
Many more patriotic pinups below the fold

Many more patriotic pinups below the fold
It’s always some sort of whining from the climate cultists. Bunch of miserable wankers
Wildfires are bad for air quality. Fireworks can make the smoke worse.
As smoke from Canadian wildfires lingers across much of the United States, Americans will soon experience another smoke show: Fourth of July fireworks.
It may come as a surprise, but the federal holiday stands out as the most polluted day of the year in many locations across the nation, according to air quality data. Fireworks — the staple of Independence Day celebrations — light up the sky but also launch harmful pollutants. In some cases, the pollution levels from the pyrotechnics are similar to severe wildfire smoke.
Americans love fireworks, and consumer purchases of them have grown to more than $2 billion yearly, according to the American Pyrotechnics Association. But these explosives have been implicated with causing water pollution and sparking wildfires, and some environmentalists say that, given the times, some restraint is needed.
Oh, piss off
Bill Magavern, the policy director for the California nonprofit Coalition for Clean Air, acknowledges that “almost everybody enjoys a good fireworks display,” but the environmental impacts are becoming harder to ignore.
“At a time when climate change is exacerbating air pollution and wildfires, we need to find cleaner substitutes for fireworks, especially in areas with poor air quality,” Magavern said.
Bunch of miserable people, always trying to force Everyone Else to be a part of their cult.
“I think people need to be aware that there’s a cost associated with firework burning, not just money, but also the health-related costs and the cost to the environment,” University of California environmental health scientist Jun Wu said.
It’s one day. One. But, then, a goodly chunk of the Warmists have America to start with, and do not want people celebrating it.
Read: Washington Post Whines About Fireworks Being Bad For ‘Climate Change’ »
I’ve been reliably told that this is how Democracy ends. Hot Air’s David Strom says the 303 Creative ruling is far more important than the affirmative action one, since the former affects way more people than the latter, and, he’s right, because it is about free speech and individual freedom, as determined by the US Bill Of Rights. That people should not be compelled to comply with speech they do not agree with them. And then there’s this nutjob, which the opinion piece forgets to mention is a Democrat
Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes tells U.S. Supreme Court to shove it
Colorado has a law on the books that says, in simple terms, a business open to the public can’t discriminate against gay people.
The radical right-wing majority of the U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling last week saying that, yes, it can.
The court took the side of a web designer in Colorado who said it was her First Amendment right to refuse to design wedding websites for same-sex couples.
Arizona has a law much like Colorado’s.
Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes announced in no uncertain terms that her office is determined to enforce it.
The Supreme Court be damned.
Someone’s looking for a suit, and should really read the Arizona Constitution, as well, starting with Article 2, Section 3 about the Constitution being the supreme law of the land, followed by section 6, freedom of speech, then section 12 “Liberty of conscience; appropriations for religious purposes prohibited; religious freedom”
She said in her statement, “Despite today’s ruling, Arizona law prohibits discrimination in places of public accommodation, including discrimination because of sexual orientation and gender identity.
“If any Arizonan believes that they have been the victim of discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex (including sexual orientation and gender identity), national origin, or ancestry in a place of public accommodation, they should file a complaint with my office. I will continue to enforce Arizona’s public accommodation law to its fullest extent.”
So she doesn’t want to follow the Constitution? Funny how Democrats are always willing to ditch it when it Offends them. Isn’t this a violation of her membership of the Arizona bar, being a lawyer? Someone should file an ethics complaint. And, she doesn’t even understand the ruling: the Supreme Court did not say its ok to discriminate. It said the service provider is entitled to protection under the first amendment. That’s freedom of speech and expression. That’s different than freedom to discriminate. Especially when there are plenty of web designers, people who make cakes, etc.
Read: Unhinged Arizona AG Tells Supreme Court To Shove It Over Free Speech Ruling »
I was really hoping we would see a bunch of the Rainbow Alphabet folks dragging the climate cultists off the road
(Daily Caller) London’s annual Pride march was disrupted Saturday after climate activists blockaded the road in protest of the event’s reported acceptance of sponsorship from “high-polluting industries.”
