If All You See…

By William Teach March 31, 2021 – 1:00 pm

…is horrible heat snow from carbon pollution, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Jo Nova, with a post on math being racist because it requires a right answer.

Read: If All You See… »

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China Joe To Unveil “Big, Bold, Progressive” Infrastructure Plan

By William Teach March 31, 2021 – 10:30 am

Hey, remember when Joe was talking about Unity and bipartisanship? Well, yes, 70 million of us knew that was a bunch of mule fritters

With an eye on history, Biden moves on big, bold and progressive infrastructure package

Every day he works from the Oval Office, President Joe Biden stares across from his desk at the portrait of Franklin Delano Roosevelt he selected to hang above his fireplace. (snip)

As he travels to Pittsburgh on Wednesday to unveil the next chapter of his massive effort to transform the country though long-sought progressive priorities, Biden is deeply conscious that it is now his moment to step up. He is looking to the bold actions favored by Democrats decades earlier to inform the opening days of his presidency, determined that small steps cannot match the current moment.

Why is it necessary to “transform the county”? Remember the days when we had presidents who loved the country?

The plan he will unveil in Pittsburgh on Wednesday includes $2.25 trillion in direct spending, with an additional $400 billion in clean energy tax credits, a person with knowledge of the matter said. The $2.25 trillion would include $650 billion for physical infrastructure, $300 billion for housing infrastructure, $300 billion for manufacturing, $300 billion for the electric grid and $400 billion for home caretakers and care for the elderly and disabled.

Part two of the proposal — which is likely to include child care, early education and health care funding — will be announced in April and is still being drafted, though sources said it could come in at roughly the same price tag.

Instead of mimicking the last Democratic administration, in which he served as vice president, Biden hopes to model the more transformational change offered by his acronym’d 20th-century predecessors, FDR and LBJ.

He believes his party has more fully embraced progressive causes since he was last in the White House, according to officials, and thinks the dual health and economic crises caused by Covid-19 have lent an urgency to passing major pieces of legislation. And he has not been shy to point out areas he believes President Barack Obama fell short and where he will strive to be more ambitious.

So, it’s all about pushing a hardcore leftist agenda. So much of this has nothing to do with infrastructure. And what happened to all that infrastructure money from the big Obama stimulus, for which Obama put “Sheriff Joe” in charge of? How much was pissed away along with using it to repay Obama donors? I remember a big sign on I440 here in Raleigh extolling the silly recovery act as they repaved the road which didn’t need repaving and messed up traffic near Capital Blvd. I remember Obama laughing about how all that money was pissed away on jobs  and projects that weren’t shovel ready.

For Biden, that now means a sweeping plan on infrastructure that moves well beyond simply repairing roads, making airports nicer or preventing bridges from falling apart — though he wants to do that, too.

Instead, Biden views the package as an opportunity to drive the fight against climate change, to strengthen the federal safety net and to make the United States more competitive against China.

So, not so much about actual infrastructure.

The first prong of the White House proposal, which will include more than $2 trillion in spending, will be financed in large part through business tax increases, including raising the corporate rate to 28% from its current level of 21%, and increases in the global minimum tax, the ending of federal subsidies for fossil fuel firms and a requirement that multinational corporations pay the US tax rate.

Internal debates on how much of the proposal to pay for have been ongoing for several weeks, with White House officials keenly aware of potential inflationary risks, officials said. Psaki told reporters the proposal laid out on Wednesday would include mechanisms to finance the entirety of the package over time.

Raise the taxes and they get passed on to the consumers. Seriously, this stuff never works. And, it’s great how the “potential inflationary risks” is buried deep in the article, eh? This whole thing will once again be a party line vote, because it’s way too broad. If the focus was specifically on infrastructure, with specific spending priorities, it could very well be done in a bipartisan fashion. Won’t happen. Seriously, only $650 billion funds roads and bridges. It’s all about more Government.

