around her, after she was killed by insurgents for being in public without a head covering, according to Fox News.
And
Afghan Women Are Already Fading From Public View as Fear of the Taliban and Uncertainty Prevail
Women are afraid to go outside or speak out as crackdowns on freedoms begin
The rest is behind the Wall Street Journal paywall, but, it is pretty darned clear. And now?
A Taliban leader said a group of Islamic scholars will decide whether women and girls in Afghanistan can go to work or school, in remarks appearing to contradict those made by the militant group that promised women an active role in their new regime.
“Our ulema [scholars] will decide whether girls are allowed to go to school or not,” Taliban commander Waheedullah Hashimi told Reuters.
“They will decide whether they should wear hijab, burqa, or only [a] veil plus abaya or something or not. That is up to them.” (snip)
Hashimi’s remarks on Wednesday appeared to contradict those made by Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid earlier this week, who promised that women would be “very active in society.”
Well, women in Afghanistan are hosed. Way to go, Joe Hiden! You know that the scholars will decide to go back to the way things were before the 2001 U.S. and allies invasion. Where are the women’s rights groups? Where is the UN?
BTW, even British lawmakers are condemning Biden for his fecklessness
Read: Taliban Say “Islamic Scholars” Will Decide If Women Can Work And Be Educated »
Masks worked so well last time, and are totally going to work again this time, right?
Here is Wake County’s new COVID mask mandate, and the five towns opting out
Wake County late Wednesday afternoon released details of a new mask mandate to help fight COVID-19.
The order requires people over the age of 5 to wear a mask in public and commercial spaces including businesses regardless of their vaccination status. It takes effect at 7 a.m. Friday.
The Wake County order is effective until Nov. 1 unless it is rescinded sooner. (snip)
Garner, Knightdale, Morrisville, Rolesville and Zebulon all joined Wake County in its mask mandate. Raleigh and Cary have both issued their own mask orders. Combined, that makes up about 83% of the county’s population.
That means masks will be required everywhere in Wake County except the municipal limits of Apex, Fuquay-Varina, Holly Springs, Wake Forest and Wendell. However, businesses can still require masks and some municipal buildings may require masks in those jurisdictions.
There are zero enforcement mechanisms. Two out of three places in Knightdale I went to over the past few days aren’t requiring people to wear masks, including a big retailer. Some places in Raleigh have signs up asking people to wear masks, but, not enforcing. Many do not have anything posted. A lot of people just don’t care. They’re over it. And, really, most of Wake County that isn’t a municipality has few businesses or private entities: it’s residential. And the county cannot dictate what happens in the incorporated areas, except for, surprise, schools.
“This new phase of the pandemic has brought some old challenges roaring back, but our experience in 2020 taught us an important lesson: Masks work,†Weinbrecht said.
“Because Cary citizens decided to protect each other by masking up last year, we were able to keep our hospitals from being overwhelmed,†he continued. “With the delta variant spreading quickly, we need that community spirit now more than ever.â€
Decided? No. They were forced. Sure, there were some who did this voluntarily, and continued to do it. And they’re the ones you see wearing masks down over their noses and even mouths. Getting too close to people. Touching other people. Wearing them while solo in their cars. Playing Mask Theater.
Both Cary and Raleigh’s orders require people to wear masks in private or public settings when not with members of the same households. Wake County’s order doesn’t apply to private homes or vehicles.
How many people do you think are wearing masks in their own homes when people stop by? 0.5%? Anyone else think that reinforcing the original rules – wash your hands, don’t touch your face, don’t touch other people, social distance – would work better than thin pieces of cloth no designed to stop viruses? Especially when masks make people feel like they can get close to other people.
Meanwhile
Read: Wake County To Institute A Worthless Mask Mandate Friday »
The New Republic is pretty much a far left outlet, so, it’s rather interesting that they and screedist Liza Featherstone use the word propaganda, know the negative connotations
We Need Better Climate Propaganda
Warnings about the catastrophes ahead need to name the enemy and give people something to do.
For those of us anxious about climate change, last week felt like a lot. In addition to witnessing the ongoing present-day fallout of climate change worldwide through floods and fires, we got some scary news about the future. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) came out with yet another report on the consequences humans will likely face if we fail to take sufficient action to curb emissions and protect the planet.
The report plainly stated that although all is not lost, extreme weather is now inevitable no matter where you live. The dire warnings circulated widely: “How Climate Change Kills the Future,â€Â read an Axios headline. The Washington Post was equally blunt: “The Climate News Is About to Get a Lot Worse.â€Â The 314 Action Fund, a climate action group, besieged me with email all week, admonishing, “We lost a decade in the fight to get a handle on the climate crisis.†An email from MoveOn told me that the report was a “code red for humanityâ€â€”a phrase from the report that appeared in many headlines—and urged me to get a sticker reading “The Earth Can’t Wait.â€
Then there was this baffling tweet from one of the most powerful individuals in the world. “We can’t wait to tackle the climate crisis,†President Biden wrote. “The signs are unmistakable. The science is undeniable. And the cost of inaction keeps mounting.â€
What do you mean by “we� Isn’t the president of the United States in a better position than most of us to “tackle the climate crisis�
Huh. Is Liza saying that climate cultists, who have Serious Concerns about doom from ‘climate change’, aren’t will to Do Something in their own lives unless forced by authoritarian government? Is Liza suggesting that government become dictatorial?
Widespread public worry represents huge progress: It’s better than denying or ignoring the climate crisis, as many of our leaders and media outlets have done in the past. Yet the chatter around the IPCC report and the report itself still managed to be unhelpful, scaring us to death while missing an opportunity to galvanize us into action. It’s a common dilemma in climate activism—one activists, scientists, and politicians are going to have to get a lot smarter about if we’re to avert catastrophe.
