New Guitar: Epiphone Les Paul Studio

By William Teach October 14, 2021 – 7:40 pm

Been wanting a new guitar for a long, long time. I’ve had the same Squier Strat for well over a decade, and just wanted something new, a little less fret buzz. I do have an old Carlos acoustic, from like early 80’s, still, shockingly, works perfect for what was a cheap guitar, really do not get string buzz. Also, a very old JB Player Telecaster style with two single pickups and a humbucker, set up to get the best of dual coil and sound like a Strat. But, the Kahler locking tremolo is hosed. Think it needs new springs. Not easy or cheap to fix or replace. Neck is still in good shape, but, the cable input to hook up to an amp is messed up.

I’ve actually been looking at Schecter, I like the style and feel, particularly the Omens and Demons. Was leaning towards this one, red or black. One nice thing is they have 24 frets, rather than the 21 on a Fender/Squier, so, a little easier to play for someone with smaller hands. Plus, the back of the neck is smooth, like Fender/Squier and Gibson/Epiphone. Never been a big fan of Jackson or Ibanez because of that neck issue, I find them rather tacky, can’t move up and down the neck.

BC Rich is nice, just, expensive. And they are heavy. Had a Warlock back in the day. Stores never seem to have Dean, Kramer, or Yamaha in stock. PRS is good, but, again, expensive.

Anyhow, almost no one has Shecter in stock right now. Heck, not a lot of anything. A base model Fender strat has gone from $699 to $799 because of the wood issues. Started looking at Epiphone, walked into Guitar Center, a couple models on my mind, because I want to hold it and play it, not order online, ended up with

The Studio Gold in white or red had been the one I was leaning towards. I knew a Classic Worn was on big time back order, same with the Muse, the Studio was on that list. They had black and red, I liked the red, and, for $120 off list, couldn’t resist. Very smooth. Slight buzz on the low E, but, not enough to bothersome, especially for the price. If I wanted perfection I’d be spending $900 or more for an Epiphone. The Gibson version of what I got is $1,600. I just play at home, so, this works. Getting back some of the dexterity and speed I lost when I broke my thumb.

What do y’all play for instruments, if you do?

Read: New Guitar: Epiphone Les Paul Studio »

Posted in Music | 13 Comments | Trackback URL

Climate Cult Photoshops Pictures To Show Future Sea Rise Doom

By William Teach October 14, 2021 – 3:00 pm

I had planned on ignoring this, since climate cultists have done this before, but, it is making the rounds in the media, and, heck, even Bored Panda (which is a good link to look at to see a lot of the photoshops)

From the link

The space center in Houston surrounded by a moat; the famous beach in Santa Monica, Calif., completely submerged; a former sports stadium in Washington, D.C., turned into a bathtub — these are just some of the startling images of the future in America’s largest cities without action to limit climate change, according to new research by Climate Central, a research and communications nonprofit.

Because of greenhouse gas emissions from burning fossil fuels, average global temperatures have already risen 1.2° Celsius (2.2° Fahrenheit) above the preindustrial era, but as glaciers and polar ice caps melt, there is a decades-long lag for sea level rise. So a team of researchers from Climate Central projected how much the waters will rise if the world reaches only 1.5°C of warming, which is the goal world leaders set forth in the 2015 Paris climate agreement.

Say what? 2.2F? No. Where did that number come from? Subtract .7, making it 1.5F rise since 1850.

But even limiting temperature rise to 1.5°C will result in flooding in and around some key sites. Santa Monica, for example, will lose its beach at 1.5°C of warming, once sea level rise has caught up. The projections also show how much more the tide will rise in the heart of some of the world’s largest cities and most famous sites if that warming is doubled, which will happen within 100 years if nations take no action to combat climate change.

“We’re expecting, based on our current warming track, to reach something close to 3°C this century,” said Peter Girard, communications director at Climate Central. “It will take a long time for the seas to rise to match that temperature. It may be centuries in the future, but we can understand with relative precision where it will eventually settle.”

In other words, they know that the sea rise thing is complete mule fritters with this whole “it’ll happen way in the future.” It’s a way to scaremonger. And not have to scientifically prove their prognostications.

And that place will be unsettling to many. Whether it’s an international landmark like London’s Buckingham Palace or a more obscure site like the Texas Energy Museum being underwater, the images of city streets turned to rivers and once-inhabitable buildings sticking out of the water like piers are a striking warning of what may be to come.

Of course, in reality these buildings aren’t even necessarily going to be there if the world breaches 2°C of warming. Long before an area is actually underwater, it will face regular flooding from heavy rainfalls and storm surges — which are also becoming more frequent and severe because of climate change. Buckingham Palace in London and Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium in Washington, D.C., will have to be abandoned due to rising waters unless dramatic action is taken to save them.

