California Looks To Pass Bill That Will Unintentionally Replace Fast Food Workers With Robots

By William Teach February 1, 2022 – 6:45 am

Let’s see what the People’s Republik Of California is up to

California eyes giving 500,000 fast food workers more power

unintended consequencesCalifornia’s more than half-million fast food workers would get increased power and protections under a first-in-the-nation measure approved by the state Assembly on Monday.

Workers would be included alongside employers and state agencies on a new Fast-Food Sector Council to set statewide minimum standards on wages, working hours, training and working conditions including procedures designed to protect employees from the coronavirus pandemic.

It would be limited to fast food restaurants with at least 30 establishments nationally.

“California has a chance to lead the country and address outstanding issues in the fast food industry,” said Democratic Assemblyman Chris Holden, a former franchisee himself. “It is about fairness and it is about bringing all the responsible parties to the table to collaborate on solutions.”

What could possibly go wrong, eh? Having little Chad and Becky who have degrees in Gender Studies sit at a table with people who put their own ass on the line by opening the franchise is insanity. I wonder if the Cal Dems who wrote this factored in that most owners do not own 30 nationwide?

The bill “just drives entire franchises and franchise brands away from California,” said Republican Assemblyman Kelly Seyarto.

Who’ll want to open one? How many current owners will move even faster to replace the workers with machines? Imagine if the machines gave you the same standard on ever burger, sandwich, fries, etc, that you order? That would actually be great.

Fast food workers as well as local franchisees “are often at the mercy” of fast food chains, Bob Schoonover, president of 700,000-member SEIU California, said before the vote. The bill “addresses this imbalance of power by bringing workers and franchisees together to raise standards and protections across the California fast food industry.”

Did any of those workers, many who are illegal aliens, put their own money on the line in opening the franchise? Their credit, their collateral? If it goes out of business, do they share the burden? No? Huh. If they want power they can open their own.

Among other things, employees could sue the restaurant if they contend they have been fired, discriminated or retaliated against for exercising the rights created under the bill. And franchisees could bring actions against franchisors if they believe the corporations are impeding their compliance with health, safety and employment laws.

That’s not an incentive to replace most with machines, right? Most don’t seem able to calculate change without a machine.

It would include two representatives of fast food restaurant employees, two representatives of advocates for fast food restaurant employees, one representative of fast food restaurant franchisors and one representative of fast food restaurant franchisees.

The remaining five members would be representatives of state agencies.

So, 4 representing the employees who do not actually have a monetary stake in the business, no responsibility, no owing anything to the bank, and just 2 representing actual businesses. You can bet the 5 for the state will back the employees. How’s that tax base working, California, when payroll taxes drop, and many just shut down?

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If All You See…

By William Teach January 31, 2022 – 1:00 pm

…is an area in drought from carbon pollution, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Bookworm Room, with a post on some examples of stupid leftism.

Read: If All You See… »

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Climate Panel Brings In Experts On Gender, Migration Or Something

By William Teach January 31, 2022 – 1:00 pm

This is totally about science, though, right?

Climate panel invites experts on gender, migration, climate change
Discussion emphasizes universal impact of climate change in Latin America, Caribbean, Middle East

On Friday, Jan. 28, Director of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies Nadje Al-Ali and Director of the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies Patsy Lewis invited four experts to participate in a virtual panel discussion on the intersections of climate change, displacement and gender. The event, called “Climate Change and Displacement: Experiences from Latin America and the Caribbean and the Middle East,” was co-sponsored by the Climate Solutions Lab at the Watson Institute and was also streamed on the Watson Institute’s YouTube channel.

“Our two centers have been collaborating on a number of issues already of global interest,” Lewis told The Herald. “We have been trying to see how … problems are manifested in different regions and how the responses might be similar or different.”

“While it’s important to zoom into the specifics of either the Middle East, Latin America or the Caribbean, it’s also important to de-exceptionalize the regions and look at commonalities and differences as well,” Al-Ali said.

During the panel, speakers discussed limitations and challenges to female migration, the responsibility of governments to address climate change and migration, as well as how intersectional characteristics such as race, class or education nuance the topic of migration.

You know what I’m not seeing? Any actual scientists

Panelist Dina Najjar, social and gender specialist at the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas, emphasized the importance of field work and participant observation in gender studies, especially in the Middle East and North Africa. In one instance, Najjar observed women irrigating in Egypt despite speaking with  male farmers who insisted Egyptian women did not participate in the activity.