The demonstration resulted in multiple arrests after protesters from the climate activist group, Just Stop Oil, obstructed a road in front of a Coca Cola truck. The demonstrators sat in the middle of the road at 1:30 pm, until law enforcement took action 16 minutes later, reported The Guardian.
“The irony where people protest and will have people protest against them, will not be lost on members of this wonderful community,” London mayor Sadiq Khan told Just Sky News.
Seven individuals were arrested on charges of public nuisance. Videos show officers carrying away the protesters from the scene. The parade resumed just one minute after the arrests were made.
Wait, wait, shouldn’t most of those Pride folks also be Warmists, since they are like-minded Progressives? Should they not have sat down to protest together?
“[Pride] has become about advertising, about having huge companies like Coca Cola coming through and just trying to sell their products to people,” Just Stop Oil protester Oliver said in a social media post after getting arrested. “It’s all become about pinkwashing, about rainbow washing.”
“The LGBTQ+ supporters of Just Stop Oil have taken action against Pride in London today, because the organisation is working with industries complicit in worsening the climate crisis,” Just Stop Oil tweeted.
I guess there’s some animosity going on from the climate culitsts.
?????????? BREAKING: JUST STOP OIL DISRUPTS PRIDE
???? LGBTQ+ supporters of Just Stop Oil have disrupted the Pride in London parade, blocking Coca-Cola's float and spraying black and pink paint over the road.
???? A thread on why we've disrupted #PrideInLondon: pic.twitter.com/bGjudM9VUl
— Just Stop Oil (@JustStop_Oil) July 1, 2023
Read: Blue On Blue: Just Stop Oil (for Other People) Blocks Pride Parade »
…is a cloudless sky from too much carbon pollution, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Jo Nova, with a post on the world being warmer 6,000 years ago and the Sahara was lush and green.
Read: If All You See… »
It’s a serious far cry from Brandon’s promise to wipe out student loan debt
(Daily Caller) The Biden administration is planning to use a generous income-driven repayment plan as its main method of easing student loan debt following the Supreme Court’s Friday ruling that blocked the administration’s plan to grant student loan forgiveness to nearly 40 million Americans.
The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that the Biden administration cannot use executive power in order to cancel up to $10,000 in student loan debt for non-Pell Grant recipients and up to $20,000 for Pell Grant recipients. To circumvent the Supreme Court’s ruling, the Department of Education (DOE) plans to use the Higher Education Act as well as expand income-driven repayment plans, which would cut payments for those making $32,800 or less annually to $0, according to a Saturday press release.
You have a college degree and you’re making $32,800 or less? How much debt did you put yourself in, and why did you get such a worthless degree? You could have just gone to community college or a trade school and made more.
Under the DOE’s repayment plans, borrowers who miss payments within the first year, beginning Oct. 1, will not be penalized, reported to credit or collection agencies or put in default, the WSJ reported. The DOE estimates that their expansion of income-driven repayment plans will save all borrowers at least $1,000 per year.
The department’s revamped income-driven repayment plans are estimated to cost taxpayers more than one-time outright forgiveness, according to a Penn Wharton Budget Model report.
How many will actually qualify for this, if it’s about people making that little money/$15 an hour? How much damage can the plan do?
(NY Post) While everyone’s focus has been on the administration’s outrageous cancellation stunt, the DOE has been working tirelessly to accomplish an even more disastrous policy: a new Income-Driven Repayment rule.
The federal student-loan policy is obscenely complex, but under the Higher Education Act, Congress created a variety of programs to help borrowers who struggle to pay their loans.
Those include Income Contingent Repayment and Income-Based Repayment programs.
With varying terms, these programs limit borrowers’ monthly payments to a percentage of their income. IBR also includes a forgiveness provision after a borrower has made payments for 20 years.
When Congress wrote the law, they essentially gave away all the power, allowing the DOE to make all the rules
Under the new plan, in a variety of formulations, the secretary proposes to dramatically reduce the monthly payments of most borrowers, with millions looking at payments of $0, while also reducing the time to forgiveness to as short as 10 years.
