LGB Promises Los Federales Will Pay Everything To Replace Baltimore Bridge

Will it have a choo choo train on it?

Joe Biden: Government Will Pay ‘Entire Cost’ of Rebuilding Baltimore Bridge

Biden Brain SlugPresident Joe Biden said the government would pay the “entire cost” of rebuilding the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland, after a cargo ship hit the bridge and caused it to collapse early Tuesday morning.

“It’s my intention that we will pay for the entire cost of reconstructing that bridge. I expect the Congress to support my effort,” Biden said in a White House press conference. “It’s gonna take some time. And the people of Baltimore can count on us, though, to stick with that every step of the way until the port is reopened and the bridge is rebuilt. We’re not leaving until this job is done.”

Asked if the company behind the ship should be held responsible and pay for the repairs, Biden responded, “We’re going to pay to get the bridge rebuilt and open.”

He did not say how much it would cost.

He said he spoke with Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg and “told him, ‘We’re going to spend all the federal resources they need as we respond to this emergency. I mean all the federal resources, and we’re going to rebuild that port together.’”

Um, it’s laudable, but, why should the taxpayers foot the bill, when it should be the responsibility of the shipping company, which doesn’t exactly have a stellar safety record, and their insurance company? It should be something like “hey, we’ll front the money now so we can get the destroyed bridge out of the way then get construction going to replace it, but, they will ultimately pay.”

As far as rebuilding the port, well, nothing’s wrong with the port. It’s the bridge that’s the issue. Is this just Brandon in lala land, not really understanding what’s actually going on? But, in fairness, the port is going to wither away unless they can get the destroyed portion of the bridge out of the water and out of the way ASAP.

“It’s also the top port in America for both imports and exports of automobiles and light trucks. Around 850,000 vehicles go through that port every single year, and we’re going to get it up and running again as soon as possible,” Biden said. “Fifteen thousand jobs depend on that port, and we’re going to do everything we can to protect those jobs and help those workers.”

Yeah, they do. It’s mostly highline vehicles coming through, but, there are some regular lines that are built in Mexico and shipped to many east coast ports, including Baltimore. And most ports are not set up to move them through.

Meanhile

Cargo ship had engine maintenance in port before it collided with Baltimore bridge, officials say

The cargo ship that lost power and crashed into a bridge in Baltimore underwent “routine engine maintenance” in port beforehand, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday, as divers recovered the bodies of two of six workers who plunged into the water when it collapsed. The others were presumed dead, and officials said search efforts had been exhausted. (big snip)

U.S. Coast Guard Rear Admiral Shannon Gilreath said authorities had been informed that the ship was going to undergo the maintenance.

“As far as the engine goes, we were not informed of any problems with the vessel,” he said. “We were informed that they were going to conduct routine engine maintenance on it while it was in port. And that’s the only thing we were informed about the vessel in that regard.”

The National Transportation Safety Board now has the “black box” of the ship, we’ll have to wait to find out what it says.

Read: LGB Promises Los Federales Will Pay Everything To Replace Baltimore Bridge »

Philly Inquirer Shocked That Temperatures Are Different In Florida Than Pa., Blame ‘Climate Change’

There are doomsday cult hot takes, and then there are Hot Takes. Seriously, someone wrote this, and decided to make it about climate doom

Phillies and Braves are experiencing climate change firsthand, and it may affect their play
Such a radical change in air masses, said one expert, is more than just a matter of comfort for the players: It can be hazardous.

The Phillies and the Atlanta Braves reputedly are among the elite teams of major-league baseball, but if the quality of play at Citizens Bank Park during their season-opening series doesn’t quite measure up to expectations, go gentle on the booing.

These players are experiencing a form of abrupt climate change, says Struan Coleman, a sports medicine specialist who practices in New York and Philly.

When the Phillies left Clearwater, Fla., after their final spring training game Monday, the high was 83 degrees, and daily highs since the team began playing their practice games in Florida on Feb. 25 have averaged about 80.

When the Braves ended their exhibition season Tuesday, the high was 86 in North Port, Fla., home of CoolToday Park (seriously, that’s what it’s called), their spring training home.

Perhaps more significant is that the air masses in both Clearwater and North Port have been considerably steamier at times the last several weeks than around here, at levels we more commonly associate with summer heat.

Wait, it’s warm and steamy in *checks map* Florida? The hell you say!

By contrast, when the teams take the field Thursday — or Friday, if the Thursday weather is balky — the air temperatures will be between 50 and 55, with air holding about 40% less moisture.

