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

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” »

If All You See…

…is a wonderful pristine wild area that is perfect for wind turbines, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is This ain’t Hell…, with a post on your Monday feel good stories.

Read: If All You See… »

How Soon Will All The Gun Violence Research Be Memory-Holed?

The NY Times thinks that Science can solve the “epidemic of gun violence.” I don’t think they’re going to like the results

Can New Gun Violence Research Find a Path Around the Political Stalemate?

Dr. Bindi J. Naik-Mathuria, a pediatric trauma surgeon at Texas Children’s Hospital who grew tired of seeing toddlers die of gunshot wounds, has a $684,000 federal grant to track every gun-related death and injury in Houston. The goal: identify and address “hot spots” the way public health researchers track and contain the coronavirus.

Dr. Garen J. Wintemute, an emergency room doctor and longtime firearm violence researcher in California, is supervising scientific research on whether community interventions in Detroit and Cleveland — including the greening of vacant spaces and the work of so-called violence interrupters like former gang members — can drive down gun-related deaths and injuries.

And Andrew R. Morral, a behavioral scientist at the RAND Corp., a research group, is using sophisticated modeling tools to estimate rates of gun ownership in every state, with detailed demographic information. The purpose, he said, is to search for patterns in firearm homicides and suicides — a first, basic step in research that could lead to reducing them.

The recent mass shootings in Atlanta and Boulder, Colorado, have once again left Democrats and Republicans in a stalemate over background checks for gun buyers and assault weapons bans. But public health experts say a new round of research could pave the way for gun policies that avoid partisan gridlock — and ultimately save thousands of lives.

The studies by Naik-Mathuria and the others are being paid for by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which is once again funding research into gun violence after a nearly 25-year hiatus imposed by Congress. And while they might not reduce the number of massacres, mass shootings account for an extremely small percentage of the roughly 40,000 Americans who die each year from gun violence.

Let’s start with gun ownership: they’re going to find that most shootings are not by people who lawfully own a firearm. Suicide, yes. People could just off themselves a different way. Oh, and this sure seems like it is using privileged government information which is not supposed to be shared.

And then there are “hot spots.” They are really not going to like the results, which will show that the majority of shootings are occurring in areas heavily, if not fully, run by Democrats, and, as the FBI data shows, 50% of the murders are committed by Blacks. That’s not racist, that’s fact. What percent of the shootings are by non-whites? And in urban areas? Once they get that information, what are they going to do with it? It could be so inconvenient in their Narrative that it gets memory-holed. Maybe not by the researchers (though, since they are probably anti-gun, they might spike it), but, certainly by the gun grabbers.

“There’s at least five different gun violence problems in the country and mass shooting is one of them,” said Mr. Morral, who has a Ph.D. in psychology. “There’s also suicide, there’s urban gun violence which mostly affects minority young men, there’s family shootings and there’s police shootings. And they all have different risk factors, they all have very different motives and they often involve different firearms.”

What will this research actually say? That police sometimes have to shoot Bad People? That people commit suicide? Nothing here is unusual.

Like cancer, there is no single cure for the epidemic of gun violence in the United States. If politicians want to make a difference, experts say, lawmakers need to quit the fruitless fights over whether liberals want to take people’s guns away and start financing — and listening to — research that could inform policies that could address the carnage.

The most interesting thing is that the article really doesn’t mention what any of those policies might be. It’s almost like they’re trying to hide their true intentions.

Read: How Soon Will All The Gun Violence Research Be Memory-Holed? »

BBC Wonders Why More People Aren’t Doing More On Climate Crisis (scam)

Us Skeptics wonder that, too. Why don’t those card carrying members of the Cult of Climastrology do more in their own lives to comport with their Beliefs? Why do so few give up their fossil fueled vehicles, move into tiny homes/apartments, give up meat, send lots of their money to the official tax collecting agency of each country?

Why are people not doing more about climate change?

I drive a diesel car, eat meat and just a few months ago had a gas boiler installed in my house, that’s quite an admission for an environment correspondent who reports on climate change.

Climahypocrite. Don’t forget, the grand high poobahs are coming after diesel now, after saying it was better than regular gas.

The problem is that greener options are financially out of reach for me and – it seems – most Scots.

That is something I have been investigating for BBC Scotland’s Disclosure.

We commissioned a survey of 1,009 Scots, conducted by Savanta ComRes, which suggests price is putting many people off making greener lifestyle choices.

