North Carolina Tightens Mask Mandate, Gov Forgets To Wear Mask

By William Teach November 24, 2020 – 8:01 am

Rather than roll back existing re-opening, Gov Cooper decided to tighten mask mandates, because wearing a mask has certainly limited the spread of COVID, right?

Cooper tightens mask mandate as one-fifth of NC counties now coronavirus hotspots

Gov. Roy Cooper reinforced statewide coronavirus restrictions on Monday as a growing number of North Carolina counties are considered hotspots for viral spread.

Less than a week after rolling out a county alert system to illustrate where the virus was spreading fastest, the number of counties in the red zone has doubled from 10 to 20. The number in the orange zone with substantial spread grew from 43 to 46. (snip)

“I have a stark warning for North Carolinians today: We are in danger,” he said during a briefing on the pandemic. “This is a pivotal moment in our fight against coronavirus. Our actions now will determine the fate of many.” (snip)

“This is a call to arms to the people of North Carolina – we have to pull together to stem the tide,” Cooper said.

Rather than reimposing restrictions that have been eased in recent months, he decided to close loopholes in the statewide mask mandate that he put in place over the summer.

Now, masks must be worn indoors whenever someone not in the same household is present and outdoors whenever physical distancing isn’t possible. The tighter restrictions include requiring masks in private schools and in gyms, even when people are working out, as well as in airports and train and bus stations.

Large businesses must have someone checking that customers are wearing masks and that capacity limits are followed, and law enforcement can cite individuals or businesses for not complying.

Large business means, per the order, those with 15,000 square feet of retail space, meaning a business must dedicate someone as their Mask Police at the door. The mask mandate, as you can see from the first link in the excerpt (you can also read about it here), means that you cannot ever remove your mask inside, be it for working out (where you could remove it while on machines and such, but had to wear while walking around), or in your office, which had been part of previous orders. Good luck understanding people on the phone. And eating. Study after study shows that gyms are safer than other businesses for Bat Soup Virus spread.

And, yes, sicking the police on you

Raleigh Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin said city officials plan to discuss how to handle Cooper’s new executive order.

“We have been proactively monitoring businesses for the past few weeks with our fire marshals and special events staff specifically working with bars and restaurants,” Baldwin said. “Our goal has been voluntary compliance. This order is more focused on retail, so we will look at language and enforcement.”

The order doesn’t lay out the exact penalties, which seems problematic, but, then, he has no statutory authority for that. The duly elected Legislative branch would be the ones to do that.

“The rules need to be enforced,” Cooper said. “We don’t want to go backward [and close businesses again], but we will if necessary.”

Need to enforce the rules, right?

In all fairness, Cooper has been one of the less burdensome governors with his restrictions, and, I suspect he has consulted with the Republican General Assembly leaders, as they have not slapped him for doing things without legislation from the GA.

Read: North Carolina Tightens Mask Mandate, Gov Forgets To Wear Mask »

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Reduction In “Carbon Emissions” During Lockdown Had Little Effect, Part 947

By William Teach November 23, 2020 – 3:00 pm

Remember how they said we had to all reduce our carbon footprint (meaning you, not the people saying it), and that government should basically force people to do so. Well, that pretty much happened. Yet, atmospheric CO2 continued to rise, so, we’re still in the Making Excuses phase

Climate change: Covid pandemic has little impact on rise in CO2

The global response to the Covid-19 crisis has had little impact on the continued rise in atmospheric concentrations of CO2, says the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).

Carbon emissions fell dramatically in 2020 due to lockdowns that saw transport and industry grind to a halt.

But this has only marginally slowed down the overall rise in concentrations, the scientists say.

The details are published in the WMO’s annual greenhouse gas bulletin. (snip)

Thanks to lockdowns in early 2020, carbon emissions fell by 17% at their peak, but the overall effect on concentrations has been very small.

Preliminary estimates suggest that CO2 will continue to increase this year but that rise will be reduced by 0.08 to 0.23ppm.

