UAW Holds Talks With Biden Admin About EVs, Reduced Emissions

By William Teach February 10, 2021 – 3:00 pm

These are people who do not actually own or run the auto manufacturers talking about increasing the cost of vehicles for consumers, probably in a manner which increases the pay of the auto workers (which would, in reality, most likely mean replacing auto workers with more automation, along with moving plants to Mexico)

UAW president holds White House talks on vehicle emissions

United Auto Workers (UAW) President Rory Gamble held a virtual meeting last week with a top White House environmental official as the Biden administration moves to reverse the rollback in vehicle emissions rules adopted under then President Donald Trump.

A spokesman for the Detroit-based union confirmed Gamble met with White House domestic climate change adviser Gina McCarthy and other members of the Biden Administration.

“It was a very open and positive dialogue,” Gamble said in a statement, praising the Biden administration’s “commitment to regular dialogue with the UAW.”

The Biden administration has started discussions with the automobile sector about reducing greenhouse gas emissions, McCarthy told Reuters last week.

McCarthy also spoke recently to General Motors Chief Executive Mary Barra about the Detroit automaker’s aspiration to halt sales of all gas- and diesel-powered vehicles by 2035, the automaker confirmed.

In the grand scheme of things, do consumers actually care? Most people are pretty happy with the fuel economy of vehicles right now. Almost no one mentions “carbon emissions” as a reason to purchase a vehicle. They want affordable and specific features. But, someone is telling the LA Times differently

Letters to the Editor: People want electric cars, but dealers don’t want to sell them. Let’s change that

To the editor: Your piece on electric vehicle demand states that “consumers aren’t there yet” and that traditional automakers have “struggled to sell electric cars.”

False. Most of the time, a traditional auto dealership will attempt to dissuade you from buying their EVs. They aren’t struggling to sell their EVs; rather, they are struggling not to sell you their EVs because they make virtually nothing on parts and service.

And, if the automakers really wanted to sell EVs, they’d build more compelling products.

In reality land, not that many people want to buy an EV. Honda tried this with their Clarity, expanding a nationwide rollout from West Coast and NE states. Sure, there were some sales, but, not what you’d think, to the point you can only get a Clarity on the west coast. Not even in states like NY, NJ, and Mass. Most people do not want the hassle of them, or the cost. Even hybrids are sluggish. You can get a CRV hybrid for not much more than a regular CRV, but, sales are probably like 50 regular to every 1 hybrid. And we’re talking in a high tech area like the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill area.

Automakers make what sells. There really isn’t much of a demand for plugins or pure EVs. Used hybrids often sit. Parts and service is still need for the components of an EV. Still needs maintenance. You don’t make money making products that most people are neither demanding nor buying.

Meanwhile, the world’s leading EV manufacturer, Tesla, can’t make its vehicles fast enough. Tesla is building new factories on three continents to satisfy a steadily growing demand. They make EVs that people want: beautiful styling, exceptional performance and an unparalleled safety record.

Who’s buying them? Upper middle class to rich. Who often have another vehicle for taking a long trip. Most people cannot afford $38K for a base model Tesla. Much less the over $120K for a regular one.

Furthermore, the analyst quoted states that most households can’t afford EVs. Numerous EVs on the market today sell for less than the average price of a new car. And, used EVs are flooding the market.

Yes, but they are tiny things that do not go far or fast. And aren’t worth squat when you go to sell them. Residual values on hybrids are rather low, because used car buyers are worried about the used batteries.

Perhaps one day EVs will be viable. I’m not against them. They are nowhere close, and, again, most people are not asking for them. Can they make an Accord with the same features that gets the same range for around the same price? Where you can recharge in close to the same time as filling a tank?

