Say, Can A New Ad Campaign Save Crappy (sic) San Francisco?

By William Teach October 20, 2023 – 3:25 pm

The NY Times wonders if good marketing will help

San Francisco’s Brand Is in Trouble. Can a New Ad Campaign Fix It?

San Franciscans don’t like outsiders bashing their city, but they’re also cleareyed about its biggest problems: homelessness, rampant drug use and leaders who can’t seem to fix those issues.

So how does San Francisco turn its lackluster image around?

Some wealthy locals say the way forward is a brand refresh, and they are throwing their support behind a new $4 million ad campaign that will promote San Francisco as a hub of innovation and creativity.

The slogan? “It All Starts Here.”

It’s meant to remind San Franciscans — and everyone else — that the city of cable cars, Levi’s jeans, the Summer of Love, Gap Inc., Uber, Harvey Milk and the Golden State Warriors still has an exciting future ahead of it.

What starts here? Poop, urine, and used drug needles in the street? Homeless everywhere? Rampant crime? Car breakins and thefts? Gap? Most of their stores in SF closed, and they just shut down their Banana Republic in the downtown area, where most companies are closing their stores. Levis is still open in the downtown area, but, it’s surely just a matter of time. Tech companies are leaving over all those issues, as well as the high taxes and high cost of living. Cable cars aren’t enough to chance having a 1 in 20 chance of being a victim of property crime.

In fairness, there are large areas of SF which are safe. You know, the richer areas where the cops tend to be deployed to in order to protect those toney areas.

The campaign, funded by tech billionaire Chris Larsen and Bob Fisher, whose parents founded Gap in San Francisco in the 1960s, includes a social media video narrated by actor Peter Coyote, hundreds of billboards around the city, banners hanging from light poles, and bumper stickers and signs for business owners and residents to hang in their windows.

“No question we’ve got problems we’ve got to fix,” said Larsen, who has funded numerous startups and now sees his city’s reputation as desperately needing investment.

“But we can’t let the brand just suffer,” he added. “We’ve got so much to be proud of, and we can’t lose sight of that.”

Does it really help to tell residents this? Also, they aren’t actually fixing the problems.

Meanwhile, the high crime Democratic Party run city of Seattle thinks they have a Plan

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If All You See…

By William Teach October 20, 2023 – 1:00 pm

…is an area flooded because Other People drive fossil fueled vehicles, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Green Jihad, with a post on St. Greta being arrested again.

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State Department Issues Worldwide Travel Alert For Americans

By William Teach October 20, 2023 – 10:30 am

Thank goodness we’re not reading any mean tweets anymore, the adults are in charge of the White House

Apparently the adults in charge are drunk and stoned. So, we now have war in Ukraine, war in Israel, a complete meltdown of US foreign policy in Afghanistan. Iran getting frisky, China getting frisky towards Taiwan, heck, even Canada is having a diplomatic spat with India, but, hey, the State Department is all in on pushing ‘climate change’.

Meanwhile

Biden Official Claims There’s An ‘Understanding’ With Hamas About Not Stealing $100 Million In Aid

Deputy National Security Advisor Jon Finer claimed Thursday that the Biden administration has an “understanding” with Hamas not to steal U.S. aid.

President Joe Biden announced the United States would send $100 million in humanitarian aid to Palestinians just days after the United Nations Relief and Works Agency posted on Twitter that Hamas stole fuel and other relief supplies.

“Speaking of resource, the president pledged $100 million in an aid package to Palestinian civilians, innocent civilians, in Gaza and the West Bank. How is the United States going to ensure that none of that ends up in the hands of Hamas?” CNN host Poppy Harlow asked.

“This was a primary focus of the president’s diplomacy yesterday, both in Israel where he met with the entire Israeli security establishment, but also in his phone conversations with regional leaders, including President El-Sisi of Egypt. Getting assistance into Gaza is a complicated undertaking. It involves, essentially, securing an understanding among Hamas fighters who control the check points on the other side of the border, among the government of Israel and among the government of Egypt,” Finer said.