So, if seeing a bigger reduction than Warmists were calling for (roughly 7-10% reduction) doesn’t actually change anything, might there be other forces at play? Like, oh, nature, and being in a typical Holocene Warm period caused mostly by nature?

This falls within the 1ppm natural variability that occurs from year to year.

“We breached the global threshold of 400 parts per million in 2015, and just four years later, we crossed 410 ppm, such a rate of increase has never been seen in the history of our records,” said WMO secretary general, Prof Petteri Taalas.

“The lockdown-related fall in emissions is just a tiny blip on the long-term graph. We need a sustained flattening of the curve,” he said.

And that’s the point, to lock everything down (for Other People) for years, if not decades. You’re OK with that, right?

Read: Reduction In “Carbon Emissions” During Lockdown Had Little Effect, Part 947 »

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

If All You See…

By William Teach November 23, 2020 – 1:00 pm

…is china, which reminds you of how China is making all sorts of awesome climate pledges, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is The Right Scoop, with a post on why Team Trump has backed away from Sidney Powell.

Read: If All You See… »

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You Know, A Negative COVID Test Doesn’t Mean You Can Socialize

By William Teach November 23, 2020 – 10:30 am

Let’s move those goalposts, folks! Might as well, because we’re way past the time of “15 days to defeat COVID”

Gov. Cooper COVID-19 update coming as NC records highest case numbers yet

North Carolina reported its highest number of new coronavirus cases — 4,514 — on Sunday as more people get tested before Thanksgiving.

Gov. Roy Cooper will hold a press conference Monday afternoon. After limiting indoor gatherings from 25 to 10 people, the governor said last week that, if numbers don’t improve, some new restrictions might need to be enacted.

“We will do what we need to do in order to protect the health and safety of North Carolinians,” he said. “We have done that in the past. We will do that in the future.”

The concerning number is not only the state’s highest daily total to date but an unusually high number for a weekend day, when fewer people usually get tested. State-run and private testing sites alike have reported long lines and a surplus of people trying to get tested the weekend before Thanksgiving.

Many in North Carolina are concerned that lockdowns and such are coming. If we’re lucky, it will be the silly 10pm to 5am lockdowns like in other states. Restrictions will seemingly be different based on the county and how they are performing.

The NCDHHS also urged families to celebrate Thanksgiving differently by not traveling and by dining only with those you live with – advice also issued by the CDC. The state warned that, while getting a COVID-19 test before the holiday is a good idea, a negative test doesn’t mean you’re in the clear.

“If you test negative, that is not a definitive answer or a free pass,” the state said. “Act as if you could have COVID and could be contagious. Wear a face mask over your mouth and nose. Wait 6 feet apart. Wash your hands often.”

I most certainly agree with the social distancing, no touching, and washing your hands. Not so thrilled with masks, but, better safe than sorry, and I can get away with wearing silly things and my favorite sports teams, and no one can say boo. But, it’s that part about not having a free pass which seems to be the latest talking point, with the NY Times leading the way (you can also read it at Yahoo)

No, a Negative Coronavirus Test Does Not Mean You Can Safely Socialize

In the lead-up to Thanksgiving, Americans are no strangers to planning. But this year, as they prepare to let turkeys brine and pie crusts thaw, people across the country are waiting for something extra: a coronavirus test they hope can clear them to mingle with loved ones.

Many people consider a negative coronavirus test to be a ticket to freely socialize without precautions. But scientists and doctors say this is dangerously misguided. It is one precautionary measure but does not negate the need for others, like quarantining, masking and distancing.

The main reason is that a test gives information about the level of the virus at one point in time. A person could be infected but not have enough virus yet for it to register on a test. Or, a person may become infected in the hours or days after taking a test. Also, the tests do not have 100% accuracy. (snip)

The experts agreed that tests were very useful for one thing: If someone receives a positive test, that person knows to stay home and isolate.