“Impacts of climate change are gendered,” Najjar told The Herald. “They’re not the same. We need to optimize on women’s abilities to participate in … mitigation measures.”

No, no, these people don’t sound like hardcore Progressives at all, do they?

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British National Institute Of Health Reverses Course On Vaccine Mandates

By William Teach January 31, 2022 – 10:30 am

I’m sure Biden will be out with a new vaccine mandate at any time

Exclusive: U-turn on mandatory Covid vaccinations for NHS and social care workers

Mandatory Covid jabs for NHS and social care workers are set to be scrapped, The Telegraph can reveal, after warnings of crippling staff shortages if the plan went ahead.

Sajid Javid, the Health Secretary, will on Monday meet fellow ministers on the Covid-Operations Cabinet committee to rubber stamp the decision on the about-turn.

Multiple government sources said ministers are expected to end the requirement because the omicron Covid variant, now dominant in the UK, is milder than previous strains.

The move comes after warnings that almost 80,000 healthcare workers would be forced out of their jobs because they had declined to take two doses of a Covid vaccine.

The time frame of the existing mandate meant the health care workers had to get their first shot by February 3rd, in order to be able to get their 2nd and be considered fully vaccinated by April. These same healthcare workers worked throughout the pandemic prior to vaccines being developed, but, of course, were turned into Villains after the vaccines if they refused to get the jab.

The legal requirement for care home staff to be fully vaccinated came into effect in November. An estimated 40,000 people lost their jobs over the policy. Under the new rules, they are expected to be able to return to work in the sector.

I personally think it’s a mistake to not get vaccinated, if you can, in order to protect yourself. Doesn’t mean you won’t get COVID, just, most likely, it will be mild. Governments made a big mistake in pushing their “we’re in this together, you need to protect everyone else” talking points, rather than “listen, protect yourself, OK?”

Meanwhile

T-Mobile to terminate corporate employees who aren’t vaccinated by April -memo

T-Mobile US Inc will fire corporate employees who are not fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by April 2, according to an internal company memo posted on the blog The T-MO Report.

The blog said T-Mobile’s new policy was announced on Friday in an email from its human resource chief to all staff. It follows a U.S. Supreme Court ruling on Jan. 13 that blocked President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 vaccination-or-testing mandate for large businesses.

“Employees who have not yet taken action to receive their first dose and upload proof by February 21 will be placed on unpaid leave,” the blog quoted the memo as saying. “Affected employees who do not become fully vaccinated … by April 2 will be separated from T-Mobile.”

The memo, addressed to “all employees (excluding international),” stated that the vaccine rules do not apply to field technicians and most in-store retail roles.

So, why not the techs and store employees? If they were serious, they’d include them. Also, why wait to do this a year and a half after the vaccines were announced? It’s very silly.

Vaccine mandate could spell trouble for seasonal migrant workers: COVID updates

A Department of Homeland Security COVID-19 vaccine mandate, which took effect Jan. 22, is expected to severely restrict the travel of thousands of H-2A seasonal guest workers this year.

The H-2A program allows agricultural employers to bring foreign workers to the United States for agricultural labor or services on a temporary or seasonal basis.

DHS announced the restrictions on Jan. 20, requiring?non-U.S. individuals?seeking to enter the U.S. via land ports of entry?and?ferry terminals?at?the U.S.-Mexico and U.S.-Canada?borders?to?be fully vaccinated for COVID-19 and provide related proof of vaccinations.

Yet, DHS is allowing illegal aliens into the nation without vaccination. Go figure.

 

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Your Fault: That Was A Heck Of A Snow Storm

By William Teach January 31, 2022 – 7:00 am

I was sitting around Saturday while doing work, checking the webcams, as I mentioned. There were times when you couldn’t see stuff like bridges, Boston (from a camera overlooking the harbor), a lighthouse, the ocean. Mom said they had at least 16 inches on the Jersey shore when all was done. This is your fault, you know

(Axios) Thousands of customers were without power in Massachusetts after a historic blizzard hit the region on Saturday, with Boston tying its record for the most snow to fall in one day, at 23.6 inches, and recording its sixth-largest snowstorm of all time.

The latest: Despite up to two feet of snow falling in the Boston area this weekend, Mayor Michelle Wu said the city’s schools would open Monday and the snow emergency would lift at 6 am, as work continued to clear streets, ramps, and sidewalks. (big snip)

Warmer than average ocean temperatures off the New England coast aided in intensifying the storm and adding more moisture to it, helping it produce extremely heavy snowfall over land. Studies have tied these increasing ocean temperatures to human-caused climate change.