Good grief. All the pictures are available at Climate Central (typically, a hotbed of alarmism and cultism). Let’s look at a few

Seville is 22 feet above sea level.

Read More »

Read: Climate Cult Photoshops Pictures To Show Future Sea Rise Doom »

Posted in AGW Scaremongering, Global Warming | 8 Comments | Trackback URL

If All You See…

By William Teach October 14, 2021 – 1:00 pm

…is an area perfect for a wind farm, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Greenie Watch, with a post on solar trade woes.

Read: If All You See… »

Posted in If All You See | 24 Comments | Trackback URL

Majority Of Americans Say Government Too Involved

By William Teach October 14, 2021 – 10:30 am

Yet, supposedly, 81 million voted for the guy who’s agenda was to involve the federal government even more in our lives, instead of the guy doing the opposite but had Mean Tweets

Majority of Americans in new poll says government doing too much

crying democratA majority of Americans say that the government is doing too much, according to a Gallup poll released Thursday.

Fifty-two percent of respondents said government is doing too many things that should be left to individuals and businesses, while 43 percent said the government should do more to solve the country’s problems.

The findings come in contrast to when Gallup conducted the poll last year and found that 54 percent of Americans wanted the government to have a more active role in solving the nation’s problems. That poll came amid economic struggles resulting from the coronavirus pandemic and racial injustice issues.

Perhaps that explains the election. And, now, these people are realizing that too much government is a bad thing, especially when it originates from the Central Government in isolated Washington, it’s own little world of dis-reality.

Fifty-seven percent of Independents say the government is doing too much, compared to 38 percent who held the same opinion last year. A separate thirty-eight percent said the government should be doing more, down 18 points from the 56 percent who held that view last year.

That does not bode well for the mid-terms. Perhaps they should have thought of this with their brains during the 2020 election season, rather than with their hearts

The poll also found that 18 percent of Democrats say the government is trying to do too many things, and 78 percent said the government should be doing more. Eighty percent of Republicans held that the government is trying to do too many things, while 15 percent said the government should be doing more.

Who are these 15% of Republicans who want more Government?

Given the choice, 50 percent of respondents said they preferred less services and reduced taxes, while 19 percent said they wanted more services and taxes. A separate 29 percent preferred keeping government services and taxes the way they are now.

You know, government could do more with less, if they spent it wisely. But, should focus more on core missions.

Read: Majority Of Americans Say Government Too Involved »

Posted in Government | 3 Comments | Trackback URL

Climate Cult Says Unfettered Immigration Necessary For Fate Of The World

By William Teach October 14, 2021 – 8:45 am

I’m starting to think this has nothing to do with climate, and everything to do with Progressive politics

The future of the world may depend on letting people move

The best — and perhaps only — way to respond to huge changes in the climate and global demography may be to facilitate mass migration.

Why it matters: Migration in the future will be subject to powerful push and pull factors — the push of climate change and the pull of rich and aging countries in the West and East Asia that will desperately need younger workers from abroad.

But a big post-COVID migration wave will need to overcome substantial political barriers.

Political barriers like “countries have borders” and “bringing in unskilled workers with completely different beliefs who refuse to adapt and demand countries adapt to them destroys countries”

What’s happening: In his new book “Move: The Forces Uprooting Us,” political geographer Parag Khanna makes the case that the world is poised to enter a new era of mass migration in response to major environmental, economic and political changes — and this will be a largely positive change.

Ask Sweden and the UK how this is working out, with tons of “migrants” creating their own little zones which include violence, grooming gangs, and often, Sharia Law. A goodly chunk of which do not work, do not provide value, but, demand government money.

Between the lines: The single biggest factor is that whatever they might feel politically about immigration, most rich countries will require large numbers of workers to keep their economies going in the face of population slowdown and decline.

Which drops the value of wages. This makes it tough for 1st World progressives getting worthless degrees to get a job slinging coffee.

Context: At the same time, many of the countries and regions that have a surplus of people will also come under increasing pressure from climate change, while many of the areas that will remain more livable in a hotter future — what Khanna calls “climate oases” — are comparatively empty.

Within the U.S., heavily populated places like the desert Southwest or wildfire-prone parts of California will become increasingly inhospitable even as colder, depopulating areas like the Great Lakes are poised to better withstand climate change.

This is just jamming ‘climate change’ into the Left’s belief in bringing in lots of people to be their voters. How’s this working out in Minneapolis, which is essentially becoming a 3rd world shithole, just like parts of Somalia.

Mankind has always been impacted by climatic changes, because this has always happened. Same with all life on Earth.

