Local TV Station, Warmists, Finally Discover Urban Heat Island Effect

By William Teach February 7, 2022 – 7:00 am

Of course, since this is a cult, they’re still going to link anthropogenic climate change to UHI

Raleigh, Durham warming: Data shows cities have several urban heat islands

Many people might not associate a warming climate with cities and urban areas, but a new project shows how much the increasing global temperature it is actually affecting the Triangle.

Yeah, pretty much every Skeptic will associate urban and dense suburban areas (Raleigh and Durham are very much huge mixed use, like so many cities in the South) with artificially increasing localized temperatures.

surprise surprise surpriseIn July of last year, volunteers in Raleigh and Durham used heat sensors mounted on cars and bicycles or carried in their pockets to collect data about how warm areas were.

More than six months and nearly 100,000 data points later, the results are in.

“It’s important to understand that extreme heat is not distributed evenly or equitably across environments,” said Myleigh Neill, with the State Climate Office of North Carolina.

Neill was one of several presenters Thursday night, sharing the findings. One of the most interesting points: parts of our cities are warmer than researchers thought.

Originally it was believed that the difference in the hottest and coolest parts of the cities varied by 6 degrees. However, the data collection reveals that it is actually a wider margin – Raleigh differed 9.6 degrees; Durham, 10.4.

Well, yeah, that’s the way it works. I’m betting my part of the town, right on the edge near the river, away from most of the dense areas and big buildings, is cooler than the downtown area, near the malls, etc.

On the data collection day, volunteers went around the city three times – early in the morning, late afternoon and in the evening to gather readings.

Both Raleigh and Durham recorded hotter temperatures along major roadways – Capital Boulevard and N.C. Highway 147, respectively – during the early part of the day. Researchers noted that during this time, the Triangle appeared hazy and temperatured didn’t reach as high as forecasted due to smoke blowing in from wildfires out west. Still, as the day progressed and temperature climbed to 88.8 and 88.6 in each city, urban heat islands appeared.

Like I thought

“The term urban heat island refers to the fact that metropolitan areas tend to get much warmer than their outlying regions, especially during summer,” said Neill. “Temperatures on hot days can be amplified by paint and dark surfaces like roads, parking lots and buildings. These surfaces absorb and retain [heat] during the day, and then they radiate that heat back into the air. And this drives a significant increase in air temperature and heat index in certain areas within a city which can get much hotter than green areas.”

Yes, we know this. And, it means less cooling at night, because the heat is retained. That also goes with less radiative cooling due to low level smog and other particulates, which is an environmental issue. I wonder how this compared during much of 2020, when the air was cleaner from fewer vehicles on the road and businesses in operation?

Anyhow, they should really compare the data to outside the city, when you get to places like Wendell, Zebulon, Holly Springs, and others. What are their temperatures doing? It’s nice to see that they “discovered” something Skeptics have known about for decades.

Read: Local TV Station, Warmists, Finally Discover Urban Heat Island Effect »

Posted in Collapsing Science, Global Warming | 16 Comments | Trackback URL

Shocker: Leftists Want Government To Have More Power To “Fight COVID”

By William Teach February 7, 2022 – 6:45 am

In other 1st World nations

But, here in the U.S., Progressives have something else on their minds

Like it or not, the government needs greater power to fight pandemics

“The army is sickly with the smallpox,” fretted General George Washington in 1776. He wasn’t exaggerating when he called the contagion our “most dangerous enemy” — smallpox and other diseases accounted for 90 percent of his army’s deaths. Ultimately, Washington commanded the troops to get inoculated despite their fear of the procedure.

Contagion is, once again, our most dangerous enemy. COVID-19 has killed more Americans than any war, right back to the Revolution. And, as Washington learned, pandemics threaten the United States as much as an enemy in the field. We normally reckon America’s competition with China, for example, by comparing military power and economic might. The rivalry may ultimately turn on how well each copes with the new world of global contagions.

Ordinary Smallpox had a mortality rate of 30%. Other forms were almost certain to cause death. Survivors were left with a bunch off issues through their lives. The vaccine also stops people from getting smallpox, from carrying it, and transmitting it. Period. Early work also dealt heavily with natural immunity measures.

Why is the world’s great superpower failing? Because it is not organized to face the danger. The Constitution does not prepare a complex globalized society to control pandemics. The founders were acutely aware of military threats and gave presidents sweeping authority to meet them. Alexis de Tocqueville was astonished by the commander in chief’s power. “The President of the United States,” he wrote, “possesses almost royal prerogatives” over the military.