Philly is a thousand miles north of Clearwater. Of course they are different climates, and, really, the rest of the article is legit in terms of the issues with playing in different climates and the issues that can cause to muscles, bones, tendons, and with hydration. But, to try and mention ‘climate change’ is just nuts. Is there some sort of requirement at the paper to mention climate doom a certain number of times in each writer’s articles monthly? It was simply unnecessary.

Read: Philly Inquirer Shocked That Temperatures Are Different In Florida Than Pa., Blame ‘Climate Change’ »

If All You See…

…is an area that is being flooded from carbon pollution bad weather, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is The Political Hat, with a post on that wage gap.

Read: If All You See… »

Surprise: California Fast Food Pay Law Causing Layoffs

I know, I know, you’re shocked

We already know that Pizza Hut and others were planning on laying off drivers and using 3rd party delivery services. Now

(NY Post) California restaurants are reportedly laying off staff and reducing hours for other team members in an effort to cut costs ahead of a California state law taking effect on April 1 that will raise fast-food workers’ hourly wage to $20.

In the months leading up to the wage mandate, California eateries, particularly pizza joints, have established a plan to cut jobs, according to state records obtained by The Wall Street Journal.

Pizza Hut and Round Table Pizza — a Menlo Park, Calif.-founded chain of 400 pizza parlors, mostly on the West Coast — have said they plan to lay off around 1,280 delivery drivers this year, according to records that major employers must submit to the state before large layoffs, The Journal reported.

What’s fun is all these people on social media, including elected officials, who are demonizing these companies yet have no stake in running them. They do not have to deal with the higher costs and look for solutions. They don’t have to deal with payroll and food costs.

In San Jose, Calif., Brian Hom, the owner of two locations of Vitality Bowls, has dealt with impending increased labor costs by running his Açaí bowl joints with two employees instead of his typical four, according to The Journal.

As a result, it takes longer for customers to receive their order, which has also increased in price by around 10% to offset higher wages.

Even little places are feeling the hit.

Other popular chains like McDonald’s and Chipotle have also said that they will be lifting menu prices in California to pay for the minimum wage hikes the Golden State passed in September.

Well, hey, no complaining, Californians, you voted for this.

At some fast-food locations, the April 1 minimum-wage increase for California fast-food workers represents as much as a 25% increase from the state’s broader $16 minimum wage.

Where do they find the offset? It’s either lay people off or raise prices.

(had this set up to post Tuesday, so I thought. Typed wrong date)

Read: Surprise: California Fast Food Pay Law Causing Layoffs »

Baltimore Bridge Collapse Reignites Calls For Infrastructure Repair

I’m surprised they haven’t linked it to ‘climate change’, but, surprisingly, the typical Warmists are silent

Baltimore bridge collapse reignites calls for fixes to America’s aging bridges

Bridge experts and U.S. presidents have decried the nation’s aging bridges and lack of maintenance for decades.

Calls for sorely needed bridge infrastructure fixes resurfaced Tuesday after a Singapore-flagged cargo ship struck Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge. And while the circumstances of Tuesday morning’s disaster – a massive cargo ship charging into a support beam for the bridge – is an unpredictable event, experts still say the nation’s maintenance and repair record on bridges is an important factor that needs to be addressed. (snip)

Rick Geddes, an infrastructure policy expert and director of Cornell University’s infrastructure policy program, said the bridge collapse highlights several critical issues.

“This disaster reveals how exposed America’s critical infrastructure is to sudden and devastating accidents as well as intentional destruction,” Geddes said. “Improved resilience should be on everyone’s mind as aging infrastructure is rebuilt. Enhanced protection against ship-bridge collisions will certainly become more salient.”

Still, it’s unlikely Baltimore’s bridge stood a chance against the 984-foot Singapore-flagged Dali cargo ship crash that led to its collapse despite the quality of its build. Because the ship collided with one of the bridge’s main support columns, there wasn’t enough support to hold its load, bridge experts told USA TODAY.

While there’s certainly no doubt that many bridges need repair or replacement – many are old and/or carrying way more traffic than built for – haven’t we already passed lots of legislation on fixing bridges? Obama’s Stimulus contained a lot of money for this, and, wasn’t some guy named Joe Biden in charge of the infrastructure projects? Many of the smaller stimulus bills also dealt with infrastructure. Was the Inflation Reduction Act supposed to deal with this, as well?

Trump tried to pass an infrastructure bill throughout his presidency, and Democrats refused to play ball and pass one.

Here’s an idea: if a bridge on a federal highway needs repair or replacement, have a bill that specifically allocates money to do that. Otherwise, states should deal with this. Otherwise, the money simply gets pissed away on graft and idiocy, rather than repair/replace.