In other words, while styled as a rule that simply tinkers with the details of existing income-based repayment programs, it effectively does the same work as the cancellation effort: It writes off the debts of millions of college-educated borrowers.
The Penn Wharton Budget Model estimated that the actual program costs between $333 billion and $361 billion over 10 years.
Estimates that account for tuition inflation and future borrowing costs put government expenditures as high as $1 trillion.
Except a lawsuit on this, since Article I forbids giving away Congressional power, as well as “requires federal expenditures to be “in consequence of appropriations made by law.”” Besides the lawsuit question, another is how long it will take to truly get this in place, as it will take months to get it in place and it is supposed to be very difficult to navigate.
Read: Biden Regime Trots Out Their Plan To Cut Payments For Those With Student Loans »
They’re going to attempt to make the stoves vastly more expensive and difficult to aquire
10 states plan to sue EPA over standards for residential wood-burning stoves
Attorneys general from 10 states plan to sue the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, saying its failure to review and ensure emissions standards for residential wood-burning stoves has allowed the continued sale of appliances that could worsen pollution.
That means programs that encourage people to trade in older stoves and other wood-burning appliances, such as forced-air furnaces, haven’t necessarily improved air quality, the states say.
“If newer wood heaters do not meet cleaner standards, then programs to change out old wood heaters may provide little health benefits at significant public cost,” the states wrote Thursday in a 60-day notice of intent to sue.
The states involved are Alaska, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Vermont and Washington, as well as the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency.
These aren’t essentially cooking stoves, though, they are included in this, they are mostly referring to wood fed heaters. Which can be used for stoves, but, are meant to heat buildings. It’s rather surprising that Alaska is doing this, because quite a few buildings, including homes, use wood stoves to provide heat, even those that have electricity/natural gas for power, due to the high costs. It’s hard to lay lines when the ground is frozen and/or they are remote cabins. Even some that aren’t that remote. Many in lower 48 states use them as a cheaper alternative, say in Minnesota and Vermont for the winters.
The nutburgers will first say they do not want to ban stuff, then they will try and ban it, or at least make it so expensive that people can’t afford it. Oh, hey, speaking of NJ
…
To reduce traffic and pollution and boost funding for the city’s subways, buses, and commuter rail, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul is championing a policy known as congestion pricing.
The policy would impose a toll between $9 and $23 on drivers who enter Manhattan south of 60th Street and use the revenue to fund the MTA. It aims to reduce the 700,000 trucks, cars, and taxis that drive into the Manhattan zone by at least 10%, while simultaneously generating about $1 billion in proceeds per year to fund mass transit.
While many New Yorkers, transportation experts, and city planners celebrated this week, critics — including Democrats across the river in New Jersey — say they’ll do everything in their power to stop the plan. The situation has laid bare tensions between the commuters who regularly drive in the city, and those who are more concerned about the environmental impact of traffic and the possibility of reinvesting in transit infrastructure.
“New York’s anti-environment, anti-commuter, and anti-business Congestion Tax is a cash grab to bail out the terribly mismanaged MTA,” Democratic Rep. Gottheimer said in a statement to Insider.
New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez said in a statement to Insider that he would “not stop fighting until we defeat this plan and ensure New York is not allowed to balance its budget on the backs of hard-working New Jersey families.”
See, saving the Earth from boiling is all good and fun until people are actually impacted by the policies, and this policy will cause a bunch of issues for citizens, towns, and the state of NJ. It’s a real shame when Warmists are forced to move from theory to practice, eh?
Read: Democrats Sue EPA To Force Tighter Standards On Wood Burning Stoves »
…are evil fossil fueled vehicles, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Watts Up With That?, with a post on VW saying there’s “strong customer reluctance” for EVs.
Obviously, it has to be patriotic women week.
Read: If All You See… »

Happy Sunday! Another wonderful day in the Once and Future Nation Of America. The Sun is shining, the birds are singing, and Independence Day is almost upon us. This pinup is by John Thompson, with a wee bit of help.
What is happening in Ye Olde Blogosphere? The Fine 15
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 »