Price? Ya think? This is the next thing in the article

Price, eh? We all know that EVs are expensive. I can get a Touring Accord hybrid or CRV hybrid, the top end, for less than the least expensive Tesla with a fast charger installed. Which will give me more range, and takes all of 5 minutes to fill up and be on my way, since range is the second concern. Much more convenient, which is the 3rd concern.

Price was a factor too when it came to switching from gas and oil home heating to greener alternatives such as heat pumps. In that question, 64% of those who had considered the switch said the cost had put them off.

Confused by options was #2, with concerns over heating performance just barely #3. Four is inconvenient. Replacing your gas furnace, stove, or hot water heater (only my heat is gas, which is weird the way they built these townhomes) is not cheap.

Both these changes and many others will be necessary over the next 25 years if Scotland is to meet its targets for reducing emissions.

But Dr Sarah Ivory from the University of Edinburgh, who has studied climate-related behaviour change, believes it will difficult to bring them about.

She says: “We’re all a little bit sick of hearing about how bad it is, hearing that something needs to happen and really not knowing how to act.

“We have people say, ‘why should we change now?’. I think the answer to that is, if we don’t change now, we really are on a pathway to some catastrophic changes in our climate.”

Yet, the big wigs in the cult aren’t doing this themselves. Why should we? Are they giving up meat, which is demonized later in the piece? Nope.

But our poll suggests only 32% of people have been influenced by the protests to make lifestyle changes for the benefit of the planet.

Switching out your lightbulbs really doesn’t count.

And 29% believe the actions of individuals have only a minor impact, or no impact at all, on tackling the issue.

If so many believe individual actions are important, why are the Warmists not doing it in their own lives? Oh, right, because they want to force Other People to do so.

Read: BBC Wonders Why More People Aren’t Doing More On Climate Crisis (scam) »

China Joe Admin Looks To Lead On Developing COVID Passports

On one hand, I can see the point of a COVID passport, something that mostly cannot be faked, which would allow those who have been vaccinated and/or have the antibodies to get out and about with full freedom among others with the same. On the other, what’s the chance for governmental abuse?

‘Vaccine passports’ are on the way, but developing them won’t be easy
White House-led effort tries to corral more than a dozen initiatives

The Biden administration and private companies are working to develop a standard way of handling credentials — often referred to as “vaccine passports” — that would allow Americans to prove they have been vaccinated against the novel coronavirus as businesses try to reopen.

The effort has gained momentum amid President Biden’s pledge that the nation will start to regain normalcy this summer and with a growing number of companies — from cruise lines to sports teams — saying they will require proof of vaccination before opening their doors again.

The administration’s initiative has been driven largely by arms of the Department of Health and Human Services, including an office devoted to health information technology, said five officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the effort. The White House this month took on a bigger role coordinating government agencies involved in the work, led by coronavirus coordinator Jeff Zients, with a goal of announcing updates in coming days, said one official.

The White House declined to answer questions about the passport initiative, instead pointing to public statements that Zients and other officials made this month.

“Our role is to help ensure that any solutions in this area should be simple, free, open source, accessible to people both digitally and on paper, and designed from the start to protect people’s privacy,” Zients said at a March 12 briefing.

The passports are expected to be free and available through applications for smartphones, which could display a scannable code similar to an airline boarding pass. Americans without smartphone access should be able to print out the passports, developers have said.

That sounds like it is an….identification card. Aren’t ID cards evil, in terms of being necessary to vote? Racists, even? Say, how does one get the shot, anyhow? Wake County required a government photo ID to get the shot (and proof of work to make sure one was in the authorized group). From what I’ve been told, so did CVS and Walgreens drug stores. Have to make sure the person getting the COVID shot is actually who they say they are. And I had to carry an ID while driving to the center to get a shot. That’s raaaaacist! Right?

That photo above, which comes from a long past post, would be acceptable to me, would like a hard copy, just remove the physical address. City and state would be fine.

U.S. officials say they are grappling with an array of challenges, including data privacy and health-care equity. They want to make sure all Americans will be able to get credentials that prove they have been vaccinated, but also want to set up systems that are not easily hacked or passports that cannot be counterfeited, given that forgeries are already starting to appear.

One of the most significant hurdles facing federal officials: the sheer number of passport initiatives underway, with the Biden administration this month identifying at least 17, according to slides obtained by The Washington Post.

Those initiatives — such as a World Health Organization-led global effort and a digital pass devised by IBM that is being tested in New York state — are rapidly moving forward, even as the White House deliberates about how best to track the shots and avoid the perception of a government mandate to be vaccinated.