Read: China Joe To Unveil “Big, Bold, Progressive” Infrastructure Plan »

Posted in Joe Biden, Progressive Goals | 8 Comments | Trackback URL

China Joe Plans To Build Lots Of Massive Offshore Wind Farms

By William Teach March 31, 2021 – 8:06 am

I wonder if Joe is ready for all the lawsuits from people who do not want their ocean views and fishing areas disrupted. From enviros who aren’t happy about seabirds being sliced and diced and marine mammals having their travel routes messed up from the vibration sounds. And those who will sue over the transmission lines. And so much more. Heck, maybe climate envoy John Kerry will join a lawsuit, as he did with the Cape Wind Project (which, by the way, after all the hoopla, ended up providing way less energy than they said it would)

Joe Biden plans to build huge offshore wind farms to tackle the climate crisis

President Joe Biden’s administration has detailed a plan to build huge offshore wind farms in the United States as part of his plans to tackle climate change.

The project, which was unveiled on Monday, aims to create 30 extra gigawatts of offshore wind generation to US coastlines by 2030, while creating tens of thousands of jobs.

The White House said meeting that target would cost $12 billion a year in capital investment on both US coastlines and would employ 44,000 workers, as well as 33,000 additional jobs in communities supported by offshore wind generation.

If this was so important then the private sector would be jumping to do it. Why is it necessary to spend federal taxpayer money on this, and then see the taxpayers charged to use this expensive energy? And what happens when a tropical storm or Nor’easter takes them out?

The wind farms would supply power to 10 million homes and cut carbon dioxide emissions by 78 million metric tons, the White House said.

As one part of the efforts, Interior Department announced a new “priority wind energy area” in the New York Bight, a shallow area between Long Island and the New Jersey coastline, where the agency hopes to construct a wind farm by 2030.

We could have several 5th or 6th generation nuclear power plants up before that, providing way more energy, and much more reliable. Same with natural gas plants.

“The announcements we’re making today I hope will just jump-start everyone’s understanding of the potential for offshore wind energy, and move this industry forward in a way that’s going to allow us to really focus on the supply chain issue as well, because we’re not just talking about erecting wind turbines in the oceans, we’re talking about massive turbines that are actually manufactured in the United States,” national climate adviser Gina McCarthy said Monday, in comments reported by Politico.

Interestingly, neither the White House nor the private homes of Gina McCarthy, John Kerry or Joe Biden are powered by wind or solar. Go figure.

Read: China Joe Plans To Build Lots Of Massive Offshore Wind Farms »

Posted in Energy, Global Warming, Joe Biden | 7 Comments | Trackback URL

That Was Quick: COVID Passports Creating Not Just A Privilege Dilemma, But Double Privilege!

By William Teach March 31, 2021 – 7:46 am

You know this had to be inevitable in this crazy SJW/Virtue Signal/Offended period of time, right? And they just skipped the triple dare and went straight for the throat with the triple dog dare

What you need to know about COVID-19 vaccine passports — and the ‘double privilege’ dilemma they raise for society

….

Vaccine passports are “not only reasonable,” he said but “would make me a heck of a lot more comfortable doing things in public.”

Travelers like Schwartzman may view the development of vaccine passports as critical to resuming their excursions across the globe. But vaccine passports have many practical applications outside of vacationing. At the same time, experts warn there could be significant health risks and equity concerns associated with these “passports” that outweigh the benefits.

Vaccine passports and requirements are not a new concept, especially for people who have traveled to a tropical location overseas.

“The reason we have to get vaccinated against yellow fever to go to Brazil, for example, is that the Brazilian government says, ‘No vaccine, no entry,’” said William Schaffner, professor of infectious diseases at Vanderbilt University.

Also known as the “Yellow Card,” the International Certificate of Vaccination or Prophylaxis functions similar to a vaccine passport. The document, nicknamed based on its yellow color, is filled out by physicians who administer vaccines required for entry by different countries. It is most commonly used for the yellow fever vaccine, but any vaccine approved by the World Health Organization can be listed on the document.