But a negative test, while helpful, is not sufficient, said Dr. Esther Choo, an emergency medicine physician and a professor at Oregon Health and Science University. A test “filters out those who are positive and definitely shouldn’t be there,” she said. “Testing negative basically changes nothing about behavior. It still means wear a mask, distance, avoid indoors if you can.”

On one hand, this makes sense, right? You aren’t positive right now, but, that doesn’t mean you won’t get it 30 minutes later when you fist bump someone. I’m good with social distancing and no touching. I have not had a cold or the flu yet this year (knock on wood). I prefer to minimize the chance of getting COVID. You never know if it will be asymptomatic, like having the cold, or put you in the ICU, right?

But, let’s be honest, this seems to be setting the stage now for more government control of your life. It’s building a narrative to get you to give up more of your freedom. Perhaps they’ll come up with Freedom Passes, eh?

BTW, so much of the article is about problems with the tests

Different tests for the coronavirus give different information.

So, if some tests work and some tests don’t, how is it that the media freaked out about the rising numbers who test positive, when there are problems? Oh, right, Orange Man Bad.

Read: You Know, A Negative COVID Test Doesn’t Mean You Can Socialize »

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Know What We Really Need? Another Unaccountable Federal Bureaucracy About ‘Climate Change’

By William Teach November 23, 2020 – 7:13 am

We’re all good with creating another federal agency chock full of activists with no accountability to the citizens and taxpayers, right, who can pass all sorts of rules and regulations on your life, right?

We Need a National Institute of Climate Change and Health

If there was any lingering doubt that climate change threatens human health and well-being, this year put it to rest. Wildfire smoke aggravated heart disease and lung disease up and down the West Coast and across the country. A record-breaking hurricane season killed and injured people from North Carolina to Texas, and left tens of thousands homeless and at risk of PTSD and other mental health problems. Oppressive heat across the Southwest imperiled outdoor workers and athletes, the elderly and the poor, and people with underlying health problems, with risks ranging from heatstroke to heart attacks and even death.

Not one of those things prove that the causation was due to Mankind’s output of greenhouse gases (though many of those wildfires were the fault of negligence of humans in mostly Democratic Party run areas)

2020 reinforced another lesson: If we don’t prepare for health disasters and manage them skillfully, informed by the best evidence, then people suffer and die needlessly. In confronting a novel virus, the United States failed in its response, and we continue to have one of the world’s highest COVID-19 death rates.

What is true for COVID is true for climate change. We’re not prepared. Part of the gap is a knowledge gap: We haven’t done the needed research, and we lack critical information.

They do know that all these climate cult groups could have spent lots of their own money to do research and done things, right? Like them or not, there are tons of preppers and prepper groups (some more extreme than others) who have prepared for Bad Things To Happen. But, as we all know, Leftists like to spend Other People’s money, not their own. And aren’t particularly thrilled at actually having to do something themselves

As former directors of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Environmental Health, we are alarmed by this neglect of a major climate and public health emergency. And so we recommend a solution: the urgent creation of a new National Institutes of Health division—the National Institute of Climate Change and Health.

With a budget of over $40 billion, the NIH is the largest, best funded health research institution in the world. Yet currently a measly $9 million is spent annually on research directly related to climate change and health, according to the NIH’s own tally. If the NIH budget were scaled to $100, climate change and health funding would amount to two hundredths of one penny—what’s called “budget dust.”

Howard Frumkin and Richard J. Jackson have both been, among other things, former directors of the CDC’s National Center for Environmental Health.

A climate change institute within NIH would support research to answer critical questions related to climate and health. This would help Americans be better prepared for mental and physical health risks and identify effective prevention and treatment strategies. Research could quantify the health benefits, and cost savings, from cutting carbon emissions across the economy, to help chart the healthiest path forward. It could provide a blueprint for reconfiguring hospitals and clinics to be climate-ready and to reach net zero carbon emissions as soon as possible, while delivering top quality care to all. The United Kingdom’s National Health Service, for example, has already launched an ambitious plan to eliminate nearly all of its carbon emissions.