But the Constitution conveys no such authority to combat biological threats whose casualties dwarf those of modern wars. The Supreme Court recently enforced the limitations when it struck down an OSHA requirement that large employers require vaccines or tests to combat COVID. The Court’s liberal dissenters put their finger on the national dilemma: “As disease and death continue to mount, this Court tells the agency that it cannot respond in the most effective way possible [and] undercuts the capacity of the responsible federal officials … to protect American workers from grave danger.”

You can guess where they want to go with this, right?

What should we do? First, there’s no getting around the need for a centralized authority to act in the face of a national crisis. Our political system evolved in an era when no one could have imagined an infectious threat that would rip through North America a week after it was first detected on the tip of Africa. Facing the problem will take changes in executive authority, Congressional process and bureaucratic capacity. Over time and hard experience, Americans vested their national government with sweeping powers over both war and the economy. Today infections pose as grave a threat as a military invasion, domestic insurrection, or economic crash. And the contagions will only get worse. We need to rethink the constraints on national leadership.

Go ahead and run with this, Democrats. We didn’t invest the power, they took it, and it’s very hard for citizens to fight back against the behemoth of the federal government. Give it a whirl on COVID, see how that goes. You think people are rebelling now? The same people called Trump an authoritarian, and the GOP Fascists, yet, they want more centralized authority for COVID, climate change, the economy, you name it.

 

Read: Shocker: Leftists Want Government To Have More Power To “Fight COVID” »

Posted in Bat Soup Virus, Democrats, Progressive Goals | 5 Comments | Trackback URL

If All You See…

By William Teach February 6, 2022 – 3:38 pm

…is a horrible industrial building causing Bad Weather, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is The Right Scoop, with a post on Ted Cruz hitting Stacey Abrams for her shameless no mask photo.

Nothing better than a nice white top, eh?

Read: If All You See… »

Posted in If All You See | 4 Comments | Trackback URL

Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup

By William Teach February 6, 2022 – 10:13 am

Patriotic Pinup Gil Elvgren

Happy Sunday! A great looking day in the Once And Future Nation Of America. The Sun is shining, the birds are singing, and many nations are ending their COVID tyranny in favor of freedom. Not Biden, of course. Where is he, by the way? You barely hear about the POTUS much. This pinup is by Gil Elvgren, with a wee bit of help.

What is happening in Ye Olde Blogosphere? The Fine 15

  1. Jo Nova discusses the strength of natural immunity
  2. No Frakking Consensus has a piece on what it’s like with the freedom truckers right outside
  3. 357 Magnum notes that there are few things you shouldn’t say to the police
  4. Blazing Cat Fur highlights school officials blocking maskless kids in a gym (I’m wondering why there is no criminal investigation for multiple violations, such as blocking fire exits)
  5. Chicks On The Right notes yet another example of an Elite not following mask rules
  6. Climate Depot covers trees exploding in Texas due to the massive cold
  7. DC Clothesline discusses the CDC finally admitting that natural immunity is the best
  8. Geller Report notes Trump’s Abraham Accords still winning, with Israel signing a security memorandum with Bahrain
  9. Gen Z Conservative brings the humor, with a post on Megan Rapinoe being left of the US women’s national soccer team
  10. Jihad Watch covers Biden’s waving sanctions on Iran’s “civilian nuclear program”
  11. Legal Insurrection notes how bad the ratings are for the Genocide Olympics (I’ll note that a lot of coverage is through NBC’s paid sites. The free ones tend to yap about stuff more than show live events)
  12. Moonbattery covers Judicial Watch suing for Jan 6th emails and videos
  13. neo-neocon discusses Olympic politics, then and now
  14. Pacific Pundit notes Excitable Chris Wallace is really upset over Zucker resignation
  15. And last, but not least, Powerline discusses a Black Republican excluded from the Black Caucus of Virginia

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. I’ve also mostly alphabetized them, makes it easier scrolling the feedreader

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?

Two great sites for getting news links are Liberty Daily and Whatafinger.

Read: Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup »

Posted in Patriotic Pinup | 6 Comments | Trackback URL

Washington Post: Those Freedom Trucker Protests Are Increasingly Dangerous, You Know

By William Teach February 6, 2022 – 9:08 am

There’s been quite a bit of invective thrown towards the freedom truckers. It’s nothing unusual, as anyone who opposes the Left is branded. Racist, sexist, homophobes, etc, are the norm. The truckers are being branded as Nazis, Fascists, authoritarians, even terrorists. The Left, including the Canadian elites, want to deploy the military to stop the truckers. And

From the Washington Post screed

Canada’s capital on Saturday was bracing for a surge of demonstrators to join a week-long protest against public health measures and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that has blockaded much of the downtown core, unnerved residents and been described by officials as an “occupation” and a “siege.”