Of course, these are meant for moving from nation to nation, not for showing your papers when you want to go to the movies.Again, I’m not necessarily against them, I just wonder What Could Go Wrong when government is creating these things with all your private data, and then able to track your movements. Anyhow, as we know, NY is requiring one of these even to attend a wedding

“The reopening of key economic activities in New York State, such as arts and entertainment venues, stadiums and arenas, and weddings and catered events, will require proof of a vaccine or negative test for attendees,” a notice posted on the New York Health Department’s site states.

The system utilizes health records captured by the state’s government — eliminating the possibility of someone forging a document, according to a spokesman for the governor’s office. Users sign up online, and the system pulls the relevant health information from the government database to verify the person received a negative COVID-19 test result or one of the available vaccines.

But, is that actually legal, using a person’s private health data? This could be a potential big violation of HIPAA if citizens haven’t consented in writing. There is an interesting explanation of how this is all supposed to work, especially in terms of security. But, let’s jump to

In the U.S. nearly 70% of more than 52 million people who have been fully vaccinated against coronavirus are white and non-Hispanic as of Tuesday, according to data published by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Despite getting hit hardest by coronavirus, both from a health and economic perspective, Black and Latino Americans are disproportionately getting vaccinated at lower rates compared to white, non-Hispanic Americans.

On top of this, Black Americans in particular are more hesitant to get vaccinated. Some of that hesitancy stems from mistrust of the medical establishment, the result of a history of medical racism and experimentation on people of color.

In February, 22% of American adults indicated that they want to “wait and see” how the shots work for other people before they get vaccinated themselves, according to polling by the Kaiser Family Foundation, a health-policy think tank. That’s down from December when some 39% of Americans said they’d wait and see.

Among Black and Hispanic adults 34% and 26% of respondents fell into the wait-and-see category in February, according to KFF.

So, if they want to wait and see and be way more hesitant, that’s on them, right? Nope

Taken together, while vaccine supply is still limited, if vaccine passports are widely used not only for travel but for other social events such as concerts, broadway shows, nightclubs, it would “double privilege” people got vaccinated early on, said Christine Whelan, clinical professor in the School of Human Ecology at UW-Madison.

What’s more: If different communities are receiving contradictory messages regarding vaccine effectiveness and potential side-effects, vaccine passports could ultimately “be a slippery slope for deepening equity gaps.”

“Allowing them to do special things because of that just doesn’t sit quite right,” said Whelan, who is chief happiness officer at Dear Pandemic, a science-communication project.

Read: That Was Quick: COVID Passports Creating Not Just A Privilege Dilemma, But Double Privilege! »

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China Joe Takes Wrong Lesson From Previous Green Stimulus Failures

By William Teach March 30, 2021 – 3:00 pm

There are quite a few lessons to learn from all the “green” failures with all of the Obama stimulus’. Don’t dump massive amounts of money via federal loans that don’t get repaid, especially when they leave huge environmental messes, and fail to produce what they say they will. Don’t dump money into things like weatherization which are rife with fraud, don’t work, and end up helping people who can afford it themselves. They don’t actually stimulate the economy (they do stimulate the pockets of rich people, especially those who donate to Dems). I’m sure you can think of plenty more. It was three years of failure. Even the hard left and climate cult UK Guardian was unimpressed. But, hey, let’s double down, right?

Biden’s Lesson From Past Green Stimulus Failures: Go Even Bigger

In September 2009, then-Vice President Joe Biden traveled to a defunct General Motors plant near his hometown, Wilmington, Delaware, to announce a $528.7 million government loan for Fisker Automotive to make hybrid and electric vehicles.

The funding for Fisker, a small luxury automaker, came out of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, a $787 billion economic stimulus plan secured by President Barack Obama to lift the nation out of the Great Recession, in part by creating “green jobs” with $90 billion for wind and solar energy, a “smart” power grid, weatherized homes and the electric vehicle industry.

