SacBee: Californians Should Have To Choose Between Basic Needs And Utility Bills

By William Teach May 2, 2024 – 7:00 am

Sticking in the People’s Republik Of California, we see this piece in the Sacramento Bee by California state senator Shannon Grove, which also fails to identify the reasons power bills and basic needs costs have skyrocketed

Californians shouldn’t have to choose between basic needs and paying their utility bills | Opinion

Utility bills in California are going up faster than people’s incomes, leaving residents with less money for basic needs. Instead of paying for necessities like food and housing, more and more of our money is going toward utility bills.

There are some startling numbers from a recent report by the California Public Advocates Office: in the past decade, the cost of electricity from Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) has gone up by as much as 127%. Costs have risen under Southern California Edison by 91% and by 72 under San Diego Gas & Electric. Meanwhile, the overall cost of living, as measured by the Consumer Price Index, has only increased by 28%.

Despite household incomes having gone up by about 40% and the minimum wage (having) doubled in the same time frame, over 3 million minimum wage workers in California — about 19% of the workforce — are disproportionately feeling the impact of these rising utility costs. This means that utility bills now make up a bigger chunk of our budgets than they did ten years ago.

I wonder why that could be?

As California pushes toward cleaner, more sustainable energy sources, the costs of this shift are hitting those who can least afford it the hardest. A recent survey from KQED found that a quarter of Californians are struggling to pay their utility bills, forcing them to make tough choices between staying warm or putting food on the table.

Hmm, so, all that push for “green” energy has made energy costs a lot more expensive? Who would have thought it? But, I have zero compassion, because most Californians have voted for this, especially the low income folks, who vote Democrat in a high proportion. If they want to be part of the doomsday climate cult, then they need to deal with the results of their beliefs. If they bought into the belief that everything would be lollipops and unicorns, well, they should have done critical, adult thinking.

We need to rethink our approach to energy policy in California. Instead of rushing towards unrealistic goals that hurt the most vulnerable, we should focus on creating sustainable, affordable solutions that benefit everyone. This includes a diversified energy approach to keep costs competitive and rates affordable for households and businesses.

Gov. Gavin Newsom, for example, has continued to grant operating extensions for the Diablo Canyon Power Plant in San Luis Obispo. Nuclear power is a bogeyman for green energy enthusiasts, but — as the governor recognizes — it provides plenty of low-cost, carbon-free electricity for the state. Exploring additional opportunities for nuclear power should be considered for its reliability and affordability.

Well, good luck with that, Shannon. You know that the Democrats will not allow this to continue, and will certainly not allow future next-gen nuclear plants to be built and put online. And, Shannon is not a Democrat: she’s a Republican. You couldn’t really tell from the way she was buying in to the green push like a Warmist, but, not a full cultist. She’s not helping.

Read: SacBee: Californians Should Have To Choose Between Basic Needs And Utility Bills »

Posted in Energy, Global Warming | 18 Comments | Trackback URL

Consequences: Automation Could Make Income Inequality Worse

By William Teach May 2, 2024 – 6:45 am

This opinion piece in the LA Times by Brian Justie can’t quite get to why this is all happening

Opinion: How robots making your burger and fries can lead to greater income inequality

On April 1, more than half a million fast-food workers in California got a raise, with minimum wage across the sector bumped up to $20 per hour. That same week, the self-proclaimed “world’s first fully autonomous restaurant” opened its doors for business in Pasadena.

These two stories have received considerable media attention, typically presented as fundamentally linked: Fast-food franchise owners are struggling to stay afloat amid rising labor costs, leading many to consider automation as the only viable solution. But this simple depiction of cause and effect paints a picture of innovation and inevitability that sells the public on a fanciful myth.

Well, if the companies didn’t think it would save them money, they wouldn’t do it. But, it’s a one time cost for the device, then maintenance, instead of paying low skilled worked $20 an hour (for now, there’s no idea what the People’s Republik of California will do next) while dealing with all their issues.

I study low-wage industries in Los Angeles County, including the effects of new technology on workers. My research shows how automation does not always lead to greater efficiency and cost-cutting for businesses, as AI boosters would like the public — and policymakers — to believe. This kind of innovation also promises to further income inequality. Working people deserve to have their voices heard in determining how, where, when or whether AI and automation should be used.