Read: Climate Cult Says Unfettered Immigration Necessary For Fate Of The World »

Posted in Global Warming, Illegal Immigration | 7 Comments | Trackback URL

FBI Launches New “Hate Crimes” Snitching Program

By William Teach October 14, 2021 – 8:32 am

The FBI apparently has nothing better to do than to turn American against American, and missed that whole pesky Freedom of Speech part of the Bill Of Rights, which is also present in every single U.S. state constitution. And that being mean to someone is not something that crosses state borders. Here’s the Pittsburgh Post Gazette editorial board

The FBI launches new effort against hate crimes

No one likes a snitch.

But there are times when reporting poor behavior or telling the truth to authority is valuable for societal health. The Federal Bureau of Investigation has recognized this fact and has launched a national public awareness campaign calling on everyday citizens to report hate crimes when they see them.

The FBI Pittsburgh field office is joining that effort, and city residents should heed that request. In short, if you see something, say something, to borrow a phrase.

The FBI has defined a hate crime as a “criminal offense against a person or property motivated in part by an offender’s bias against a race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, ethnicity, gender or gender identity.” Such crimes are disgusting and tear at the country’s social fabric.

Hey, perhaps I’ll report the Post Gazette when they make fun of Christians or white men. Or make nasty remarks about straight people.

Double hey, can we report those who commit fake hate crimes to the FBI? Like this one. Because there is a proliferation of them, which, as that article shows, cause massive problems for those accused. The allegations usually get front page news: when they are proven to be false, they often do not even make it into the news

People should be able to disagree politically or socially without criminally attacking one another. And yet, the stats indicate that they can’t. The FBI has in the past acknowledged that white supremacy and hate groups now account for the largest share of U.S. domestic terrorism, and the local field office has stated that some such groups are alive and active in Western Pennsylvania. Not that such groups are the only perpetrators of hate crimes or cannot themselves be the target, of course.

Words are now criminal. And you can see that this is mean to be an attack on opponents of Democrats, criminalizing their words, deeming all who oppose Democrats white supremacists and hate groups.

Here’s what can be done now: Everyday citizens can take it upon themselves to step up and report when they see something amiss. If the victims themselves are reluctant to report such crimes, then it’s up to the people in their lives or even bystanders to help ensure that justice has its day. (The reporting hotline is 1-800-225-5324, or tips can be submitted at tips.fbi.gov.)

So, wait, if the “victims” of the so-called crime do not want to report it, do not want to file charges, some rando can now reach out to the FBI and get them involved? What if the victim doesn’t think it’s a crime and/or involved “hate”? Will the snitch be required to testify in court, as required by the Bill of Rights?

The FBI is calling on residents to help them discover and investigate such incidents, as the bureau cannot launch an investigation based on hateful language alone — there must be a threat of violence, a furtherance of an ideology or a federal crime. Now it’s up to residents to step up when they are able.

Sounds like there’s going to be a lot of hoax reports.

The photo is the cover of the book, which is here.

Read: FBI Launches New “Hate Crimes” Snitching Program »

Posted in 1st Amendment, Current Affairs, Democrats | 5 Comments | Trackback URL

Biden Speaks On Infrastructure: Brandon Was As Bad As You’d Think

By William Teach October 13, 2021 – 5:19 pm

Watch, if you can

Biden was almost an hour late for his Big Speech, spoke for ten minutes, started out by botching names, then walked away without taking any questions. So, yeah, the Christmas buying season will be a disaster, and the supply chain issues will be around for a long time.

Read: Biden Speaks On Infrastructure: Brandon Was As Bad As You’d Think »

Posted in Economy, Joe Biden | 4 Comments | Trackback URL

Bummer: China Building More Coal Plants, Could Deal Blow To COP26

By William Teach October 13, 2021 – 2:53 pm

Hey, remember when Let’s Go Brandon and John Kerry, along with so many Warmists, were extolling how great China is for saying they’re on board with Doing Something about ‘climate change’? How’s that going?

China’s plan to build more coal-fired plants deals blow to UK’s Cop26 ambitions

surprise surprise surpriseChina plans to build more coal-fired power plants and has hinted that it will rethink its timetable to slash emissions, in a significant blow to the UK’s ambitions for securing a global agreement on phasing out coal at the Cop26 climate summit in Glasgow.

In a statement after a meeting of Beijing’s National Energy Commission, the Chinese premier, Li Keqiang, stressed the importance of regular energy supply, after swathes of the country were plunged into darkness by rolling blackouts that hit factories and homes.

While China has published plans to reach peak carbon emissions by 2030, the statement hinted that the energy crisis had led the Communist party to rethink the timing of this ambition, with a new “phased timetable and roadmap for peaking carbon emissions”.