As for the Baltimore bridge, that area is in big trouble. The Maryland DOT says 34,000 vehicles cross it a day. Now they all have to go elsewhere. The Baltimore Harbor Tunnel is the next closest crossing. That’s a lot of traffic to add, and 18 wheelers just barely fit in the tunnel. One bad bump over something that fell off a vehicle and they hit the ceiling. If they are carrying hazardous material they have to go to a different crossing.

Then there’s the shipping. As long as the bridge is in the water ships cannot make it into the port of Baltimore, meaning no goods coming in. Meaning there’s no work for a lot of people. The shipping will have to go to other ports, but, some might not be able to handle all that extra traffic, and may not have the infrastructure to move the goods where it needs to go. Baltimore is set up to move vehicles from the ships to the trains to elsewhere. Is the Norfolk area? How about the ports in NC and SC? I know there’s one in Georgia which does, and up in Newark, NJ area. How about the Delaware ports on the Delaware, primarily Newark, Delaware?

All the truckers will have to move elsewhere. Jobs involving the Baltimore port will dry up. This will be a mess.

I’m not going to jump into conspiracy theories. This is either just a tragic occurrence, where everything bad just came together, or an intentional act

Read More »

Read: Baltimore Bridge Collapse Reignites Calls For Infrastructure Repair »

Doom Today: British Pints And Columbian Coffee

So, things that people drink in the morning are in trouble

Fears for the future of the great British pint of beer

Climate change threatens to “call time” on the great British pint.

But scientists are working with the brewing industry to help save it.

Hops give bitter its taste but the plant doesn’t like the hotter, drier conditions we’ve experienced in recent decades and production has plummeted.

Researchers in Kent are isolating hop genes in the hope of producing more climate-change resilient varieties.

They also want to produce more intense flavours that are now becoming popular.

“Without it, the British pint is going to die off,” Danielle Whelan of the Shepherd Neame brewery said of the work.

Yeah, well, things change. Wine was grown in England during the Medieval Warm Period. They could barely grow wheat in France during the Little Ice Age. Mankind adapts

Climate change ‘putting future of Colombian coffee production in danger’

A multitude of challenges including climate change is putting coffee production “in danger”, according to farmers in Colombia, which is a major exporter to the UK.

Coffee farmers in the South American country’s Sierra Nevada mountain range say warming temperatures are forcing them to plant their crops on higher ground, while increasingly unpredictable rainfall cycles are affecting growth and harvesting logistics.

The region used to be free of coffee plant diseases but farmers say climate change means their plants are increasingly vulnerable to rust, brown eye spot or borer insects, further hitting their yields.

Production in the area has shrunk by 35% in the last five years, according to the Latin American and Caribbean Fairtrade Network (CLAC).

Well, move production. Things will not stay the same on Earth, no matter what the Warmists think. Many of those Colombian highlands used to be essentially farmland, bushland, but, over time they turned into jungles all the way up to the top.

Read: Doom Today: British Pints And Columbian Coffee »

SCNY Starts Distributing Pre-Paid Cards To Illegals

Now, let’s consider someone who is applying for a work visa or to attempt American citizenship: one of the requirements is that they be able to pay their own way, that they are not on public assistance. Meanwhile

New York City mayor defends migrant debit card program as cost efficient and fraud resistant

A pilot program to distribute preloaded debit cards to migrants for food and baby supplies is just that: a pilot and trial run, New York City officials said Tuesday amid backlash to that effort.

“We can take a look at it after six weeks and see what’s working and what’s not,” Deputy Mayor Anne Williams-Isom said at a wide-ranging news conference.

The prepaid cards are intended to be used for groceries, diapers, baby formula and other necessities at local businesses. They’ve invited the condemnation by right-wing news media as simply another benefit for people who entered the country illegally and for the hefty contract involved in the rollout.

“There is no free money. These are not ATM cards. You can’t take cash out,” Deputy Mayor Fabien Levy said at the news conference.

Mayor Eric Adams and top aides also stressed that safeguards are in place to prevent fraud. They said the program saves the city money and prevents food waste.

Their plan is to start with 10 families who’ll get $350 of taxpayer money (on top of the free housing and healthcare and everything else) the expand to 115, which sounds like the mayor and his comrades revamped the program from what it was going to be. But, sure, no fraud

Chicago’s migrant website obscures details on where $300 million was spent

Despite a City of Chicago website dedicated to tracking how nearly $300 million was spent on the migrant crisis, many aspects of the migrant crisis remain shrouded in secrecy – most notably how migrant shelter sites are selected and how much building owners are profiting off the migrant crisis.