Why? They don’t own the businesses. They didn’t put their money on the line to open on. What gives them a right to have their voices heard? They’re employees, and, it’s not like they are bringing anything to the table.

Likewise, consumers end up paying more for less, as automation requires high levels of standardization. In fast food, this means small menus with minimal customization. Food prices, meanwhile, will continue to skyrocket, just as they have over the last decade, far outpacing the rate of inflation and boosting corporate profits to unprecedented new heights. My order at CaliExpress — a burger and fries, the extent of their current menu — came out to $15.44, more than double the same order at In-N-Out.

Hmm, why are they skyrocketing? Must be those Evil store owners, right? Rather than idiot policies of the PRC.

Along with the minimum wage increase, Assembly Bill 1228 also established the state’s first “sectoral bargaining” councils, where workers and employers come together to collectively determine industry-wide standards and protections — including, hopefully, the role of new technology in the workplace.

And this will drive even more businesses out of business, at least in the PRC. Brian’s still missing the root cause.

Unlike unproven AI novelties, California’s new fast-food bill is a form of innovation we should demand policymakers invest in, as it will lift thousands out of poverty and give marginalized workers a seat at the table. That’s more transformative than anything being cooked up in Silicon Valley.

In other words, the LA Times wants worker bees to have a say in all policies. And you know one of those would be that humans cannot be replaced with automation. There really isn’t much time spent on income inequality increasing in the article, unless you want to count the minimum wage being zero for many, because they lost their jobs. I would argue that automation will help bridge the income gap. Now instead of working min wage doing a job you can train a toddler to do, you will have to learn a skill, maybe fixing the robots? Don’t see any cries about automation in the auto industry, and most of the work is done by robot.

Read: Consequences: Automation Could Make Income Inequality Worse »

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Climahypocrite Sheldon Whitehouse Climate Climate Crisis (scam) Could Crash Financial System

By William Teach May 1, 2024 – 3:00 pm

Obviously, no one at The Hill, which published this, bothered to push back or demand actual proof

Sen. Whitehouse: Climate change could crash the financial system

The Hill reported earlier this month on how opaque decisions within the insurance industry were laying the groundwork for where Americans will live as the planet heats.

But the risk goes beyond that, many experts warn: The complex interrelationships between insurance, mortgage lending and the broader financial system have made climate change “an emerging risk to financial stability,” according to the 2023 report by the Financial Stability Oversight Committee.

Once upon a time, er, experts warn

Senate Budget Committee Chair Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) has been a principal voice warning of the financial risks spilling over as climate change impacts the insurance industry.

Sen. Whitehouse sat down with The Hill to discuss why he worries climate change poses risk to the global financial system and the role of the Senate in addressing it.

Would this be the same Whitehouse who takes numerous fossil fueled flights monthly between Rhode Island and D.C., rather than taking the train, which is easily accessed from R.I.?

Q: Some experts warn about the potential of Great Recession-style systemic risk from climate insurance — but others argue that, however serious that risk might be, it’s fundamentally a regional issue, restricted to places like Florida. Which side of that do you come down on?

Whitehouse: There are very significant indicators and it’s going to be big, national, and even global. A number of studies show a very high risk to the world economy from calamities — and insurance is at the heart of that.

The Florida insurance market is more or less circling the drain right now in the way in which Freddie Mac’s chief economist predicted: that with the danger of sea level rise and coastal storm activity, coastal properties become increasingly expensive to insure and then they become uninsurable.

Of, the problem here is that the media and all sorts of hysterics have warned and scaremongered to the point that the insurance companies aren’t looking at actual data, which is then combined with the skyrocketing costs of homes and repairs.

Q: For the Senate Budget Committee — what legislative intervention could help defray some of that risk? 

Whitehouse: I mean, obviously, solving the climate problem would put a huge amount of this risk out under better control.

In other words, the federal government controlling the economy.

Read: Climahypocrite Sheldon Whitehouse Climate Climate Crisis (scam) Could Crash Financial System »

Posted in AGW Scaremongering, Democrats, Global Warming | 13 Comments | Trackback URL

If All You See…

By William Teach May 1, 2024 – 1:00 pm

…is an Evil 1%er pool made of terrible carbon polluting concrete, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Pacific Pundit, with a post on Biden looking to import Gazans, who, of course, supported terrorist Hamas.