China doesn’t want to depend on unreliable wind and solar, but, they’re happy to sell all those “clean energy” products to climate cultist nations.

Beijing’s renewed embrace of coal – apparently at odds with Xi’s state climate ambitions – are likely to cause alarm in the run-up to Cop26.

China was never giving up coal. They were, shockingly, telling the Warmists what they wanted to hear, pledging to Do Something, but, doing the opposite. If they were smart, they’d build nuclear plants, but, it’s a lot easier and faster to do coal. And cheaper.

Meanwhile

Where has the wind gone? ‘Global stilling’ is blamed as wind speeds drop across Europe cutting green energy production – threatening to drive up energy prices even FURTHER

Industry experts are warning that climate change may have caused wind speeds in Europe to plummet this year in news that threatens to drive energy prices even higher.

Long labelled as a saviour of the energy industry, wind farms have cropped up across the continent in recent years and have been billed a low-cost, renewable and dependable source of power.

Experts are blaming a growing phenomenon known as ‘global stilling’ – whereby measurable wind speeds across the world’s continental surfaces have decreased by as much as 15 per cent since 1980.

Remember when the climate cult was saying that ‘climate change’ is causing the world’s winds to speed up? What happened to that? I’m sure they have Reasons, just like blaming winter weather on heat trapping gases.

Read: Bummer: China Building More Coal Plants, Could Deal Blow To COP26 »

Posted in Collapsing Science, Energy, Global Warming | 9 Comments | Trackback URL

If All You See…

By William Teach October 13, 2021 – 1:00 pm

…is an evil plastic water bottle, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Datechguy’s Blog, with a post on Help Wanted.

Read: If All You See… »

Posted in If All You See | 26 Comments | Trackback URL

Let’sGoBrandon To Discuss The Supply Chain Crisis

By William Teach October 13, 2021 – 10:41 am

Well, it’s about damned time, but, could be a little to little a little to late. Though, in honesty, I hope they can help alleviate this, because it is hurting Americans

Biden to discuss supply chain crisis with US ports and carriers

Biden Brain SuckerThe US government is stepping up its efforts to relieve the supply chain nightmare that has led to shortages of some goods, higher prices for consumes and now threatens to slow the economic recovery.

The White House will work with companies and ports on a “90-day sprint” to alleviate bottlenecks, according to a senior administration official. Some will start working 24/7 to address the backlogs.

The Port of Los Angeles will move to 24/7 service, bringing it into line with operations at the Port of Long Beach, which is already working on a 24/7 schedule, the official said. Those two ports handle 40% of container traffic in the US. (snip)

President Joe Biden will meet with senior officials and stakeholders to discuss collective efforts to address global transportation bottlenecks and then deliver remarks on Wednesday. Port operators, truckers’ associations, labor unions and executives from Walmart (WMT), FedEx (FDX), UPS (UPS) and Target (CBDY)will attend the talks.

Well, it’s a start. We’ll have to see how this plan shakes out, and whether it just ends up being a bone thrown to union workers. And you’d think that the White House and Brandon getting involved would be big news. CNN finds something else to be bigger

The global supply chain nightmare is about to get worse

Computer chip shortages. Epic port congestion. And a serious lack of truck drivers. The world’s delicate supply chains are under extreme stress.

The supply chain nightmare is jacking up prices for consumers and slowing the global economic recovery. Unfortunately, Moody’s Analytics warns supply chain disruptions “will get worse before they get better.”

“As the global economic recovery continues to gather steam, what is increasingly apparent is how it will be stymied by supply-chain disruptions that are now showing up at every corner,” Moody’s wrote in a Monday report.

Indeed, the IMF downgraded its 2021 US growth forecast on Tuesday by one percentage point, the most for any G7 economy. The IMF cited supply chain disruptions and weakening consumption — which itself has been partially driven by supply chain bottlenecks such as a lack of new cars amid the computer chip shortage.

Moody’s said the “weakest link” may be the shortage of truck drivers — an issue that has contributed to congestion at ports and caused gas stations in the United Kingdom to run dry. Unfortunately, Moody’s warned there are “dark clouds ahead” because several factors make overcoming the supply constraints particularly challenging.

Could they use the National Guard or regular military to move product, at least to get it from the ports to a warehouse or something? There doesn’t seem to be a problem in using them to supplant health workers. Let’s see if Brandon has any impact, or, this is simply an acknowledgement of the problem for the news and some soundbites, with little being done.

Read: Let’sGoBrandon To Discuss The Supply Chain Crisis »

Posted in Economy, Joe Biden | 2 Comments | Trackback URL
Pirate's Cove