And then

(UK Guardian) Climate change, particularly the warming ocean, probably influenced the strength of the storm, atmospheric researchers said. Much warmer ocean waters “are certainly playing a role in the strengthening of the storm system and increased moisture available for the storm”, said University of Oklahoma meteorology professor Jason Furtado. “But it isn’t the only thing.”

That Guardian one is actually an Associated Press one, so, it’s getting repeated all over the nation at local news outlets. The Washington Post seems to have something similar, but, it’s behind the paywall. And it’s a cult.

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Boston Vax Rules Cause Restaurants To Lose Up To $15,000 A Week

By William Teach January 31, 2022 – 6:45 am

What, they don’t like the vaccination rules? Boston went for Biden around 83%, you’d think everyone would be super excited for these rules. Hyper-leftist Michelle Wu won with 63% of the vote. Bostonians should love the rules

Boston trade group says restaurants are losing as much as $15,000 a week because customers are put off by new vaccine rules

The Massachusetts Restaurant Association (MRA) has written to Boston mayor Michelle Wu, complaining that restaurants are losing up to $15,000 a week, due to the city’s vaccine mandate.

The new requirement to show proof of vaccination against COVID-19 took effect on January 15.

“The damage that has already occurred statewide in the restaurant industry in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic cannot be undone, but the future of our restaurants, small businesses and employment are reliant on the choices our leaders make today,” MRA president Bob Luz said in the letter, as reported by The Boston Herald. (snip)

In the letter addressed to the mayor, the MRA wrote: “We ask that you reevaluate the vaccine mandate given the rapidly improving conditions in Boston and provide the roadmap forward so that the most beleaguered industry, in the most affected city in the state, can make a plan towards recovery.”

The mayor gave a mealy mouthed response about considering what’s going on and re-evaluating, blah blah blah.

Funny, though, that so many of the Boston citizens are refusing to go out to eat, eh? I bet they love vaccine mandates as long as they don’t effect themselves.

Read: Boston Vax Rules Cause Restaurants To Lose Up To $15,000 A Week »

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If All You See…

By William Teach January 30, 2022 – 1:00 pm

…is a horrible dog causing ‘climate change’ from consumption, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Real Climate Science, with a post on the social cost on not having access to fossil fuels.

It’s ladies in nature week!

Read: If All You See… »

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Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup

By William Teach January 30, 2022 – 10:10 am

Patriotic Pinup Fritz Willis

Happy Sunday! Another gorgeous day in the Once and Future Nation of America. The sun is shining, the birds are honking, and lots of people have fun levels of snow. This pinup is by Fritz Willis, with a wee bit of help.

What is happening in Ye Olde Blogosphere? The Fine 15

  1. Pacific Pundit notes Pelosi pledging to defend Ukraine
  2. Raised On Hoecakes discusses NYC teaching on $30k per year failing
  3. The First Street Journal covers George Soros’ effect on criminality
  4. The Last Refuge notes Nova Scotia making protesting with the truckers illegal
  5. The Lid discusses the Capital Police spying on Congressional staff and visitors
  6. The O.K. Corral has a great feel good story
  7. The People’s Cube covers the Coronazis
  8. Greenie Watch notes the cost of EV batteries
  9. Jo Nova highlights nations ending the Chinese coronavirus restrictions
  10. Not A Lot Of People notes that ‘climate change’ is waycist
  11. 357 Magnum has the Australian edition of cops behaving badly
  12. American Greatness notes that a court says Pa’s mail in voting law is unconstitutional
  13. Chicks On The Right covers a surprise in your Biden at-home COVID test
  14. Da Techguy’s Blog has some interesting last words
  15. And last, but, not least, Fisherville Mike has some fun dog stuff going on

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 »

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Oregon Health Authority Files Permanent Rules On School, Health Center Masking

By William Teach January 30, 2022 – 8:05 am

But, don’t call them permanent permanent, it’s just so that they don’t have to spend time reauthorizing any temporary rules every so often, you know

Oregon Health Authority begins filing ‘permanent’ COVID-19 rules

The Oregon Health Authority says it expects to file “permanent” rules on Friday for mask requirements in K-12 schools, as well as vaccination requirements for educators and staff.

Friday’s announcement does not include the statewide indoor mask mandate. State epidemiologist Dr. Dean Sidelinger said in a briefing that officials are still going over public comments before proceeding, which will most likely happen in the next week or two.