Read: If All You See… »

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Sanctuary City Chicago Upset Over All The Illegal Aliens Being Criminal

By William Teach May 1, 2024 – 10:30 am

But, this is what they wanted by naming themselves a sanctuary city, right?

Sanctuary city police arrest over 1K migrants from this country as residents rage against Dem leaders

A Democrat-run city’s police have reportedly made more than 1,000 arrests of Venezuelan nationals in the first three months of 2024 amid a massive outrage over additional money to feed and shelter migrants.

There were 609 arrests for driving/traffic offenses, nine violent felonies, 75 violent misdemeanors and 313 other offenses listed as non-violent, with nine others listed as unknown or not listed, according to analysis of Chicago crime and arrest data by The Chicago Tribune.

The data is limited to adults arrested by Chicago police and does not include juveniles or anyone arrested by another agency. The arrest data also does not say when those Venezuelan nationals arrived or their immigration status. The Tribune found that Venezuelans are less likely to be accused of violent crimes, including homicides.

The report comes as there are continued signs of agitation and anger at the migrant influx and the response by local government officials to it.

The Chicago City Council recently voted 30-18 to approve a request made by Mayor Brandon Johnson for an additional $70 million in order to help deal with the ongoing migrant crisis. That money is on top of a $150 million assigned to migrant care in the budget already. According to Johnson’s office, the city has at its peak been dealing with more than 2,000 migrants coming in a week. Nearly 40,000 have arrived since August 2022.

Well, fortunately they aren’t all sorts of uber-violent, at least the adults, right? Except for the violent felonies and misdemeanors. Nice that they’re making the streets dangerous, eh? Where are they getting the money for vehicles? They can’t legally obtain auto insurance. But, hey, this is what Democrats wanted, right? Oh, right, they wanted it for elsewhere.

Also, I wonder how many non-Venezuelans were arrested?

Meanwhile, in Ireland

Irish police dismantle Dublin’s migrant ‘tent city’

Irish police dismantled about 200 tents housing asylum seekers in Dublin early on Wednesday, tackling what has become a focal point for heated debate around migration.

Ireland is struggling to accommodate record numbers of refugees while facing a housing shortage, and a so-called tent city had sprung up near government buildings in the capital’s central Mount Street area over the last year.

While the young men who lived in small tents in the city were largely left alone, there have been protests in smaller communities against migrants living in hotels and hostels. Violence erupted in Dublin in November, led by far-right activists.

The government said later on Wednesday that the camped-out asylum seekers had been moved to sites south of Dublin with weather-proof tents, showers, food and security.

Prime Minister Simon Harris said, ahead of the move, that it was important they did not return. “We do not live in a country where makeshift shantytowns are allowed to just develop,” he said.

Well, that’s weird. The Progressive politicians let the illegals in to Ireland, but, are upset when they post up in Dublin, and move them away from being seen by the citizens.

Read: Sanctuary City Chicago Upset Over All The Illegal Aliens Being Criminal »

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Bummer: Climate Cult NY Won’t Meet Their Climate Cult Goals

By William Teach May 1, 2024 – 7:15 am

This is so weird. It’s almost like all the New Yorkers who voted for the politicians who forced this on the the peasants aren’t practicing their beliefs, in the same way as the politicians aren’t

NY won’t meet climate change goals under ‘asinine’ green energy law, business rep claims

New York’s “asinine” climate change law demanding a dramatic increase in green energy has set unattainable goals — and could trigger soaring electrical costs for consumers, a top state business advocate claims.

“It is very clear that  New York will not meet the goals that are required under the statute when it comes to climate change,” Paul Zuber, senior vice president at the NYS Business Council, said during an interview on WABC 77 radio’s “The Cats Roundtable” program.

Without modifications, the law will just drive more residents and businesses out of New York because of skyrocketing energy costs to build the transmission lines for renewal projects, Zuber argued.

Well, hey, all those climate cult voting New Yorkers, mostly Democrats, are just fine with paying higher energy costs, which will increase the cost of almost everything else, right?

New York is betting too heavily on wind and solar instead of a more diverse energy portfolio to juice the state that includes nuclear energy and natural gas, Zuber said.

“It especially doesn’t work when you do what many of the environmentalists want — having only wind and have only solar… When you look at it that way, it is a joke,” he said.