“The agreement that the president secured will enable the trucks to flow as soon as the roadway can be repaired. The president was also quite clear if this assistance goes in it cannot be misappropriated. It cannot be taken by Hamas fighters for their own purposes. And so we’re gonna be watching that very closely. It has to get to Palestinian civilians.”

Right, right, so, Hamas, which controls Gaza and has the support of at least 65% of the residents, won’t take the aid at all. Of course they’re going to take it and give it first to their fighters. Biden will be funding both sides of the war.

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Automakers Blast Biden Admin For EV, Fuel Economy Rules

By William Teach October 20, 2023 – 7:00 am

The people who make the vehicles know what they are doing. They know what is coming. Honda and Toyota both saw in 2020 that shipping vehicles and parts across the oceans, especially the Pacific, would be a big problem. Honda stopped making hatchback Civics in the UK. Look at their window stickers and see how much is made in North America now versus how much had been made in Japan previously. So, they know what will happen. They make the damned things

Automakers blast US plan to hike fuel efficiency rules

st greta carA group representing General Motors (GM.N), Toyota Motor (7203.T), Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) and nearly all other major automakers on Monday sharply criticized the Biden administration proposal to drastically hike fuel efficiency requirements.

The Alliance for Automotive Innovation said the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) proposal was unreasonable and requested significant revisions.

The industry group argued the plan would boost average vehicle prices by $3,000 by 2032 because of penalties automakers would face for not being in compliance, adding the figure “exceeds reason and will increase costs to the American consumer with absolutely no environmental or fuel savings benefits.”

NHTSA in July proposed boosting requirements by 2% per year for passenger cars and 4% per year for pickup trucks and SUVs from 2027 through 2032, resulting in a fleet-wide average fuel efficiency of 58 miles (93 km) per gallon.

Vehicles are already very pricey post-COVID, with even base models, which are limited production these days, jumping about $3K-$4k.

NHTSA said its rule “is focused on saving Americans money at the gas pump and strengthening American energy independence,” estimating combined benefits of its proposal exceed costs by more than $18 billion.

If I’m getting a few miles per gallon extra but paying $3K more, it doesn’t really help.

Automakers also raised alarm at the Energy Department’s proposal to significantly revise how it calculates the petroleum-equivalent fuel economy rating for EVs in NHTSA’s CAFE program, saying it would “devalue the fuel economy of electric vehicles by 72%.”

GM said on Monday it could support NHTSA’s proposal if the Energy Department rescinded its petroleum-equivalent proposal.

Volkswagen, which could face over $800 million in CAFE fines through 2032, said NHTSA’s proposal “is arbitrary, capricious, and an abuse of the agency’s discretion to set standards that are not feasible.”

All for an imaginary problem. But, hey, the government is here to help. As mandated by people who do not practice what they preach.

Read: Automakers Blast Biden Admin For EV, Fuel Economy Rules »

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Biden Gives Prime-Time Address, Links Support For Israel With Support For Ukraine

By William Teach October 20, 2023 – 6:45 am

It was very annoying. Guy can barely speak, can barely see his eyes, and I was looking forward to watching Hell’s Kitchen

Biden makes case for more U.S. aid for Israel, Ukraine: “We can’t walk away”

Addressing the nation from the White House on Thursday night, President Biden made the case to the country and to Congress that the United States must pass $100 billion in supplemental funding, including billions in wartime aid for Israel and Ukraine.

The president’s address, only his second from the Oval Office, comes on the heels of a whirlwind trip to Israel, where he met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli President Isaac Herzog. In an impassioned speech, Mr. Biden said that America must again act as a “beacon to the world,” and insisted that the needs of the people of Israel and Ukraine are vital to the United States’ national security interests.