Personally, a tiny 1.5F increase in global temperatures over the last 170 years is minor, and barely noticed. What they really want is for the NIH climate cult division to put out pronouncements of Doom, the better to scare people Officially.

Existential threats call for groundbreaking innovations. It’s time for a National Institute of Climate Change and Health.

Nope. No thanks. Spend your own money on your cult.

Read: Know What We Really Need? Another Unaccountable Federal Bureaucracy About ‘Climate Change’ »

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Trump Looks To Box In Biden Internationally With Peace Deals, Sanctions On Enemies Or Something

By William Teach November 23, 2020 – 6:57 am

The Credentialed Media seems pretty enthused that Biden can get rid of all that freedom and peace and sanctions and stuff that Trump has put in place

Trump aims to box in Biden abroad, but it may not work

On its way out the door, the Trump administration is enacting new rules, regulations and orders that it hopes will box in President-elect Joe Biden’s administration on numerous foreign policy matters and cement President Donald Trump’s “America First” legacy in international affairs.

Yet, the push may not work, as many of these decisions can be withdrawn or significantly amended by the incoming president when he takes office on Jan. 20.

In recent weeks, the White House, State Department and other agencies have been working overtime to produce new policy pronouncements on Iran, Israel, China and elsewhere that aim to lock in Trump’s vision for the world. Some have attracted significant attention while others have flown largely under the radar.

And, while Biden could reverse many of them with a stroke of the pen, some will demand the time and attention of his administration when it comes into power with a host of other priorities that perhaps need more urgent attention.

The most recent of these moves took place this past week as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made what may be his last visit to Israel as secretary of state and delivered two announcements in support of Israel’s claims to territory claimed by the Palestinians.

Biden’s team has remained silent about these announcements, but Biden has made clear he supports few, if any, of them and will reverse many as he intends to return to a more traditional policy toward Israel and the Palestinians.

Team Trump has pushed through multiple peace deals between Israel and Muslim countries that may not have been fully hostile, but, were certainly against Israel, using the old saying of “nations do not have friends, they have interests.” He’s been pro-Israel, even moving the embassy to Jerusalem, as enshrined in U.S. law decades ago. Every naysayer said this would cause massive violence, yet, not only did we get less violence than in Portland from Biden voters, we got nothing. He’s pretty much destroyed ISIS, he’s slapped lots of restrictions on Iran and Russia and Russians, and is working to finally get out of Afghanistan. He didn’t start any new wars or even small actions. He’s worked hard to level the playing field against China, and he’s told the World Health Organization, complicit with helping China hide the Coronavirus, to piss off. He also pulled out of the Human Rights Council, a hotbed of nations with terrible human rights records. He’s pushed peace, not endless wars. And it has been all America First

Is that what Joe Biden is going to do 180’s on? Oh, and mostly by the stroke of a pen, which we were told was a Bad Thing To Do when Trump took office

As opinion polls started to show Biden as a clear favorite to beat Trump in November, the administration began to move even as the president maintained a public face of defiance and absolute confidence in his reelection.

Some officials point to a July 13 declaration from Pompeo that the United States would now reject virtually all of China’s territorial claims in the South Chine Sea, a 180-degree shift from previous administrations’ positions that all such claims should be handled by arbitration.

While many of Trump’s foreign policy decisions from early on have been designed to blow up the previous administration’s foreign policy achievements — withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal, the Paris Climate Accord and the Trans Pacific Partnership on trade — the South China Sea decision was the first to be linked by administration officials to the possibility that Biden might be the next president.

It’s a bad thing to counter China? The nation that is dangerous economically to the U.S., and a danger militarily in that region? Does China Joe want to embrace China, putting America behind them?

Or, hey, maybe Joe would like to start some wars for oil, like Obama. And blow off peace uprisings, like Obama did with the Iranian Green uprising and the Arab Spring. And foment the rise of a new hardcore Islamist group.