Read: UAW Holds Talks With Biden Admin About EVs, Reduced Emissions »

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If All You See…

By William Teach February 10, 2021 – 1:00 pm

…is an area turned to sand due to carbon pollution extreme weather, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Chicks On The Right, with a post on a shocking week of violence in San Francisco

Read: If All You See… »

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CDC Is Recommending Double Masking

By William Teach February 10, 2021 – 12:10 pm

Um, yeah, no, piss off

CDC updates coronavirus face mask guidance, endorses ‘double masking’

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) updated its mask guidance on Wednesday to include data from a recent lab experiment that found placing a cloth mask over a surgical mask, as well as using a properly fitted mask, was effective in stopping coronavirus spread.

The update, which was announced by CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky during a White House coronavirus briefing, comes after a lab experiment using simulated respiratory breaths found that placing a cloth mask over a medical procedure mask or using a medical procedure mask with knotted ear loops and tucked in sides decreased exposure to potentially infectious aerosols by about 95%.

The question now becomes “how soon do certain governors and mayors (primarily Democrats) start mandating this?” Will they give this a shot? Especially since it is rather difficult to get medical grade masks, and because they need to be disposed of after one wearing. And people like to throw theirs on the ground. Because they’re jerks. And will people comply? I highly doubt it, even Biden voters in Biden areas.

Besides, I thought they told us that wearing a mask was good enough 9 months ago. That it would slow the spread. Despite a huge spike. Will Joe, Kamala, his staff, and so forth double mask?

Read: CDC Is Recommending Double Masking »

Posted in Bat Soup Virus | 6 Comments | Trackback URL

Hot Take: Comedy Has A Big Al-Right Problem

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

The hardcore Statists at The New Republic have an issue with people being funny. And, let’s face it, a goodly chunk of those on the Left who are “comedians” are in it more for the applause rather than the laughs

It’s a hell of a graphic, you have to see the full size at the link, and it is a huge article about….comedy

In the dark recesses of the internet lurks a man who goes by ToxicCisWhiteMaleFat. He makes his home on onaforums.net, a community named after the shock jock duo Opie & Anthony—a safe space to say what cannot be said offline. He’s posted in threads like “N—-r hate thread #1,” “The K-ke Hate Thread,” “Juno comes out as a tranny,” and “OFFICIAL Post-Election Voter Fraud THREAD,” where he called Joe Biden “a pedophile retard who’s about to die in the oval office.” Elsewhere he’s derided the Covid-19 vaccine, which he calls “gook juice” and “chinky jew sauce.” Last year he revealed his Twitter account, @ApevonTarskin. The username matches a commenter on Thought Catalog, which ToxicCisWhiteMaleFat has said he trolled after it retracted a transphobic essay by Proud Boys founder Gavin McInnes. His contributions there were more of the same. Under a 2015 post titled “When You Love ‘The Chase,’” he once commented, “There is not a more despicable human on this earth than a fat white n—-r fucker. Get an AIDS test. You have it.”

The internet can sometimes seem like one big rabbit hole, and if you make it down to the bottom, waiting for you is a person. At the bottom of mine was ToxicCisWhiteMaleFat.

I’ve spent the last five years writing about the comedy industry, the last three or so covering inequality and extremism within it. This work has periodically brought me in contact with some of the leading lights in the scene’s transgressive edge—the place where popular, mainstream comedy bleeds into the kind of right-wing politics that animated the Capitol riot last month. It’s a place hostile to prying eyes, and the blowback can be furious. I have been harassed and trolled on social media. I have been doxxed, as have members of my family. And eventually, I found my way to a message board where ToxicCisWhiteMaleFat—who I have reason to believe, though I cannot definitively prove, is a person at the heart of the New York City club comedy scene—and others participated in the Gamergate-style campaign that had been conducted against me.

This is all so bat shit insane, it’s hard to even know where to begin, rather than just looking at the insane ravings of a lunatic.

This online forum—just one node in a constellation of similar forums, subreddits, and Discord groups—is not some outlier in the industry. Before I take you down my particular rabbit hole, it’s worth establishing the many ways in which the worlds of comedy and the racist right overlap and reinforce each other.