“I know these conflicts can seem far away, and it’s natural to ask, ‘Why does this matter to America?'” Mr. Biden said. “So let me share with you why making sure Israel and Ukraine succeed is vital for America’s national security. You know, history has taught us that when terrorists don’t pay a price for their terror, when dictators don’t pay a price for their aggression, they cause more chaos and death and more destruction. They keep going. And the cost and the threats to America and the world keep rising.”

Ukraine really doesn’t mean much. If it did, Obama, with Joe as VP, would have done something about Russia taking Crimea. Israel does matter.

A source familiar with the supplemental request said it includes $60 billion for Ukraine and replenishing U.S. stockpiles, $14 billion for Israel, $10 billion for humanitarian efforts, $14 billion for the U.S. border with Mexico and $7 billion for the Indo-Pacific region. The White House has not yet released details.

Still wanting to give huge amounts of money to Ukraine, a little for Israel, and, what does the Indo-Pacific region have to do with this? Bueller?

In his speech, Mr. Biden reaffirmed the United States’ intense commitment to Israel and the Israeli people, while stressing the humanity of Palestinians who simply want peace. He also strongly condemned any displays of hatred against Jews, Muslims or Palestinians here in the United States.

He did not do a bad job in defending Israel and Jews. He was forceful enough that his Progressive Comrades who hate Israel and Jews and support extremist Muslim terror groups will be incensed. But, he still had to yammer about Ukraine and “Islamophobia”, blah blah blah.

He did briefly mention how evil those Iranians were…you know, the largest state supporter of terrorism who are getting breaks on sanctions, lots of cash, and overtures by Biden.

Also

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Your Fault: Atlantic Hurricanes More Likely To Strengthen From Weak To Strong

By William Teach October 19, 2023 – 3:00 pm

It’s always something with the Cult. First it was that the huge seasons from the mid-2000’s would be the new normal. When activity and formation dropped off, and few were hitting the US or Caribbean we were told that this was due to ‘climate change’ wind sheer, and there would be fewer but bigger. But, then major hurricane activity still staid low, leading to no hurricanes hitting the US, including major, for the longest time since the Civil War era. And so much more. Of course, all the prognostications of Future Doom were based on short term observations, just like this

Climate change making Atlantic hurricanes twice as likely to strengthen from weak to major intensity in 24 hours

Tropical cyclones in the Atlantic basin may now be more than twice as likely to strengthen from a weak hurricane or tropical storm into a major hurricane in just 24 hours due to climate change and warming waters, a new study suggests.

Hurricanes are also now more likely to strengthen more rapidly along the East Coast of the U.S. than they were between 1971 and 1990, the paper, published Thursday in Scientific Reports found.

“May be.” “More likely.” That’s a crystal ball. Science would say this will or won’t happen, not a pure guess.

Oceans have been warming rapidly in the last five decades, with about 90% of the excess heat from climate change being absorbed by oceans, Andra Garner, a climate scientist at Rowan University in Glassboro, New Jersey, and lead author of the study, told ABC News.

The warm ocean waters are then serving as fuel for tropical cyclones that form in the Atlantic basin, making them twice as likely to go from a weak storm — a Category 1 hurricane or weaker — to a major hurricane in just 24 hours, Garner said.

The study, which analyzed the change in wind speed over the lifespan of every Atlantic basin tropical cyclone between 1971 and 2020, found that there were increases in the average fastest rate at which storms intensify by more than 25% from the historical time period, between 1971 to 1990, to the modern time period, between 2001 and 2020, Garner said.

In addition, the number of tropical cyclones to intensify from a Category 1 hurricane or tropical storm into a major hurricane within 36 hours has more than doubled in recent years compared to the 1970s and 1980s, the study said.

None of this is proof of anthropogenic causation, just that things happen during a Holocene warm period. During the pauses and cooling periods during the Modern Warm Period hurricane activity was actually pretty dangerous, we just do not have all the same data since we now have satellites. I wonder how much that changes the study, since we can see them all now, versus, say, 1975? It doesn’t matter, because this is all about scaring people, especially policy makers. Oh, and getting more funding. And what it probably means is that these fast forming hurricanes will now drop off.