What happened to Fisker, a car maker for the uber-rich?

Fisker went bankrupt in 2013 before the Wilmington factory produced a single car. Biden also personally announced a $535 million loan guarantee for Solyndra, a California solar panel company that then went bankrupt, leaving taxpayers on the hook. An advanced battery maker called A123 Systems, which Obama extolled as part of a vanguard of a new American electric car industry, received a $249 million stimulus grant, then filed for bankruptcy in 2012, the vanguard that wasn’t.

Oops?

Now, 12 years later, President Biden is preparing the details of a new, vastly larger, economic stimulus plan that again would use government spending to unite the goals of fighting climate change and restoring the economy. While clean energy spending was just a fraction of the Obama stimulus, Biden wants to make it the centerpiece of his proposal for trillions of dollars, not billions, on government grants, loans, and tax incentives to spark renewable power, energy efficiency and electric car production.

Yeah, let’s spend more money on stuff that doesn’t work, doesn’t stimulate the economy, but, is good at hooking up the rich and Biden donors, eh?

Biden’s advisers, many of whom worked on the Obama stimulus, say the situation is very different. The market demand for electric vehicles is much higher, and the cost of the cars much lower than in 2009, the year after Tesla Motors produced its first roadster. Solar power is more economically competitive. Wind is entrenched and expanding rapidly.

The market demand for rich people. Not so much for the middle class and poor.

Anyhow, it’s a long piece. Dems want to spend a lot of money which will do little, just like with the whole 1st 2009 Stimulus.

Read: China Joe Takes Wrong Lesson From Previous Green Stimulus Failures »

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

If All You See…

By William Teach March 30, 2021 – 1:00 pm

…is a pond choked with plants from too much carbon pollution, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Victory Girls Blog, with a post on vaccine passports, voter ID, and Democrat hypocrisy.

Read: If All You See… »

Posted in If All You See | 4 Comments | Trackback URL

Good News: WHO Study, Backed By China, Absolves China

By William Teach March 30, 2021 – 10:30 am

See, the World Health Organization, which is totally not in the pocket of China, says that it was definitely not bio-research that caused COVID19, as stated by China

AP Exclusive: WHO report says animals likely source of COVID

A joint World Health Organization-China study on the origins of COVID-19 says that transmission of the virus from bats to humans through another animal is the most likely scenario and that a lab leak is “extremely unlikely,” according to a draft copy obtained by The Associated Press.

The findings offer little new insight into how the virus first emerged and leave many questions unanswered. But the report does provide more detail on the reasoning behind the researchers’ conclusions.

The team proposed further research in every area except the lab leak hypothesis — a speculative theory that was promoted by former U.S. President Donald Trump among others. It also said the role played by a seafood market where human cases were first identified was uncertain. (snip)

The report, which is expected to be made public Tuesday, is being closely watched since discovering the origins of the virus could help scientists prevent future pandemics — but it’s also extremely sensitive since China bristles at any suggestion that it is to blame for the current one.

See? China, I mean the WHO, say the lab leak theory is not credible. I’m totes convinced!

Matthew Kavanagh of Georgetown University said the report deepened the understanding of the virus’s origins, but more information was needed.

“It is clear that that the Chinese government has not provided all the data needed and, until they do, firmer conclusions will be difficult,” he said in a statement.

Last year, an AP investigation found the Chinese government was strictly controlling all research into its origins. And repeated delays in the report’s release have raised questions about whether the Chinese side was trying to skew its conclusions.

But China, I mean the WHO, is totally fine with this.

Still, suspicion of China has helped fuel the theory that the virus escaped from a lab in Wuhan, the Chinese city where the virus was first identified. The report cited several reasons for all but dismissing that possibility.

It said that such laboratory accidents are rare, that the labs in Wuhan were well-managed and there is no record of viruses closely related to the coronavirus in any laboratory before December 2019.