Local police said Friday that they expected as many as 400 additional trucks and up to 2,000 people to join the self-described “Freedom Convoy” over the weekend. They said that some 1,000 people could also be planning a counterprotest.

Ottawa Police Chief Peter Sloly, under fire for what critics have called a lenient response to the blockades, said police would be “hardening” the perimeter around the protests and deploying 150 more officers to “deliver a clear message” that “the lawlessness must end.” Roads, highway ramps and bridges could also be closed.

“The demonstrators . . . remain highly organized, well-funded, extremely committed to resisting all attempts to end the demonstrations safely,” Sloly, who said he had received death threats, told reporters on Friday. “This remains, as it was from the beginning, an increasingly volatile and increasingly dangerous demonstration.”

Most of the violence has been caused by the counterprotesters, not the truckers, who are just out there protesting.

Yes, GoFundMe pulled all the funding, and will automatically refund those who donated. And, yes, the Canadian Constitution does allow for protest, and that’s what these people are doing.

The Canadian Anti-Hate Network, a watchdog group, has documented links between several of the convoy’s organizers and the far-right.

Of course they trot this out. That’s what they do. They look to shut down all who oppose them. Back on January 29th, Glenn Greenwald wrote, in terms of trying to shut down Joe Rogan (I’ve never listened)

For years, their preferred censorship tactic was to expand and distort the concept of “hate speech” to mean “views that make us uncomfortable,” and then demand that such “hateful” views be prohibited on that basis. For that reason, it is now common to hear Democrats assert, falsely, that the First Amendment’s guarantee of free speech does not protect “hate speech.” Their political culture has long inculcated them to believe that they can comfortably silence whatever views they arbitrarily place into this category without being guilty of censorship.

Constitutional illiteracy to the side, the “hate speech” framework for justifying censorship is now insufficient because liberals are eager to silence a much broader range of voices than those they can credibly accuse of being hateful. That is why the newest, and now most popular, censorship framework is to claim that their targets are guilty of spreading “misinformation” or “disinformation.” These terms, by design, have no clear or concise meaning. Like the term “terrorism,” it is their elasticity that makes them so useful.

Leftists do not want a debate: they want silence from their enemies and conformity from everyone else. And, if you aren’t with them, you are an enemy. Remember the whole 9/11 Truther thing? This was primarily from Democrats, who loathed Bush and many loved the terrorists who attacked the USA. Those countering the Truthers didn’t want to shut them down, they simply rebutted and debunked. (very much worth reading this long piece)

And here’s Glenn Reynolds

Truckers are starting a working-class revolution — and the left hates it

So we’re finally seeing a genuine, bottom-up, working-class revolution. In Canada, and increasingly in the United States, truckers and others are refusing to follow government orders, telling the powerful that, in a popular lefty formulation, if there’s no justice, there’s no peace.

Naturally, the left hates it.

For more than a century, lefties have talked about such a revolt. But if you really paid attention, the actual role of the working class in their working-class revolution was not to call the shots — it was to do what it was told by the “intellectual vanguard” of the left.

A working-class revolution led by the working class is the left’s worst nightmare because the working class doesn’t want what the left wants. The working class wants jobs, a stable economy, safe streets, low inflation, schools that teach things and a conservative, non-adventurous foreign policy that won’t get a lot of working-class people killed. It’s not excited about gender fluidity, critical race theory, “modern monetary theory,” foreign adventures and defunding police.

The truckers were called part of a Russian disinformation operation, Nazis, Fascists, and more, all because they oppose the mandates and other government authoritarian COVID stuff. I’ve seen huge numbers on Twitter calling them terrorists, because they are “terrorizing” people in Ottawa. How so? Because they are jamming up the streets. It’s so horrible!!!1!!!!!

But as Twitter user Greg Price noted: “If truckers quit their jobs, society would immediately collapse. If politicians quit their jobs, the world would become a better place. We need truckers more than anybody else.”

Who’s more important, the blue collar working class truckers, or the namby pamby politicians, activists, and others who do not really do much of anything?

And the freedom trucker protests are spreading across Canada. Good luck in demonizing the working class, elite leftists.

Read: Washington Post: Those Freedom Trucker Protests Are Increasingly Dangerous, You Know »

Posted in Bat Soup Virus, Current Affairs, Liberal World | 23 Comments | Trackback URL

Climate Cult Is Rather Upset That New USPS Trucks Will Be Fossil Fueled

By William Teach February 5, 2022 – 3:16 pm

Many are having a snit fit, just like Sheldon (who doesn’t seem to own an EV himself and takes lots of fossil fueled flights to and from D.C., as well as over to climate change meetings)

I mean, we could, but

(Jalopnik) The U.S. mail truck is something of a cultural institution, so the U.S. Postal Service’s job of replacing it with a modern alternative is a tough challenge. Now, the agency says it will cost an extra $3 billion to make those new mail trucks run on electricity.