Permanent rules can be repealed by state agencies, which happened in 2021 before the Delta variant began to surge. By definition, temporary rules are only valid for 180 days.

“State health officials emphasized that the rule filing will maintain masking protections during the current Omicron surge,” OHA said in a statement. “State officials are developing measures to determine when it may be safe to lift the school mask rule.”

It’s nice that the state has given the OHA, an unelected bureaucracy, one which is completely unresponsive to the citizens of Oregon, the power to decide permanent rules for masking in schools, along with vaccination requirements, eh? Or, have they? With the state being run by Democrats, who’s going to stop them if they don’t have the authority? Anyone want to bet that the teacher’s union is behind this?

At Friday’s briefing, Dr. Sidelinger underlined that permanent rules can be loosened or rescinded as conditions change, pointing to COVID-19 hospitalizations that are nearing the Delta variant peak. (snip)

“So I would anticipate, in the coming weeks to month and a half, that we will see a significant decrease in the number of people with COVID in the hospital,” Sidelinger continued, “and at that time it’ll be a time to start talking about ‘Can we move from a requirement for masks in indoor public spaces to a recommendation for certain populations or in certain communities where rates are higher?’”

So why pass a permanent rule? Why not a temporary? Not that masks are necessary for kids. Most nations have avoided this. Surely just to placate the teacher’s union, which is full of COVID cultist Karens who lose their minds over people, and especially kids in class, not wearing a mask. And

Rules expected to be filed on Jan. 31 include:

  • OAR 333-019-1010 – COVID-19 Vaccination Requirement for Healthcare Providers and Healthcare Staff in Healthcare Settings.
  • OAR 333-019-1011 – Masking Requirements to Control COVID-19 in Health Care Settings.

But, again, do not worry, they aren’t permanent permanent

But just because the rules are “permanent” does not mean they are going to be in effect indefinitely, officials tried to ensure Oregonians. The rules can be loosened or rescinded as pandemic conditions change, particularly around hospitalizations.

So, no worries, right? Good thing the members of the Oregon Health Authority wear masks to show people the way, right?

Go figure. (from the second article)

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Spotify Chief Told Employees Joe Rogan’s Show Meets Standards

By William Teach January 29, 2022 – 4:30 pm

What Spotify’s communications chief should have said was “you’re employees. You do not run this company. You do not have that decision power. Maybe one day you will, but, as of now, you do not get to to decide who is on and who is off”

Spotify’s communications chief reportedly told employees that Joe Rogan episodes ‘didn’t meet the threshold for removal’

Leaked internal messages from Spotify offer a glimpse into the company’s decision to keep airing Joe Rogan’s podcast, which has come under fire for promoting COVID-19 misinformation.

The Verge reported Friday that Dustee Jenkins, Spotify’s head of global communications and public relations, broached the subject with concerned employees in an internal Slack channel.

Jenkins told them the company reviewed multiple episodes of podcast “The Joe Rogan Experience” but concluded they “didn’t meet the threshold for removal,” according to leaked screenshots of her message that were viewed by The Verge.

“We apply our policies consistently and objectively,” Jenkins wrote. “They are not influenced by the media cycle, calls from any one individual or from external partners. It doesn’t mean I personally agree with this content. But I trust our policies and the rationale behind them.”

But, see, all the little progressive Brownshirts get massively butthurt when people with different opinions are allowed to share them. Anything Wrongthink is verboten. I don’t like MSNBC. They consistently lie, they’re a bunch of little Fascists, and they’re utterly dishonest. So, I do not tune in. There are plenty of left leaning programs on iHeart Radio. I listen to rock a lot on the platform. I don’t care if they are also on it. I wouldn’t Demand they be removed. I just won’t listen. But, see, in Liberal World, if you aren’t with them, you’re a Nazi. A Klan member. The worst ever. So, you must be silenced.

Earlier this month, 270 scientists, healthcare workers, and educators signed an open letter calling on Spotify to stop the spread of misinformation on its platform following an episode of Rogan’s podcast in which he interviewed a doctor who baselessly claimed Americans were “hypnotized” into wearing masks and getting COVID-19 vaccines because of what he calls “mass formation psychosis.” Psychology experts have said there is no such phenomenon.

So what? Rebut Rogan. Realistically, attempting to silence gives him even more power.

Read: Spotify Chief Told Employees Joe Rogan’s Show Meets Standards »

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