So, rare, meaning they happen. And China cleaned it all up. If China even really let anyone look at the lab. Former CDC head Dr. Robert Redfield says that the most likely scenario is that it did escape from the Wuhan lab. Being China, that is the most likely scenario. WHO covered for China from the get-go, and, for some reason (probably Trump Derangement Syndrome, having to back the opposite of anything Trump says), the U.S. media decided to take China’s side. And few of the other stories that came out yesterday and this morning show any type of skepticism over this joint WHO-China report.

Read: Good News: WHO Study, Backed By China, Absolves China »

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Doom: Hotcoldwetdry Threatens Potato Chip Production!

By William Teach March 30, 2021 – 8:01 am

This is horrible, and all your fault, you know

Climate Change Threatens Potato Chip Production, Global Food Storage

Climate change poses significant dangers to global food supplies as rising temperatures make storage more difficult, The Associated Press reports.

Food around the world is stored outside after harvest, before processing, but rising temperatures and other altered weather patterns threaten to drive prices higher as more food is lost and producers are forced to install costly equipment to protect food stores.

Rising temperatures will make it easier for insects and mold to destroy grain stores in Sub-Saharan Africa, and in Mecosta, Michigan, Brian Sackett was forced to spend $125,000 on a new refrigeration unit to protect what will become potato chips. Michigan potato farmers have long been able to rely on fans and cool air from the September harvest to late spring to keep their potatoes fresh. But the annual period in which outdoor air in the region is cool enough to store potatoes will likely drop by as much as 17 days in the next 30 years. “Our good, fresh, cool air is getting less all the time, it seems like,” Sackett said.

Oh, so it isn’t actually happening, it just might possibly maybe we feel EVERYBODY PANIC happen in the next 30 years? And even if it does, why is this different from the other Holocene warm periods? Earth gets warm, Earth gets cool. The temperature is not stagnant. Changes occur. Of course, Warmists like to blame Mankind for this, while failing to modify their own behavior and lives to accord with their Beliefs.

This is what the AP article mentioned has to say

For generations, Brian Sackett’s family has farmed potatoes that are made into chips found on grocery shelves in much of the eastern U.S.

About 25% of the nation’s potato chips get their start in Michigan, where reliably cool air during September harvest and late spring has been ideal for crop storage. That’s a big reason why the state produces more chipping potatoes than any other.

But with temperatures edging higher, Sackett had to buy several small refrigeration units for his sprawling warehouses. Last year, he paid $125,000 for a bigger one. It’s expensive to operate, but beats having his potatoes rot.

“Our good, fresh, cool air is getting less all the time, it seems like,” he said on a recent morning as a front-end loader scooped up piles of plump, light-brown potatoes that would be packed into a tractor trailer for shipment to chip factories.

The situation here illustrates a little-noticed hazard that climate change is posing for agriculture in much of the world. Once harvested, crops not immediately consumed or processed are stored — sometimes for months. The warming climate is making that job harder and costlier.

The global temperature has gone up a tiny 1.5 Fahrenheit since 1850. That’s it.

But, hey, we can solve this with a tax, right?

Read: Doom: Hotcoldwetdry Threatens Potato Chip Production! »

Posted in AGW Scaremongering, Global Warming | 3 Comments | Trackback URL

China Joe Demands States Reimpose Mask Mandates – While Failing To Wear A Mask

By William Teach March 30, 2021 – 7:42 am

At the height of the mask mandates, only 31 states, D.C., and Puerto Rico had them. Some were more stringent than others. Since then, many states have gotten rid of them. This makes Dementia Joe unhappy

Biden calls on states to reinstate mask mandates as CDC warns of possible COVID-19 surge

President Biden is calling on states to reinstate mask mandates following a dire warning from the CDC about the possibility of a new surge in COVID-19 cases.

Biden on Monday said “this is not a time to lessen our efforts” in the COVID-19 pandemic, adding he agrees with CDC Director Rochelle Walensky’s comments earlier in the day after she expressed a feeling “of impending doom” about COVID-19 cases ticking up in the United States.