Hey, what’s an extra $3 billion for them? Pocket change, right? It might be fine for urban mail carriers, but, not out in rural areas, or even spread out suburbs.

The USPS said that any electric truck should be able to cover 70 miles on a single charge. This, it said, would be sufficient to cover around 95 percent of its routes.

The truck should also be capable of carrying a payload of 2,207 lbs and pack in a 94 kilowatt hour battery, which can be fully charged overnight. If a truck that meets these demands can be built, the USPS has pledged to make “at least 10 percent” of its new fleet electric.

But, there is that whole cost thing. And, can they last as long as fossil fueled ones? Warmists are upset that USPS could have the fossil fueled ones for 20 years. How long would an EV one last? Quite frankly, I’m not sure why they didn’t consider a regular hybrid one. Because, in fairness, these gas powered ones get garbage MPG, about 8.6 with AC. 14.7 without. The constantly short drives and idles crush fuel economy. If you drove a route with your Civic or Corolla you’d be getting garbage MPG, as well. What would this kind of usage do to a pure EV range in practice?

A full BEV fleet would “require over $1 billion more in additional investment” the report warned. This would cover the cost of the vehicles, training, manuals, charging infrastructure and 20 years-worth of fuel and utility costs.

As such, a fully electric postal fleet would cost $11.6 billion over 20 years. In contrast, a fleet comprising 10 percent electric trucks and 90 percent newer ICE models would cost $9.3 billion over the next 20 years.

Have fun with EVs in the snow and cold. And hot.

BTW, they are ugly, and those windshields have to cost a lot to replace.

Read: Climate Cult Is Rather Upset That New USPS Trucks Will Be Fossil Fueled »

Posted in AGW Idiocy, Global Warming | 9 Comments | Trackback URL

If All You See…

By William Teach February 5, 2022 – 1:00 pm

…is a world killing dog destroying the climate, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is No Tricks Zone, with a post on Germany clearing a forest to make way for wind turbines.

Read: If All You See… »

Posted in If All You See | 5 Comments | Trackback URL

Good News: Brandon Admin Starts Mucking Around With School Lunches

By William Teach February 5, 2022 – 10:30 am

Kids were finally starting to get decent school meals after the disastrous Obama years, where Michelle Obama decided to put her own stamp on the lunches in public schools, creating something inedible. The Obama’s kids sure didn’t eat this slop at their high toned fancy to do private school, of course. And, of course, the tiny portions

From the link

The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Friday it is making changes to its school nutrition standards for the 2022-2023 school year, seeking to reinstate health goals that were rolled back throughout the Trump administration.

The Biden administration will make schools and child-care providers offer low-fat or nonfat non-flavored milks, and limit the fat in sweet flavored milks, among other things. At least 80 percent of the grains served in school lunch and breakfast each week must be considered rich in whole grains, under the new policies. And while the weekly sodium limit for school lunch and breakfast will remain at the current level, there will be a 10 percent decrease required for the 2023-2024 school year.

These adjustments would mark a change from the direction that the Trump administration took when it came to nutrition standards at schools. Trump aides had rolled back rules, initially easing policies regarding whole grain, nonfat milk and sodium, citing food waste and nonparticipation as key rationales.

Well, not as bad as Michelle Obama’s initiative (which her kids didn’t participate in, of course), but, slowly going that way. Most of the kids loathed the low-fat and no-fat milk. They’re kids: the fat content of a thing of milk is no big deal for kids, unlike us older folks. Will we soon be seeing crappy lunch memes?

USDA Deputy Under Secretary Stacy Dean told reporters Thursday that while the pandemic hasn’t ended, it has highlighted the essential role that school meals play in combating hunger and getting vital nutrition to the more than 30 million children who rely on these programs every day.

You know combats hunger? Not serving garbage food that the kids won’t eat.

The Biden administration changes are largely a return to Obama-era nutrition standards established in 2012, which the USDA’s nutrition study found to have a dramatic effect on diet quality: For the 2009-2010 school year, student’s Healthy Eating Index for breakfast was 49.6 out of 100, rising to 71.3 by the 2014-2015 school year. In that same time frame, the lunch score went from 57.9 to 81.5.

Have fun, kids, in your return to the Obama years.