Liza? This is all your cult has. Doomsaying. This is where they’ve been going for 30+ years. And all their policy offering revolve around taxes and limiting freedom and choice. While the disciples do virtually nothing in their own lives.
The report failed as propaganda—and as basic information—in one glaring way: failing to name the enemy. As the writer Emily Atkin noted, the IPCC report and its summary for policymakers discussed “human†activity at length while saying very little about the fossil fuel industry. The report failed to unify potential readers against the relevant foe. Much of the media coverage replicated this problem.
It’s a 4,000+ page document, one which almost no one read, and just repeats the same old same old in stronger, scarier terms. Why is it that I never see Warmists complaining about the fossil fuels industry admitting they gave their own use of fossil fuels?
It would be bad enough if the report and its chroniclers merely punted on identifying the bad guy in the climate change drama. But the psychological consequences are worse than that: By naming the enemy as ourselves—all humans—the report maximized the potential for self-reproach with no clear path forward. A Guardian headline, for instance, referred to the “IPCC report’s verdict on climate crimes of humanity: guilty as hell.†This framing makes us feel guilty just for existing, when it’s our existence that is at stake, and worth fighting for.
Well, duh. That’s what Warmists have been saying for decades. Blaming mankind. What did you think would happen? Skipping to the end through more whining
In fairness, some environmental groups sent emails and tweets urging action on specific environmental policies, including pressure on Biden’s EPA. On the Tuesday after the report came out, I got a text from the office of Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, referencing the report and the “dire consequences†of climate change we’re facing. “We’re knocking on doors to talk about taking environmental action with our neighbors,†the text continued, inviting me to come to the Bronx and canvass for the Green New Deal and against the new power plant in Astoria. It was a deceptively simple but effective message: Things are bad, but you can help make them better.
Oh, sending emails and tweets and knocking on doors, that should totally fix this! In fairness, AOC did purchase a Tesla. Of course, she still flies to and from NYC to DC in a fossil fueled airplane, rather than driving the Tesla the 4 hours to DC or taking the train or bus. And what she is trying to push while having others knock on doors is her Green New Deal, chock full of taxes, fees, a higher cost of living, and governmental control of our lives and economy.
Read: The UN IPCC Needs Better Climate Crisis (scam) Propaganda Or Something »
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Team Biden isn’t The Gang That Couldn’t Shoot Straight: they’re the gang that doesn’t shoot at all. He’s supposedly going to leave troops in Kabul past the August 31 deadline, but, still, no promise to get all U.S. citizens out.
Stubborn Joe Biden Snaps, Falls Apart in Interview as Afghanistan Crisis Worsens
President Joe Biden continued to struggle with his response to the crisis in Afghanistan after days of hunkering down and seemingly waiting for the storm to blow over.
Faced with an outcry from the press over the president’s unwillingness to answer questions about the chaotic conclusion of the 20-year war in Afghanistan, Biden did an interview with ABC News host George Stephanopoulos at the White House to defend his actions.
The interview was the first time Biden took questions about the crisis in Afghanistan in eight days. But he did not appear prepared.
Biden snapped at Stephanopoulos for asking about Afghan people rushing a plane as it took off the runway in the airport in Kabul, some even falling to their deaths as it took off.
“That was four days ago, five days ago,†Biden replied sharply when asked about the images, trying to dismiss them entirely.
In fact, however, the incident occurred only two days ago, which Stephanopoulos did not press him on.
Got that? He’s saying “who cares if Afghans fell to their deaths while trying to cling to an airplane, that was 4-5 days ago. The rest of his answers were not particularly good, and, really, this guy does not look well. Politicians usually look a lot better when answering questions. Obama was great when throwing out his BS. Joe’s been an elected official since 1973
EXCLUSIVE: Pressed on whether the U.S.'s exit from Afghanistan could have been handled better, Pres. Biden tells @GStephanopoulos, "The idea that somehow, there's a way to have gotten out without chaos ensuing—I don't know how that happens." https://t.co/mH1AyWI5lb pic.twitter.com/osAwdDQy2L
— ABC News (@ABC) August 18, 2021
The eye motions, closing of eyes, bowing head, facial gestures. Not good. He does not look well. He declined to take any questions after his brief conference in the afternoon Wednesday, yammering about COVID and masks and taking shots at Republican governors. No mention of COVID surging like wildfire in the Democratic Party run state of Hawaii, which is an isolated island and has been fully on board with every restriction known, and never dropped their mask mandate. Florida Gov Destantis is having none of it
DeSantis said, [relevant remarks begin around 2:45] “[H]e is obsessed, while you have all this stuff going on with Afghanistan, obviously, all the stuff at the southern border…one of the biggest border disasters in the history of our country, inflation, gas prices, and what does he do? He is obsessed with having the government force kindergartners to wear masks all day in school. In Florida, we believe that that’s the parents’ decision. Joe Biden thinks the federal government should come in and overrule the parents and force these young kids to wear these masks. And you’ve got to wonder, where are your priorities that you’re so obsessed with this issue and so obsessed with taking away parents’ rights and you’re letting Afghanistan burn, our border burn, and so many other things in our country fall to pieces?â€
Well, good news, Joe might be going back on vacation, because he’s supposedly having trouble sleeping at the White House
Despite Biden’s failure to address the controversy, he may be trying to squeeze another long weekend at his home in Delaware during the month of August.
A Federal Aviation Administration flight restriction notice suggested that Biden would leave the White House for Delaware on Wednesday and remain there until August 23.
He’s supposedly still at the White House. Does he leave or stay? The only things on his schedule are his daily brief at 9 and a meeting with his national security team at 10.
Read: Joe Hiden Gets Snappy During ABC Interview, May Be Going Back On Vacation »
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