Now, you know if this was anyone within the Trump admin, the same Washington Post would be decrying this, would be slamming Trump, as would the rest of the Credentialed Media. But, anyhow, the China Joe admin is smart to low key this, because it will freak a lot of people out. If they’re smart, they will make these Bat Soup Virus passports as simple as possible, and contain the bare minimum of information necessary. No socials, no address, pretty much name and the passport, with a picture either off the state ID, US Passport, or uploaded. HHS should not be holding all sorts of unnecessary info. Run it through the IRS, which already has our information.

Public health and ethics experts agreed that the Biden administration needed to strike a careful balance: Encourage shots and support the private-sector initiatives but don’t put too much federal emphasis on the looming passports.

“If it became a government mandate, it would go down a dark road very quickly,” said Brian C. Castrucci, who leads the Bethesda, Md.-based de Beaumont Foundation, a public health group funding Luntz’s research into why some Americans are balking at the vaccine. “It becomes a credential. It becomes a ‘needing your papers,’ if you will. That could be dangerous — and it could turn off people.”

While the article mentions a whole bunch of Trump voters being against this, there are plenty of Biden voters against it, as well, along with plenty of Biden voters who do not want the vaccine, either. I guess we’ll see what is developed. What do you think?

And, even it it is minimal and acceptable, I will be sure to denounce it as Evil Racist Identification, because that’s how this works, right?

Read: China Joe Admin Looks To Lead On Developing COVID Passports »

Telling Girls To Be Happy Is A Bad Thing In Moonbat World

Not sure about you, but I’ve told plenty of women to smile in my life.

I’ve also said it to plenty of men.

I’ve told plenty of people to be happy. Tried to make them smile.

I’m an Evil person. You too, if you’ve done it

BEYOND LOCAL: Why you should think twice before telling girls to smile

Girls are constantly told to smile, from T-shirts sold in stores that say “everyone loves a happy girl” to the catcallers telling young women to smile when they walk down the street.

Audrey Hepburn once famously stated that “happy girls are the prettiest girls” — now this quote is reiterated in the post-feminist marketplace on T-shirts, pillow cases and stationery.

Perhaps the most public callout to a girl to smile was Donald Trump’s caustically sarcastic tweet that climate activist Greta Thunberg “seems like a very happy young girl looking forward to a bright and wonderful future. So nice to see!”

But lift up the hood of this pressure to be perceived as carefree and happy and look underneath: something much more disturbing is revealed.

I have been studying the experiences of girls, particularly tweens aged eight to 12, with regards to consumer culture for the past 15 years. The pressure on girls to be fun, happy and smiling reveals much about the cultural expectations projected onto girls and girlhood.

This constant expectation of girls to be always smiling depoliticizes girls and positions them as compliant in their own subjugation. “Fun” acts as a distraction from deeper political issues, discouraging girls from considering the exploitation and violence that girls worldwide face.

Directing their attention to the myriad social and political issues facing girls, like the climate crisis or missing and murdered Indigenous girls and women, would upset the happiness and fun of girlhood.

They just can’t help mentioning the climate change scam. And always going to the worst things possible. Bunch of miserable people

Feminist scholar Sara Ahmed writes that happiness is promised to those who commit to living their life in an unchallenging way that does not upset the status quo. To challenge the status quo by drawing attention to these issues disrupts the fantasy.

If everyone loves a happy girl, as the T-shirt says, then unhappy girls are unlovable: it’s a clear warning to girls to maintain happiness or else face being “psychologically and aesthetically unappealing.”

Or, perhaps people just respond better to people who aren’t being miserable shits. Like most Liberals.

Happiness and fun are forms of popular feminism that frame gender equality as individual empowerment eclipsing a feminist structural critique. Unhappiness deviates from the post-feminist script in which women — who are responsible for their own happiness and emancipation — need to think positively and be inspired to make change. The emphasis is on individual actions over collective consciousness.

These moral demands for happiness and fun undermine citizenship and commitments to community.

Sherman Potter Bull Cookies

Bunch of miserable people.

Read: Telling Girls To Be Happy Is A Bad Thing In Moonbat World »

If All You See…

…are wonderful low carbon skates, which should still be banned because the wheels are made with petroleum, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is The Last Tradition, with a post on when a politician uses the phrase “re-imagine.”

Clearing the IAYS folder this week.

Read: If All You See… »

Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup

Patriotic Pinup Stefano Riboli

Happy Sunday! Another gorgeous day in the Once And Future Nation Of America. The sun is trying to peak through after some nice t-storms rolled through (woke me up repeatedly in the wee hours), opening day for baseball is almost here, and I get my second vaccine shot on Thursday. This pinup is by Stefano Riboli, with a wee bit of help.