The recent comedy boom is popularly understood as an era in which new forms of media, like podcasts and streaming video, created massive new audiences for comedy, which in turn created massive new revenue streams for comedians. At the same time, the artificial intimacy of these platforms allowed fans to feel a level of connection with their favorite performers—and with each other—that could verge on the cultish. This was not simply an era of glorious bounty, in which little-known comedians could land massive Netflix paydays or leapfrog from UCB Comedy to College Humor to lucrative sitcom writing gigs. It was also the era of walled-off subcultures, like onaforums.net, which could transform into real, violent political factions, especially at a time when comedy was increasingly pitted against the forces of political correctness—the very forces that also fueled the grievances of Donald Trump’s supporters and the revanchist right, whose credo of “owning the libs” reads a lot like the traditional comedian’s defense of his right to insult and offend.

The mobs that descended on Washington, D.C., last month have intellectual roots in many places, going back to the bloody beginnings of this country. But they also have roots in specific areas of modern culture, including Facebook, BuzzFeed, and the increasingly online world of comedy. All the forces that incubated the rioters are still there, unchanged, chugging along as normal. The rot goes much deeper than you might expect.

Let’s skip to the meaning: comedians engaged in Wrongthink need to be shut down. Cancelled. Not allowed their Constitutionally protected free speech. But, don’t you dare call lefties fascists.

It really is an insanely long piece. You know, if they don’t think it is funny, they can just tune out.

Read: Hot Take: Comedy Has A Big Al-Right Problem »

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China Joe Looks To Help “Climate Migrants” Or Something

By William Teach February 10, 2021 – 8:46 am

Leftists (we really need to call them Rightists, since their Marxist/Socialist/Progressive/Stateists/Etc beliefs are way to the right of the political scale in the Authoritarian model, but, whatever) love using the notion of ‘climate change’ to push all their crazy political views. That’s one of the reasons why they like to blame the slight increase of global temperatures since 1850 mostly/solely on Mankind. And, heck, let’s say the increase is caused 51% or more by mankind: why does that require Big Government, Modern Socialist policies? Because this is about politics, not science, and the Elites love the notion of cheap labor and people being beholden to government

Biden Pushes U.S.—and the World—to Help Climate Migrants

A growing number of migrants are forced from their homes each day by climate change, and President Biden signaled last week that he wants the United States and the world to pay more attention to the problem.

His first step in that effort was the approval of an executive order Thursday that directs administration officials to undertake a six-month study of climate change’s impact on migration, including “options for protection and resettlement.”

The changes under consideration could far surpass current international practices, experts said—potentially vaulting the United States to global climate leadership after President Trump spent four years dismantling the United States’ capacity for both climate action and refugee resettlement.

Climate migrants lack protections under international refugee laws, despite their ballooning numbers.

“Those of us who have been working in this space have been waiting for this kind of development—and at the highest levels—for years,” said Maxine Burkett, a professor of international and climate change law at the University of Hawaii, Manoa.

Originally designed for people fleeing armed conflict or persecution, the international refugee system is unequipped to help people displaced by climate impacts. It struggles even to define them, because climate change is often an indirect or contributing factor to the proximate causes of migration, such as famine or floods.

That’s because weather and natural events, including disasters, have always happened and will always happen, and it doesn’t mean we need to bring in 10’s of thousands or more of people who aren’t interested in joining the US, being part of the melting pot, and don’t care about American ideals, they just want free stuff and to live like they’re back in their 3rd world shithole country. But, see, on one hand these “climate migrants” feel they are owed all this stuff because Other People have big carbon footprints. On the other, they then will vote for the party that brought them in and are used to being beholden to the authoritarian governments where they come from.

The elites set out a condition where the U.S. “owes” these migrants, who don’t speak the language, don’t read it, have few usable skills, little education, etc, and they will either end up on the government dole, and possibly working low wage jobs (some under the table), doing things like cleaning the houses and pools of the elites. And will vote the way that the elites want, as the elites jam through things like allowing illegals and non-citizens to vote in cities, and counties, and states, and keep attempting to jam through amnesties and just give these “climate migrants” free citizenship.