Read: Your Fault: Atlantic Hurricanes More Likely To Strengthen From Weak To Strong »

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If All You See…

By William Teach October 19, 2023 – 1:39 pm

…are awesome low carbon sailing ships. you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Flappr, with a post on white women having issues on who to support in new war.

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Chicago Alderman Tell Migrants At Border To Stay Away From Chicago

By William Teach October 19, 2023 – 10:30 am

Strange. Isn’t Chicago a sanctuary city which loves illegal aliens? Should they not want them to come to Chicago? The mayor of Sanctuary City Chicago blew off the trip, but, others were there

Chicago delegation warns migrants at Texas border of city’s lack of shelter space, oncoming cold

A Chicago delegation is in Texas, considering new ways to handle Chicago’s migrant crisis even as they encourage asylum seekers to look for alternatives to Chicago to settle in.

The delegation of Chicago leaders is hoping this trip to the U.S.-Mexico border will provide more insight into how to deal with the growing migrant crisis at home.

Three Chicago aldermen and the city’s deputy mayor managing the new arrivals in Chicago are visiting multiple cities across Texas, including El Paso, San Antonio, McAllen and Brownsville.

As they try to make arrangements in the still-hot San Antonio sun outside a shelter run by Catholic Charities, the group’s president is trying to dispel the illusions about Chicago.

“When I spoke to the CEO of Chicago a few weeks ago, he asked me please not to refer people to Chicago and I said ‘Absolutely.’ We communicate with the people and say ‘If you go to Chicago you’re not going to have a place to stay, it’s going to be hard for you, it’s going to be cold.’ But again, we cannot force people. People choose freely where they want to go,” said Antonio Fernandez, president of Catholic Charities San Antonio.

The Chicago delegation is doubling down on that message as they make their way across border cities, and preparing migrants who do make the 1,500-mile trek for the hardships that await them here.

Keep sending them to Chicago, Governor Abbott! Let them get the full experience, and, by them, I mean the citizens of SCC and the elected officials. Let them know there’s a price to pay for support of unfettered illegal immigration

Chicago teachers urge State Board of Education to help with ongoing migrant crisis

Chicago teachers are urging state education officials to help the city’s public schools with an influx of migrant students, many of whom lack basic needs such as clothing, medical care, and housing.

Teachers told board members on Wednesday during the state board’s monthly meeting that Chicago schools are struggling to meet the needs of newly arrived school-age migrants. Some teachers said classrooms have become overcrowded, schools don’t have enough bilingual educators, and many students need access to bilingual social workers or school counselors for social-emotional support.

There’s a price to pay for voting Democrat and supporting illegal immigration. Unfortunately, the citizen children, who are already getting a crummy education full of indoctrination into things like transgenderism and climate scam, will pay the price.

And the NY Times has Thoughts

Texas Has Bused 50,000 Migrants. Now It Wants to Arrest Them Instead.

A year and a half after Gov. Greg Abbott began busing newly arrived migrants from Texas to large Democratic cities whose leaders had pledged to provide sanctuary, the state has now sent more than 50,000 migrants to destinations across the United States, helping to provoke a shelter crisis in several cities that has reshaped the debate over immigration.

“Shelter crisis”. The NY Times was fine with issues when they were in border states. There’s lots and lots of whining about Gov. Abbott for sending all those illegals to Democrat party run cities which support illegal immigration, following with

Mr. Abbott is now pursuing an even more audacious effort: to change Texas law to make crossing the border from Mexico without authorization a state crime, allowing the police in Texas to arrest people coming across the Rio Grande, including asylum seekers.

The State Senate passed a bill to do just that this month during a special legislative session, though it has yet to be approved by the Texas House. Immigration lawyers said the legislation amounted to a violation of the federal government’s pre-emptive role in setting immigration policy.