Read: Good News: Brandon Admin Starts Mucking Around With School Lunches »

Posted in Joe Biden | 6 Comments | Trackback URL

Democrats Think Climate Crisis (scam) Messaging Could Help In Midterms

By William Teach February 5, 2022 – 7:00 am

I’m sure everyone would be thrilled to give up more of their money, see the economy get ravaged more just as it is slowly coming back, and have government slap tons of restrictions on their lives, right?

Will climate action this year matter in the midterms?

Congressional Democrats think they’ve found a way to head off the trouncing they’re expected to receive in the midterm elections: Pass their aggressive climate change agenda.

As congressional leaders and President Biden pick up the pieces and plot the future for at least some provisions of the $1.7 trillion “Build Back Better Act,” many Democrats are pushing for the $555 billion in climate spending, and tying it to the elections.

Supporters argue that voters will reward Democrats in November if they pass the massive package that includes new electric vehicle subsidies, clean energy tax incentives, funding for electric grid infrastructure and other policies.

They are offering warnings that voters who gave Democrats control of the White House, Senate and House in the 2020 election cycle might not return to the polls if they don’t deliver on the high expectations they set on climate.

“Voters want us to get stuff done. I think most voters realize that climate change is real, it’s getting worse, not better, and we need to do something,” Senate Environment and Public Works Chair Tom Carper (D-Del.) told reporters. “And to the extent we can do something to create some jobs, I think they’re all for that.”

Go for it. I’m sure the Elites in the Dem party who are pushing this will love it. You know, the ones who won’t see their freedom curtailed, don’t worry about their own use of fossil fuels, and can easily afford an EV for those times when they want to climavirtue signal. But, take limos and private jets when needed.

If the GOP is smart in their messaging, and that’s always suspect and iffy, they’d make sure people know what the Dems “climate” push will lead to, because, again, it might be popular in theory, but, not in practice.

Read: Democrats Think Climate Crisis (scam) Messaging Could Help In Midterms »

Posted in AGW Socialism, Democrats, Global Warming | 2 Comments | Trackback URL

U.S. Sees 900,000 Deaths, Totally Not Biden’s Fault

By William Teach February 5, 2022 – 6:45 am

And, let’s be honest, this is China’s fault. What could Biden have really done? Of course, he ran on shutting down the virus, not the economy, and has done neither. Meanwhile, imagine this NY Times piece if Trump were still president. Heck, it’s not even the top story. Whining about January 6th is

U.S. Covid Death Toll Surpasses 900,000 as Omicron’s Spread Slows

More than 2,600 Americans are dying from Covid-19 each day, an alarming rate that has climbed by 30 percent in the past two weeks. Across the United States, the coronavirus pandemic has now claimed more than 900,000 lives.

Yet another, simultaneous reality of the pandemic offers reason for hope. The number of new coronavirus infections is plummeting, falling by more than half since mid-January. Hospitalizations are also declining, a relief to stressed health care workers who have been treating desperately ill coronavirus patients for nearly two years.

Those are the workers who had to work more because their unvaccinated coworkers were fired and no longer allowed to work in hospitals and such, right? Because of mandates by Biden and other Democrats, right?

All that has created a disorienting moment in the pandemic: Though deaths are still mounting, the threat from the virus is moving, for now, farther into the background of daily life for many Americans.

Patrick Tracy of Mundelein, Ill., has seen the disconnect up close. In his county, new infections have fallen in recent weeks as the highly infectious Omicron variant has begun to recede nationwide. But as those case rates were dropping, Mr. Tracy’s wife, Sheila, died from Covid. Ms. Tracy, 81, a native of Ireland who was devoted to her grandchildren and the roses she tended in her front yard, was vaccinated, but also had underlying medical conditions.

“The people that don’t get vaccinated — you tell them that almost 900,000 have died, and they say, ‘They’d have died anyway,’” Mr. Tracy said. “We have very little consideration for our fellow man.”

Funny, more unvaccicanted are dying now than before. Joe might want to talk to China about this. Oh, right, he’s buying huge amounts of masks and tests from China. And there’s literally no relevant mention of President Biden, as if he has nothing to do with this. The guy who said he had a plan had no plan.

At this point (Friday late night), the Washington Post has no article. Nor does CNN. Nor CBS News. ABC News has a lower priority article, and NBC News has one way down the page. The focus is on Jan 6th and Pence rebuking Trump. The LA Times leads with the China Olympics, and a small story on 900k Americans dying from the Chinese coronavirus

Read: U.S. Sees 900,000 Deaths, Totally Not Biden’s Fault »

Posted in Bat Soup Virus, Journalistic Malpractice | 29 Comments | Trackback URL
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