Biden’s order directs his administration to analyze how to identify, protect and resettle people “directly or indirectly” displaced by climate impacts. It also instructs the government to consider how U.S. foreign aid can help prepare climate-vulnerable areas. Those findings are expected to be published publicly.

China Joe will spend tons of U.S. taxpayer money, better spent on American citizens, on a scam.

Read: China Joe Looks To Help “Climate Migrants” Or Something »

Posted in AGW Socialism, Global Warming, Joe Biden | 6 Comments | Trackback URL

Democrats Release Draft Plan For COVID Stimulus Payments

By William Teach February 10, 2021 – 8:28 am

If getting relief to citizens who are suffering is so darned important, why not simply put forth a stand-alone bill with the stimulus payments?

Stimulus checks would be capped at $100,000 income under Democrat plan. What we know

House Democrats unveiled a proposal Monday that would cap direct payments for individuals making up to $100,000 a year and couples making up to $200,000.

House Ways and Means Chairman Richard Neal, a Massachusetts Democrat, released legislation that would provide $1,400 checks to individuals earning $75,000 a year and married couples earning $150,000 a year — the same income thresholds in Biden’s $1.9 trillion emergency plan released in January. The plan has a faster phase-out than in previous proposals, capping payments at $100,000 for individuals and $200,000 for couples.

The plan by House Democrats may not be the final version of the income eligibility requirements as lawmakers negotiate a bill they hope to pass before Mar. 14, the day that $300 weekly unemployment benefits approved in December’s coronavirus package expire. That timeline has added to lawmakers’ desire to go with the budget reconciliation route, a process that allows for “expedited consideration” of legislation on spending, taxes and debt and would enable Democrats to pass the bill without any GOP support.

“While it is still our hope that Republicans will join us in doing right by the American people, the urgency of the moment demands that we act without further delay,” Neal said in a statement.

What’s so urgent about March 14? That’s over a month away. Democrats knew they would have majorities months ago, yet seemed to have no actual plan ready to go. Unless the plan is to use the pandemic and economic devastation caused partially by locking down the economy, then continued by mostly Democrat rulers keeping states and cities locked down, to jam through a far left wish list. Because there will be few Republican votes in the House, and Democrats have to play games in the Senate by using reconciliation to get it passed. They’re still planning on jamming through the minimum wage hike to $15, which would kill millions of jobs.

A group of 10 Republican senators, led by Maine’s Susan Collins, released a plan on Feb. 1 that includes $1,000 direct payments to Americans instead of the $1,400 checks proposed by Biden. The plan would provide $1,000 stimulus checks for individuals making up to $40,000 a year and phase them out completely when income reaches $50,000. Joint filers would get $2,000, with the payments phasing out beginning at $80,000 a year with an income cap at $100,000.

That does make more sense, especially in terms of who would get the money. Do we really need it for higher earners? If they were smart they’d be on TV and social media and stuff constantly saying they’d be willing to compromise but that it’s super important to pass a stimulus immediately, and that it should be voted in a standalone bill which is “clean”, meaning it is solely about stimulus checks.

Read: Democrats Release Draft Plan For COVID Stimulus Payments »

Posted in Bat Soup Virus, Current Affairs, Democrats | 24 Comments | Trackback URL

Say, What Can Consumers Do To Solve The Climate Apocalypse Or Something

By William Teach February 9, 2021 – 3:00 pm

Well, a good first step would be for the EcoWatch website to shut down, due to it’s carbon footprint. Same with the World Economic Forum, which sees lots of Elites taking long, fossil fueled private jets to meetings

How Can Consumers Help Solve the Climate Crisis?

In 2015, Parties to the UNFCCC adopted the Paris Agreement, to strengthen the global response to the threat of climate change by keeping the global temperature rise this century well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels, and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C. It was signed by 175 countries, making it the largest number of countries ever to sign an international agreement on a single day. Since then the number increased to 186 countries.