“The cost for the average consumer when they’re paying their electric bill is going to skyrocket because utilities have to build transition lines lines to these renewable projects, which costs money, and that cost is passed on to the taxpayer.”

I’m confident that the Democrats in the NY general assembly will pass a law which limits how much can be passed on to the consumer. Maybe allow nothing to be passed on. It would be fascinating to see the consequences of this.

“This climate change law has the potential to murder upstate manufacturing,” said Ken Girardin, the Empire Center’s research director, who published a recent study claiming state projections undercount the true costs of complying with the statute.

Hochul’s office defended her administration’s implementation of the climate change law and claimed that nearly 60% of the state’s power generation mix is now coming from clean energy sources including hydropower, wind and solar.

Well, heck, she has her fortune, so, she’s not worried about more businesses packing up and leaving, leaving a lot of people out of a job, and lots of tax money going goodbye.

Read: Bummer: Climate Cult NY Won’t Meet Their Climate Cult Goals »

Posted in Collapsing Science, Global Warming | 8 Comments | Trackback URL

Middle School Girls Protest Boy Competing Against Them. School Blocks Girls From Competing

By William Teach May 1, 2024 – 7:00 am

It wasn’t that long ago when were were hearing “protect all women”

Middle schoolers who protested trans athlete’s participation are banned from future competitions

Five West Virginia middle schoolers who protested a transgender athlete’s participation in a track and field competition have been barred from future meets — prompting the state attorney general to ask the US Supreme Court to weigh in on transgender student-athlete bans for a second time.

West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey filed a lawsuit against the Harrison County Board of Education on the dissenting students’ behalf after they were blocked from upcoming meets following their protests at the April 18 shot put competition, West Virginia Watch reported.

Five girls from Lincoln Middle School stepped up to the circle for their turn before refusing to throw in the event, which was won by Becky Pepper-Jackson, a 13-year-old girl who takes puberty-blocking medication and estrogen hormone therapy.

While West Virginia law bans transgender girls from playing on girls’ sports teams, a recent federal appeals court ruled that the law couldn’t lawfully be applied to the eighth-grader.

How insane is this?

They won’t ban males with gender confusion, who, as we’ve seen, have harassed females, make them feel unsafe, waved their dangly bits at the women, including minors, and hurt them in competition, but, will ban females. Insane.

Meanwhile, it looks like the UK is continuing to come to their senses on the subject

(Telegraph) The NHS is to declare that sex is a matter of biology in a landmark shift against gender ideology.

Changes to the health service’s written constitution proposed by ministers will for the first time ban trans women from women-only wards, and give women the right to request a female doctor for intimate care.

The NHS constitution, a document that aims to set out the principles and values of the health service and legal rights for patients and staff, was last updated in 2015. It has to be updated at least every 10 years by the Secretary of State.

Campaigners for women’s rights welcomed the significant shift, which comes after years of wrangling and follows accusations that the health service had been captured by “gender ideology”.

Perhaps they’re finally listening to the majority of real women who do not want the trans madness.

Read: Middle School Girls Protest Boy Competing Against Them. School Blocks Girls From Competing »

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Bummer: Very Few Top Movies Mention Climate Doom

By William Teach April 30, 2024 – 3:00 pm

Well, why should they? What if they have nothing to do with global boiling? Are they supposed to just interject the cult for the heck of it? Just randomly have a character make a Speech?

Only 32 of the Top Movies in the Last Decade Say Climate Change Exists — Study

Last month, non-profit group Good Energy launched what it called a Bechdel Test for Climate Change, a simple set of criteria designed to determine if it was clear climate change was present in a film. The real Allison Bechdel even endorsed it.

Good Energy, in launching its “Climate Reality Check,” said just three movies nominated for Oscars this year passed the test’s two simple rules: “Climate change exists” and “a character knows it.” Now in a more extensive study, the group analyzed 250 of the top grossing movies between 2013 and 2022.

Global warming has been with us for a while now, but only 12.8 percent — 32 of the 250 films studied in that time span — even passed the first criteria saying that climate change exists. Only 24 films, or 9.6 percent, passed both criteria of the test.