Read: Trump Looks To Box In Biden Internationally With Peace Deals, Sanctions On Enemies Or Something »

Posted in Donald Trump, Joe Biden | 4 Comments | Trackback URL

If All You See…

By William Teach November 22, 2020 – 1:00 pm

…is fire, which is just like out in the woods due to carbon pollution, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Jihad Watch, with a post on more Israel hating from Ilhan Omar.

It’s cooking week!

Read: If All You See… »

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Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup

By William Teach November 22, 2020 – 8:47 am

Patriotic Pinup Peter Dribben

Happy Sunday! Another fantastic day in America. The Sun is shining, the birds are singing, Thanksgiving is almost here. This pinup is by Peter Dribben, with a wee bit of help.

What is happening in Ye Olde Blogosphere? The Fine 15

  1. Moonbattery: The Great Reset Explained
  2. MOTUS AD: The World Is A Complicated Place: take a nap and wait for dinner
  3. neo-neocon: Do Giuliani, Powell, and Ellis have the goods?
  4. Never Yet Melted: New AR-15 glows blue when libs are around.
  5. Newsbusters: Hey, Remember When Media Outlets Were Concerned About Vote Fraud?
  6. Pacific Pundit: AntiFA and BLM terrorists vandalize over 50 businesses in Portland on Friday – media silent
  7. Powerline: COVID Hypocrisy Is the Least Of It
  8. The Feral Irishman: Holy Shit… That’s The Shortest Recession I’ve Never Lived Through… plus archival fun
  9. The First Street Journal: Another draconian decree from the Pennsylvania Soviet Socialist Republic
  10. The Last Refuge: Unusual Pattern and Ratio Within Philadelphia Ballot Data Indicates Dominion Software Manipulation of Vote…
  11. The Lid: Unhinged Leftists’ New Grand Idea: Deprogramming Trump Supporters
  12. The Other McCain: The ‘Sovereign Citizen’ Movement Is Dangerous, and Yet Often Hilarious
  13. The People’s Cube: The real definition of socialism: ‘Do as I say or else’
  14. The Political Hat: Belated And Surprisingly Chill Election Aftermath—Despite The Cries Of A “Coup”
  15. And last, but not least, Not A Lot Of People Know That: Electric cars are good fun for wealthy virtue signallers, but a dreadful way to save the planet

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 »

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Last Gasp? Sidney Powell Promises “Biblical Lawsuit”

By William Teach November 22, 2020 – 7:29 am

Let’s face it, it really is over unless Team Trump can provide rock-solid proof that cheating occurred in multiple states that would provide enough votes for Trump to win. Just getting Georgia and /or Pennsylvania wouldn’t make a difference. They will have to show election “irregularities” in Michigan, Wisconsin, Arizona, perhaps Virginia (which was trending Trump heavily while still being called for Biden for some reason), and even in swing states that Trump won. It has to be convincing, and it needs to be soon, because even many Trump supporters are moving on

Sidney Powell: ‘Biblical’ Lawsuit Coming, Accuses Ga. Gov. Kemp of Deal With Dominion

China Votes BidenLevying explosive claims of widespread voter fraud specifically tied to Dominion Voting Systems and potentially a pay-for-play scheme with GOP Gov. Brian Kemp, Trump campaign lawyer Sidney Powell on Newsmax TV vowed to deliver a “biblical” voter fraud case this week.

“We’ve got tons of evidence; it’s so much, it’s hard to pull it all together,” Powell told Saturday night’s “The Count” co-hosted by Rob Schmitt and Mark Halperin, teasing the explosive allegation of the Georgia governor in a contested and key battleground state.

“Hopefully this week we will get it ready to file, and it will be biblical.”

“It’s a massive project to pull this fraud claim together with the evidence that I want to put in,” she added.

There’s no doubt it is quite a bit of information, and digging deep into it will be some serious work. But, it has to be quick, and it has to be convincing

  • Joe Biden votes being “weighted” at 1.25 times and President Donald Trump votes being parsed at 3/4.
  • Algorithms that gave Democrats 35,000 extra votes.
  • Modifications made to voting machines after statuatory cutoff dates for changes.
  • Past election victories, including Hillary Clinton’s primary victory over Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., being forced decided by Dominion Voting Systems.
  • Alleged pay-for-play kick backs to public officials, potentially even Georgia GOP Gov. Kemp for a late grant to use Dominion Voting Systems.