Almost all the world’s governments are firmly committed to help stop climate change. Within this framework, business has a responsibility to deliver it. The private sector increasingly appreciates its role. A growing number of companies are working to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 through a combination of individual actions and collaborative initiatives like Universal ESG Reporting, Race to Zero or Climate Action.

Yet, most countries aren’t even close to their Paris goals. Surprise? Anyway, what can you do (before government forces you to do)

1) Understand your own direct and indirect emissions. There are several carbon footprint calculators, like footprintcalculator.org, conservation.org or WWF. Each has pros and cons, but they all return consistent results.

People have a tough enough time counting calories. And the liberal education system makes it so that kids have trouble doing basic math.

2) Strive to get access to information. Today, it is often difficult to understand the impact of products you buy. Are you able to say which apple in your usual grocery store is the most environmentally friendly? Or most importantly all your clothes, cars, meat, electronics and cloud services, not to mention your energy use?

That’s dangerous, because people might figure out this is all a scam

3) Start making better consumer choices. It often seems that there is only a binary choice available – to consume or not – with very limited options to consume more responsibly. However, increased access to information often proves that more choices exist.

For example, looking at the Just Salad menu, one of the choices I could make is between Maple Crispy Chicken Salad and Chicken Pitta Salad. They both include chicken, and both contain similar calories. However, the carbon footprint of the latter is 60% greater than the former. Imagine if we could do the same for all our consumer choices.

Piss off. I’m picking the salad (well, not really, I won’t even glance at the salad part of the menu) that tastes the best. I won’t obsess like a doomsday cult member on its carbon footprint.

4) Be prepared to pay for it. Higher quality products or services often will not be cheaper than high polluting ones. Cleaning up the supply chains, doing things right will cost money. Be ready to pay a premium for a low emissions product. Hopefully one day we will reach a scale in which such trade-offs don’t exist anymore.

So, wait, all this “green” stuff is going to be much more expensive? Huh.

5) Help others increase their awareness. Make sure your family understands their impact. Help them make better choices and you will multiply your impact.

Nag the crap out of non-cultists. Strangely, nothing about giving up the use of fossil fueled travel and making their own lives carbon neutral.

Read: Say, What Can Consumers Do To Solve The Climate Apocalypse Or Something »

Posted in AGW Idiocy, Global Warming | 2 Comments | Trackback URL

If All You See…

By William Teach February 9, 2021 – 1:00 pm

…is the need to build homes high up for when the seas rise dozens of feet, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is America’s Watchtower, with a post on the draconian gun registration bill introduced by nutty Sheila Jackson-Lee.

Read: If All You See… »

Posted in If All You See | 11 Comments | Trackback URL

China Joe Expected To Rollback Illegal Alien Deportations

By William Teach February 9, 2021 – 10:30 am

If a foreigner who was going through the naturalization process was convicted of minor crimes they’d be summarily asked to leave, and deported if they don’t. Someone who’s illegally present in the US? Nah, they’re good

Joe Biden Expected to Roll Back Deportations for Illegal Alien Drunk Drivers, Assailants

President Joe Biden’s administration is expected to roll back deportations starting this week for illegal aliens who have been convicted of drunk driving, simple assault, and a number of drug crimes.

Internal communications reviewed by the Washington Post, and nearly confirmed by White House press secretary Jen Psaki, details how the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency under Biden’s direction will not prioritize deportations for illegal aliens convicted of a number of crimes, all of which have American victims.

The Post reports:

Agents will no longer seek to deport immigrants for crimes such as driving under the influence and assault, and will focus instead on national security threats, recent border crossers and people completing prison and jail terms for aggravated felony convictions. [Emphasis added]

“Generally, these convictions would not include drug based crimes (less serious offenses), simple assault, DUI, money laundering, property crimes, fraud, tax crimes, solicitation, or charges without convictions,” acting director Tae Johnson told senior officials in a Thursday email advising them on how to operate while new guidelines are finalized. [Emphasis added]

So, if an illegal alien assaults you after hitting your car while drunk, or robs your house, you shouldn’t expect the China Joe administration to follow federal law and deport the person. Feeling good yet?