Those details remain largely hidden from the public, in part because of how the City of Chicago structured its migrant operation – by outsourcing much of the staffing and operations work to private companies.

Kansas-based Favorite Healthcare Staffing, which holds the contract to staff the city’s migrant shelters, has been paid more than $206 million to date, according to city records.

Weird how the Sanctuary City Chicago doesn’t want the citizens to know where the money is actually going.

Read: SCNY Starts Distributing Pre-Paid Cards To Illegals »

Emotional Science: Warmists Try New Term,”Outdoor Days”, To Scare People

Can you tell the difference between 60F and 61.6F when you’re outside? Does it really make that much difference? To the climate cult scientists it sure does, at least in terms of trying to scaremonger (note: the article has massive run-on paragraphs, which I’ve broken down a bit)

Scientists devise a new, relatable measure of climate change: “outdoor days”

Climate change will bring more days of pleasant weather to the Global North while subtracting from the tally of nice days in the Global South, according to a new study. The analysis features a new measure of climate change’s impact on daily life in the form of “outdoor days,” denoting days when the weather is mild enough for outdoor work and recreation activities.

Many studies of climate change impacts focus on changes in mean temperature – a measure that has little intuitive meaning for most people – or extreme weather events – which only occur occasionally. The new approach instead emphasizes the quotidian.

“Our findings have important implications for the future of quality of life in different climate regions across the world,” says study team member Yeon-Woo Choi, a postdoctoral researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Choi and his collaborators gathered historical temperature data and projections from nearly 50 different climate models, as well as economic data and global population projections through the year 2100 from existing databases. They calculated the number of days per year that any given point on the globe will experience temperatures between 10 and 25 °C (50-77 °F), now and in the future. The work is one of only a few studies to consider changes in mild weather at a global scale, and the first to do so using a comprehensive array of climate models.

It’s the Earth: there will always be hot days, cold days, mild days. Rain, sun, snow, foggy. Etc and so forth.

Today, the populated areas of the world experience an average of about 165 days of mild weather annually (45% of the year), the researchers report in the Journal of Climate. Generally countries in the Global South enjoy more outdoor days than countries in the Global North. But climate change is altering these patterns. In tropical areas, “outdoor days have decreased by about 13% in the last three decades compared to the period 1961-1990,” the researchers write.

This is Emotional Science: simply putting together supposed data in a way to cause people to have concern.

Read: Emotional Science: Warmists Try New Term,”Outdoor Days”, To Scare People »

If All You See…

…is an area turning to desert, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is The Dry Bones Blog, with a post on Kamala studying the maps.

Read: If All You See… »

Berkeley Loses Appeal On Gas Ban For New Hookups

It’s a pretty big decision that can and should have implications nationally for when cities and states try this type of ban. Not that it will stop the climate cultists in government from giving it a whirl and forcing citizens to sue

Berkeley settles lawsuit to repeal gas ban, in final blow to dozens of California measures

The City of Berkeley has settled a lawsuit by the California Restaurant Association to repeal that city’s first-in-the-nation ban on gas hookups in new construction, dealing a final blow to more than a hundred similar measures in California cities including Sacramento.

Berkeley’s 2019 gas ban became a cornerstone in a national battle over the future of fossil gas in buildings as dozens of other municipal and county governments followed suit — including Sacramento, San Francisco, Oakland and Los Angeles.

The Friday announcement comes after a federal appeals court declined to rehear the case on Berkeley’s ordinance that a panel of judges struck down last year for preempting federal energy law.

In a press release, the Sacramento-based California Restaurant Association said Berkeley will take steps to formally repeal the ordinance as part of the settlement. Until the city repeals the measure in its legislative process, it will not enforce the measure.

Sacramento has already stated that they will not enforce their own law. And, I’ll be honest, I’m rather torn on this: if the gas is coming from California sources, should federal policy having any bearing, or should it be state and local? Does everything have to be federal?

With outright municipal gas hookup bans stifled, some cities are pushing for an alternative approach to cut out gas from buildings: “fuel-neutral” energy performance ordinances.

Instead of forbidding gas in new or existing construction, local governments in California are electing to set energy efficiency standards for buildings. Because gas is less efficient, the policies ultimately favor renewable or cleaner produced electricity.

It just goes to show that the climate cult will always look for a way. But, is gas really less efficient? When it’s hooked up it’s always available, unlike solar and wind. But, hey, as we all keep saying, the Comrades in California keep voting for this stuff, so, let them deal with the consequences.

Read: Berkeley Loses Appeal On Gas Ban For New Hookups »

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