They’re going to have to prove this. And they’re going to have to prove that it actually happened, and happened in multiple states. And they’re going to have to show that it happened quickly. If they can prove these claims for at least one state by the end of Tuesday, this could be huge. Publishing Wednesday-Saturday would just be missed, with Thanksgiving and such. Otherwise, next Monday. It must be 100% conclusive, not just allegations. Something that the media will not be able to dispute.

And this doesn’t even get into the other “irregularities” that Rudy Giulliani is looking into. Most of us know that there was cheating that could very well have changed the outcome, things we are not seeing in the deep Democrat states or super deep Republican states. Suspicion, correlations, and even Dems admitting they cheated are not the proof, though. Team Trump really has to provide that evidence by December 5th or so.

Read: Last Gasp? Sidney Powell Promises “Biblical Lawsuit” »

Posted in Democrats, Donald Trump, Elections | 62 Comments | Trackback URL

China Joe To Rejoin Paris Climate Agreement Which No One Is Really Following Or Something

By William Teach November 21, 2020 – 3:00 pm

Yes, we pretty much knew that China Joe Biden would rejoin the “historic” Paris Climate agreement, an agreement set up to attempt to make the U.S. compliant while avoiding the duly elected and empowered Senate per the Constitution, trying to placate the Warmists who won’t practice what they preach

Biden will rejoin the Paris Climate Accord. Here’s what happens next

President-elect Joe Biden will reenter the U.S. into the Paris Climate Agreement, the global pact forged five years ago among nearly 200 nations to avoid the worst impacts of climate change.

The move will come after President Donald Trump formally withdrew the country from the climate change agreement on Nov. 4, which was the earliest possible date under its terms. Biden said he will bring the U.S. back into the accord as early as February.

Here’s a look at what rejoining means for the U.S. and the world and what could happen next.

In fact, nothing will happen except lots of plans and yammer, just like almost every 1st and 2nd world nation, who are not in compliance.

While the official U.S. exit from the accord further isolated Washington from the rest of the world, it won’t necessarily have an immediate impact on international efforts to mitigate climate change and implement the framework of the agreement.

However, nearly every country in the world is part of the agreement. Of the 195 countries that signed the agreement, 189 countries officially adopted the accord, and no other country besides the U.S. has abandoned it.

“Since the U.S. has one of the biggest economies in the world and has contributed the most to climate change, it is incredibly important that the U.S. return to the Paris agreement,” said Cornell University climate scientist Natalie Mahowald, a lead author of the 2018 U.N. report on climate change.

Trump getting us out of Obama’s bad deal was putting America first. Biden will put America last

The U.S. is the world’s second-largest emitter of greenhouse gases behind China and is seen as key in the global effort to reduce the effects of climate change.

“U.S. leadership and the U.S.-China bilateral agreement to cut CO2 emissions were key to getting the Paris agreement on track,” said Mahowald. “Continued U.S. involvement and leadership is key to any effort to stop climate change.”

The America haters and China lovers will continue their China love, even as China makes pledges that they have no intention of keeping.

More broadly, the U.S. will have to rebuild trust with other nations in the agreement, especially after Trump’s legacy of climate change denial and his official withdrawal from the accord.

Why is it always that the U.S. will have to “rebuild trust”? Why do other countries, a good chunk of whom the U.S. has saved and/or protected for 100 years, think they can dictate our policies? Perhaps they should just say “thank you”, rather than expecting the U.S. to change while those countries don’t.

I’m looking forward to China Joe giving up his own use of fossil fuels.

Read: China Joe To Rejoin Paris Climate Agreement Which No One Is Really Following Or Something »

Posted in AGW Idiocy, Global Warming, Joe Biden | 14 Comments | Trackback URL
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