The internal emails sent to ICE agents suggests illegal aliens are only considered threats to the public if they are convicted of aggravated felonies, can be proven to be gang members, or have a history of violence.

Even then, if we go by what happened during Obama’s time in office, they might not be deported. An aggravated felony? How about any felony, period?

Also part of the new guidelines expected this week is a provision forcing agents to get approval from acting ICE Director Tae Johnson to make arrests of any illegal aliens who are not in prisons or jails. As part of that approval process, agents would have to justify to Johnson why the illegal alien should get priority for arrest and deportation.

Why? Because they are in violation of U.S. federal law. Why is it that illegals are allowed to get off while regular citizens would be prosecuted?

For context, ICE arrests tens of thousands of illegal aliens every year who are convicted of have pending charges for crimes like drunk driving, assault, drug possession, and fraud. In 2019, for example, illegal aliens arrested by ICE had more than 74,500 convictions or charges involving drunk driving, more than 68,000 charges or convictions of traffic offenses, nearly 46,000 charges or convictions for assault, and more than 12,000 charges or convictions for fraud.

So, basically, almost none will be allowed to be arrested, because no way can Johnson give approval for that many arrests. A goodly chunk of that fraud affects U.S. citizens. They get to have their lives ruined while the illegal gets to wander free, and then will get prioritized for a Democrat amnesty.

Read: China Joe Expected To Rollback Illegal Alien Deportations »

Posted in Democrats, Illegal Immigration, Joe Biden | 3 Comments | Trackback URL

Biden Press Lackey Asked Where All The Green Jobs Are

By William Teach February 9, 2021 – 7:00 am

Biden Press Secretary is never happy when someone dares to ask her a tough question. Don’t certain reporters know that it’s supposed to be softballs?

Psaki spars with Fox News’ Peter Doocy over Keystone pipeline job losses

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki sparred with Fox News White House Correspondent Peter Doocy on Monday after he pressed her to address expected job losses stemming from President Biden’s executive action to cancel the Keystone XL oil pipeline.

President Biden revoked the permit for the 1,700-mile pipeline on his first day in office, ending a project that was expected to employ more than 11,000 Americans this year. Doocy asked Psaki to comment on when the workers who lost job opportunities due to Biden’s executive order could expect to receive a “green job” as a replacement.

“When is it that the Biden administration is going to let the thousands of fossil fuel industry workers, whether its pipeline workers or construction workers who are either out of work or will soon be out of work because of Biden’s EO, when it is and where it is that they can go for their green jobs?” Doocy said.

Doocy referenced Biden’s pledge to create “high-paying union jobs” through investments in green energy infrastructure projects. In response, Psaki called on Doocy to present more evidence to back up his question.

“Well, I’d certainly welcome you to present your data of all the thousands and thousands of people who won’t be getting green jobs,” Psaki said. “Maybe next time you’re here you can present that.”

“But you said that they would be getting green jobs, so I’m just asking when that happens?” Doocy said.

Trump’s various press secretaries used to be able to cite facts, Psaki provides smears, snark, and circle back.

“As the president has indicated when he gave his primetime address to talk about the American Rescue Plan, he talked about his plans to also put forward a jobs plan in the weeks or months following,” Psaki said. “He has every plan to do exactly that.”

So, Biden put a minimum of 11,000 people out of work weeks to months ahead of announcing a plan, and, of course, said plan would take months to years to implement. What happened to all those “good paying green jobs” when Obama was president? There were almost none. The few that were created didn’t last.

What would Biden know about creating jobs? He’s been in political office for the majority of his life. He’s never run a business.

Read: Biden Press Lackey Asked Where All The Green Jobs Are »

Posted in Economy, Global Warming, Joe Biden | 9 Comments | Trackback URL
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