Good Energy and researchers at Colby College’s Buck Lab for Climate and Environment picked 25 films from each year between 2013 and 2022, looking at the total number of IMDB ratings to determine the most popular. They only looked at fictional films, not documentaries, and they filtered out any that weren’t set in the modern day or the near future, which includes films set after the year 2006, before the year 2100, and ones that are actually set on Earth. So no, Westerns, period pieces, and intergalactic sci-fis are excluded from needing characters to be aware of climate change.

Better yet, why is this important? Why was it necessary to do this study? It pretty much shows that this is a doomsday cult.

In fact, only six of the 32 movies had three or more scenes in which climate change was mentioned. The winner with six scenes was “Happy Death Day” (2017), which because of a “Groundhog Day” style repeating day syndrome, the character has to hear over and over again from an activist about saving the environment. Bong Joon-Ho and Christopher Nolan were the only two filmmakers who had two movies that each passed one of the criteria, “Parasite” and “Snowpiercer” and “Tenet” and “Interstellar.”

I looked it up: they’re talking about the environment in Happy Death Day, not Hotcoldwetdry. Great movie, BTW. There’s a short list at the link with the movies that passed both cult criteria, and, really, a good chunk had nothing to do with it, like “Midsommar,” “Marriage Story,” “Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw,” “Pokemon: Detective Pikachu” in 2019. But, this is a cult.

Read: Bummer: Very Few Top Movies Mention Climate Doom »

Posted in Climate Cult, Film, Global Warming | 3 Comments | Trackback URL

If All You See…

By William Teach April 30, 2024 – 1:00 pm

…is an area turning to desert from carbon pollution driven drought, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is The First Street Journal, with a post wondering why there are so few pro-Hamas protests in Conservative areas.

Read: If All You See… »

Posted in If All You See | 10 Comments | Trackback URL

“Advocates” Push To Make California Minimum Wage $20 For All

By William Teach April 30, 2024 – 10:30 am

This is hilarious, because the advocates think people are leaving California because they cannot afford to live there, so they need more money, but, raising the minimum wage makes things more expensive

Advocates gather at California Capitol to push for raising minimum wage

unintended consequencesAdvocates gathered at the California State Capitol on Monday, calling for a statewide minimum wage of at least $20/hr.

The group supports an assembly bill that calls for a study on raising the minimum wage.

“They’re leaving because the wage is not $20 an hour,” said Saru Jayaraman of One Fair Wage. “$20 an hour would be a way to keep them in California because they’d finally be able to afford to live.”

In April, the minimum wage for many fast food workers in California was raised.

Following the victory for fast food workers, advocates urge state lawmakers to consider comprehensive wage policy reform.

How’s that victory working out?

(ABC News) It’s been nearly one month since California raised the minimum wage at certain restaurants, which has put a spotlight on a course correction that many see as long overdue.

But for some — and not just fast food franchise owners — the newly raised bar for compensation also marks a pivotal point for restaurants to remain competitive in an already difficult post-pandemic landscape. The industry with famously thin margins is once again being pushed to make monetary and operational adjustments to stay afloat, all without compromising consumer expectations.

Some customers have already felt the pinch of costs being passed onto them, as recently reported by the Wall Street Journal, which restaurant owners and executives at chains like Chipotle and McDonald’s warned could come as a result of the state voting to increase the minimum from $16 to $20 an hour at restaurant chains with at least 60 locations nationwide.

So, it costs more to eat

(Washington Times) In response to recent minimum wage increases in California, fast food restaurants across the state are shifting to automation to get rid of wage-earning humans.

The move to making customers place orders at digital kiosks alleviates what owners say is the financial strain of rising labor costs after the minimum wage for the state’s fast food workers increased on April 1 from $16 to $20 per hour.

Harsh Ghai, a Burger King franchise owner who manages 140 outlets along the West Coast, is leading the transition to automation. He plans to introduce digital kiosks across all his restaurants within months — a drastic acceleration from his original timeline of five to 10 years.

So the minimum wage will be $0, because the jobs will dry up. People who have no real skills/work ethic will be unemployed with a lot fewer opportunities. Those who are looking for part time work will likewise find the opportunities diminished. And this is what will happen all across California if they pass $20 as the minimum wage. Which I think they should do. Because every experiment needs an experimental group, right? We should see what they outcomes are. Unfortunately, this will cause ripples across the country when it comes to certain product, like produce, since so much is grown in the People’s Republik of California.

Read: “Advocates” Push To Make California Minimum Wage $20 For All »

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