“Our work is far from over,” Biden said. “The war against COVID-19 is far from won. This is deadly serious … If we let our guard down now, we could see a virus getting worse, not better.”

Biden also criticized “some of the reckless behavior we’ve seen on television over the past few weeks,” saying it’s a “very bad thing” that “people are letting up on precautions,” and he called on states that have lifted their mask mandates to reinstate them.

“Please, this is not politics,” Biden said. “Reinstate the mandate if you let it down. And businesses should require mask as well. The failure to take this virus seriously is precisely what got us into this mess in the first place.”

“Everyone wear a mask but me!” How often are Joe and his peeps caught failing to wear a mask in an indoor setting, which violates Joe’s EO? But then Joe, who has been fully vaccinated, will wear two masks outdoors while social distancing from reporters. Do as I say, not as I do.

They’re going to keep finding ways to attempt to force compliance on masks

Don’t throw away your masks yet

…

We posed a few questions about where the pandemic is headed to epidemiologist Ali Mokdad, a professor of health metrics sciences at the IHME. (snip)

We predicted a bump in this month and in April simply because of the new variant, B.1.1.7. We knew that it would come in. We also predicted a bump because many Americans told us in surveys — 25% of Americans — said once they get the vaccine, they’re not going to be wearing the mask.

So we are taking into account that mask wearing will come down and we’ve seen it come down slowly in the United States. So that’s very important to keep in mind.

What does it mean for Americans? We’re heading into summer. The vaccines are doing a great job. They’re effective and they’re preventing infections. The warm weather and the vaccines are helping us. Our behavior is hurting us. That balance will dictate what happens in the future.

Conditionally, right now, if Americans keep up wearing the mask and keep limiting the mobility, we should see a decline all the way to the next winter. Why next winter? It’s a seasonal virus. Next winter, we’re going to have a surge. There is no way to avoid it. Like the flu, it’s going to come up again.

So, even with an expectation of herd immunity from vaccinations and antibodies from having had COVID, they still want us wearing masks through winter. And social distancing and all sorts of restrictions.

Read: China Joe Demands States Reimpose Mask Mandates – While Failing To Wear A Mask »

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Your Fault: Earth Will Soon Have “Ultra-Heat Waves”

By William Teach March 29, 2021 – 3:00 pm

Yeah, I saw you take that fossil fueled trip down the road when you could have walked

Ignoring climate change will lead to “ultra-extreme” heatwaves

In a new study from the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, experts report that ignoring the signs of climate change will lead to “ultra-extreme” heatwaves in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) that are extremely damaging to human health and society.

To assess the characteristics of emerging heatwaves in the MENA region, the researchers used a mix of climate projections designed exclusively for this geographic area. The team then projected future hot spells based on the Heat Wave Magnitude Index.

“Our results, for a business-as-usual pathway, indicate that in the second half of this century unprecedented super- and ultra-extreme heatwave conditions will emerge,” explained study lead author George Zittis of The Cyprus Institute.

The researchers said that these events will involve excessively high temperatures of up to 56 degrees Celsius – or 132 degrees Fahrenheit – and higher in urban settings and could last for multiple weeks. The consequences for humans and animals will be potentially life-threatening.

“By the end of the century, about half of the MENA population (approximately 600 million) could be exposed to annually recurring super- and ultra-extreme heatwaves,” wrote the experts.

See? Doom! Sometime in the latter half of the century. But, we can fix this by raising your taxes and taking away your freedom, liberty, and choice

To avoid extreme heatwaves in the MENA region, the scientists are calling for immediate and effective climate change mitigation measures, including reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.

Once that type of stuff is added this is no longer science, but politics.

Read: Your Fault: Earth Will Soon Have “Ultra-Heat Waves” »

Posted in AGW Scaremongering, Global Warming | 4 Comments | Trackback URL
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