What’s happening in Ye Olde Blogosphere? The Fine 15

  1. Climate Change Dispatch notes that the scam is not threatening military operations
  2. Climate Scepticism wonders how you measure hot air
  3. Green Jihad discusses the game behind Biden’s border crisis
  4. No Tricks Zone covers the UK cooling since before St. Greta was born
  5. America’s Watchtower notes Pete Buttigieg floating a road miles tax (wouldn’t that violate Joe’s $400k pledge?)
  6. American Greatness covers Arkansas banning the gender confused from competing in women’s sports
  7. Blazing Cat Fur notes a Sponge Bob episode pulled
  8. The Last Refuge discusses DHS looking to scour public data and social media to create watchlists – what could possibly go wrong?
  9. Chicks On The Right notes a dance production cancelled because cast is too white
  10. Cold Fury covers desposts gonna despot with the permanent pandemic
  11. Datechguy’s Blog built a pirate ship in the backyard – and discusses inflation
  12. Free North Carolina notes the state of New York requiring COVID passports
  13. Gen Z Conservative discusses what actually happened in Fulton County on election night
  14. IOTW Report covers Mexico’s president blaming Biden for the border crisis
  15. And last, but not least, Jihad Watch notes the links between Wokeness and anti-Semitism

As always, the full set of pinups can be seen in the Patriotic Pinup category, or over at my Gallery page (nope, that’s gone, the newest Apache killed access, and the program hasn’t been upgraded since 2014). While we are on pinups, since it is that time of year, have you gotten your “Pinups for Vets” calendar yet? And don’t forget to check out what I declare to be our War on Women Rule 5 and linky luv posts and things that interest me.

Don’t forget to check out all the other great material all the linked blogs have!

Anyone else have a link or hotty-fest going on? Let me know so I can add you to the list. And do you have a favorite blog you can recommend be added to the feedreader?

Read: Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup »

Unlike “Stimulus”, Biden Will Have A Tougher Time Selling Tax Hikes Or Something

CNN’s John Harwood is rather squeeing over China Joe being able to get his COVID “stimulus” through Congress. It was so easy that Democrats had to pass it using reconciliation, because Joe couldn’t get any Republican votes, because House and Senate Democrats, along with Dementia Joe, didn’t bother trying to craft a bipartisan bill, didn’t attempt to gain consensus with Republicans, despite all Joe’s Unity talk. Should giant legislation like that be easy?

Biden made stimulus look easy. Selling tax hikes for infrastructure will be harder

President Joe Biden’s second big legislative push will be harder than his first for multiple reasons, most conspicuously this one: It will include tax increases.

To be sure, Biden seeks increases of the most popular kind. He intends to target corporations and rich people without, aides maintain, touching Americans earning under $400,000 a year.

But tax hikes that start out popular don’t often end up that way, as Republican strategists are eager to prove again once debate over Biden’s “Build Back Better” infrastructure plan begins in earnest.

“Nobody believes taxes are only going to be raised on the wealthy,” explained Glen Bolger, a leading Republican pollster. “The negative tends to outweigh the positive. If we do our job, it becomes the dominant thing.”

Build Back Better, which envisions roughly $3 trillion in new spending and hundreds of billions more in tax credits, shares some of those qualities. Its marquee feature — upgrading America’s stock of roads, bridges, airports, schools, broadband and energy infrastructure — enjoys broad support from voters, politicians in both parties, and business leaders.

Two points: Build Back Better is part of The Great Reset, which is no conspiracy theory. Think of when Obama, China Joe’s boss, was yammering about “fundamentally transforming America.” 2nd

Yeah, the China Joe admin has already started to spin Joe’s $400k promise, saying that was for families. Single earners would be $200k. When does that change?

As Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell summarized it: “A so-called infrastructure proposal that may actually be a Trojan horse for massive tax hikes and other job-killing left-wing policies.” Similar attacks on “job-killing” tax hikes by Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama exacted a political toll even though economic events did not vindicate them.

The relentless march of income equality since has enhanced the appeal of Biden’s ideas, which include a higher corporate rate, a higher rate on personal income for top earners, and higher rates on capital gains and inherited assets. His call to reward “work, not wealth” reflects polls showing middle-class voters believe the rich and Big Business avoid taxation at their expense.