I like this, but, it might not stand in federal court, as Los Federales were explicitly given the responsibility to protect the borders from invasion. It probably won’t stand. If it does manage to stand then the illegals will come via New Mexico, California, and Arizona and Biden will do nothing to stop them.

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Greenland Is About To Hit A Climate Doom Tipping Point Or Something

By William Teach October 19, 2023 – 7:15 am

This must be immediate and terrifying, right?

Climate tipping points near for Greenland, but it’s not too late to save ice sheet, researchers say

New research suggests the Greenland ice sheet is on track to cross a critical threshold that could cause runaway melting, but that it’s also possible the threshold will be crossed temporarily, cooling down the planet and ultimately returning the ice sheet to a stable state.

Got that? It could happen, but, you could also get the totally opposite effect. Because research “suggests”. Exactly as the Scientific Method works, right?

The findings, published Wednesday in the journal Nature, underscore the importance of limiting the planet’s warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (about 2.7 Fahrenheit) — or returning to that level, or below, as quickly as possible if humanity exceeds it.

“If we change the temperature back fast enough, we don’t necessarily commit to a system change,” Nils Bochow, a climate scientist at the Arctic University of Norway in Tromsø and the lead author of the study, said in an interview. “We have time to reverse temperatures from this runaway effect.”

The Greenland ice sheet is one of more than a dozen theoretical climate tipping points — rapid, irreversible or abrupt changes — that keep some scientists up at night. And the findings, while alarming, add to a drumbeat refrain from many climate advocates: Urgency is essential, but it’s not too late to avoid the worst of climate change.

The research suggests the critical threshold for the Greenland ice sheet is between 1.7 and 2.3 degrees C of global warming. Bochow said humanity would have 100 years — perhaps more — to cool down and avoid locking in positive feedbacks that would intensify Greenland’s melting. He said that crossing the threshold, even temporarily, would likely cause several meters of sea level rise, but it would still be possible to stabilize the ice sheet.

So, we aren’t even being treated to the “doom in 100 years (when no one will be around to call our doomy prognostications out)” schtick: now it’s “well, maybe in 100 years, maybe more. We don’t know, we’re just throwing sh*t against the wall to scare people and keep our funding gravy train going.”

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Insurrectiony: Pro-Hamas/Jew Haters Invade Capitol Building

By William Teach October 19, 2023 – 7:00 am

Will they be charged the same as many of the J6 folks who simply wandered around? I wonder how many are in the U.S. illegally or on visas, who should now be immediately deported for being supporters of a group designated as terrorists by the US, EU, and UN

Exclusive Video: Pro-Palestinian Insurrectionists Occupy Federal House Office Building in Washington DC

About one hundred pro-Palestinian insurrectionists occupied a federal House office building in Washington, DC, on Wednesday, chanting “ceasefire now” and “let Gaza live.”

The insurrectionists, many who wore face masks and dressed in black and flew a banner demanding that Israel stop defending itself from rocket attacks against civilians, occupied the ground floor of the Cannon Office Building, one of three main buildings where congressional staff and lawmakers work.

Rep. Rashida Tlaib was leading the protest: (snip through the video of Hamas caucus member Tlaib, who continued to lie about the hospital bombing)

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) was on the scene and noted a double standard between the pro-Palestinian insurrectionists and the protestors on January 6. “There’s an insurrection happening now on Capitol Hill,” her video caption read of the event.  “They are claiming they want peace but they want money to go to terrorists.”

The Capitol police let them in, eventually attempting to tear down pro-terrorist Hamas banners. Remember, these same police stopped kids from singing.

https://twitter.com/LucaHCacciatore/status/1714715146008887634?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1714715146008887634%7Ctwgr%5E476b8824785a706ee509891de6eae2dea011ef68%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.breitbart.com%2Fpolitics%2F2023%2F10%2F18%2Fexclusive-video-pro-palestinian-insurrectionists-occupy-federal-house-office-building-washington-dc%2F

The cops did eventually start making some leave and detaining others. Think they will be charged the same as J6?

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