That belief undercut public support for former President Donald Trump’s 2017 tax cuts, which disproportionately benefitted high earners. But Americans’ widespread distrust of government creates treacherous cross-currents for Biden and his party just the same.

“They think once (lawmakers) start raising taxes, ‘I’m going to get stuck with the bill,'” said Democratic pollster Mark Mellman. “Historically, they’ve just heard ‘tax increase.’ They don’t hear the qualifier: who’s paying it.”

That last line shows that the Elites think we’re stupid. Because those tax increases never stop at “the rich”. Raise them on corporations and they pass them along to everyone else. Raise them on individuals and they look to shelter their money rather than investing it. And we aren’t dumb enough to think that there won’t be all sorts of tax increases and games played, especially when we know the “infrastructure” bill will contain all sorts of hardcore leftist priorities that have little to nothing to do with infrastructure and will solicit almost no Republican input. You can bet people will be given almost no chance to read it before it is voted on.

Consider the fate of two ballot measures in last November’s elections. In Illinois, voters considered shifting from a flat tax to a progressive income levy that Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker said would only hit the top 3% of households; in California, they considered higher taxes on large commercial property owners to finance schools and local government.

Both are blue states Biden carried easily. In both, voters rejected the tax hikes.

Leftists say they want to raise taxes on “the rich”, but, when they actually have to vote, they vote against the measures because they know it would raise their own taxes. Nothing is more fair than a flat tax.

Biden’s plan attempts a logical connection between new spending and revenue to pay for it. Raising the corporate rate to 28% from 21% would finance physical infrastructure investments. Higher levies on wealthy individuals would finance “human capital” benefits including tuition-free community college and universal pre-kindergarten.

What does community college and pre-school have to do with infrastructure? Raise the corporate rate and they will shelter it, not spend it, have less hiring, fewer pay raises, etc and so on. In the real world, we understand this, unlike the people in Congress who mostly haven’t worked real jobs in decades and/or never actually ran a business in any fashion.

That’s why White House officials and congressional Democratic leaders alike expect negotiations with Republicans on a bipartisan compromise to fail. If that happens, Build Back Better would end up taking the same path as Covid relief: A single giant bill advanced under special budget rules that would require rock-solid Democratic unity but no Republican votes.

What you’ll hear, just like in the early Obama years, is that Joe and the Dems aren’t bothering to talk with Republicans because they know the GOP is against the bill, so, why bother? So, there will be no engagement from Joe. Not that Joe seems to really understand what’s going on. He just does what he’s told.

Read: Unlike “Stimulus”, Biden Will Have A Tougher Time Selling Tax Hikes Or Something »

Bummer: St. Andrews Golf Course Could Maybe Possibly Be Underwater By 2050

All because you drive your fossil fueled vehicle to the golf course and have an evil hotdog and syrupy soda at the turn

St. Andrews could be underwater by 2050, according to a new climate-change study

The Home of Golf could be underwater as soon as 2050, according to a new climate-change study.

The study, released by Climate Central—an organization comprised of leading scientists and journalists who study climate change’s impact on society—and analyzed by The Herald predicts large swaths of Scotland’s coastline could be submerged due to increased annual flooding and sea level rise. This includes St. Andrews Links, located in the town of St. Andrews on Scotland’s eastern coastline.

Climate Central published an interactive map to show which areas could be affected. It predicts a widening of the River Clyde, which would impact areas to the west of Glasgow, as well as damage to Dundee, Fife, Stirling and a number of other Scottish metropolitan areas.

St. Andrews’ Old Course is one of five Scottish courses in the Open Championship’s 10-course rota. The map also suggests two other Scottish rota courses—Carnoustie and Royal Troon, both located on the coast—could be severely impacted.

“As these maps incorporate big datasets, which always include some error” an explainer on Climate Central’s website reads, “these maps should be regarded as screening tools to identify places that may require deeper investigation of risk.”

Oh, wait, what was that? A disclaimer for their fearmongering? Anyhow, the height above sea level of St. Andrews proper is 82 feet. The golf course is located in an area which is much closer to sea level, but, the seas would have to rise around 5 feet to start inundating the course. Just north of St. Andrews is Aberdeen, which shows a virtually flat sea rise, at .25 feet per 100 years, data going back to 1862. Just south is North Shields, which shows .62 feet per 100 years, going back to 1895. Neither shows any sort of acceleration. Both are well below what is expected during a Holocene warm period. So, just more fearmongering.

Read: Bummer: St. Andrews Golf Course Could Maybe Possibly Be Underwater By 2050 »

Pirate's Cove