Surprise: Rapid Chinese Coronavirus Tests Are No Guarantee

By William Teach January 18, 2022 – 10:30 am

Biden’s been on a roll as of late, pushing rapid at home tests and N95 masks. He wants to send people tests for use at home (and you know the COVID cultists are ordering them right now without need, and those who actually need them won’t get them when they think they might be infected). How well will those tests work? (at Washington Post behind paywall)

They relied on rapid coronavirus tests to gather safely. Some wish they hadn’t.

Rona MacInnes, 54, was determined to do everything possible to protect her elderly mother as her family prepared to gather for Christmas in Pennington, N.J.

With her son returning from study in Dublin, MacInnes hoped serial at-home coronavirus tests would catch a coronavirus infection he might bring home. The college junior would take six rapid tests before the holiday, all of which returned negative results. But it would become clear only later – after he had spent time with his grandmother – that he had been infected the whole time. Several days after gathering for Christmas, he got a positive result back from the first available lab-based PCR test he was able to book.

The result floored and frightened MacInnes, creating fresh worries about her 80-year-old mother. The family quickly booked an appointment to get a PCR test for her mother that came back negative.

“Thankfully none of us have developed symptoms,” MacInnes said.

The promise of at-home tests to tell people whether they are infectious has been undercut not just by anecdotal reports like MacInnes’s, but by preliminary data that suggest some of the rapid tests may be less sensitive to the now-dominant omicron variant. Studies suggest they detect infections most reliably two to five days after exposure in people with high viral loads who are experiencing symptoms, which is why people are urged to take the tests serially. But even then, they are not foolproof. And for those who have taken pains to find out if their sniffle and sore throat might be harbingers of covid-19 to protect others, contradictory test results are often dismaying.

So, you have a bunch of COVID cultists constantly taking test after test after test, burning them up, while having no symptoms. Like using pregnancy tests after having no sex for a couple months. All to think they’re safe. Rather than not putting themselves in position to catch Wuhan flu. Much like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. She wasn’t careful, even though vaccinated and boosted.

A New York woman who relied on negative rapid test results to go out with her friends on New Year’s Eve only to get back a positive PCR test result afterward said she believes the at-home tests offer “a false sense of security.”

They aren’t protection. They aren’t security. They’re for if you think you’ve been exposed and/or showing symptoms.

The Food and Drug Administration acknowledged the issue on Dec. 28, noting that “early data suggests that antigen tests do detect the omicron variant but may have reduced sensitivity.” A week later, a small preprint study that has not yet been peer-reviewed found the rapid tests failed to detect the virus on day zero and day one after infection for 30 individuals in New York and San Francisco. In 28 of those cases, PCR tests indicated that the patients’ virus levels were high enough on those days to make them infectious. (Several authors of the study serve as unpaid board members of SalivaDirect, a PCR test protocol affiliated with the Yale School of Public Health.)

A different big study found that Abbott’s BinaxNOW rapid test failed just 10% of the time. But, for the most part, the rapid home tests require a certain level of antigens to be detected. The smarter decision would be to focus more on the full PCR tests, find a way to bring costs down.

“Some people turn positive two days after exposure, some three days, some four days, some five days,” said William Schaffner, professor of infectious diseases and preventive medicine at Vanderbilt University. “All of this leads to a great deal of confusion.”

That uncertainty is why the tests were never designed to be used “as a ‘Get Out of Jail Free card,’ ” to leave quarantine or isolation, he added.

So, the vaccines do not prevent this? Huh. Still worth taking, since they mostly protect people from getting the harsh symptoms. But, Brandon’s idea to send the tests? A joke.

Read: Surprise: Rapid Chinese Coronavirus Tests Are No Guarantee »

Posted in Bat Soup Virus, Democrats, Joe Biden | 5 Comments | Trackback URL

Your Fault: Milder U.K. Winters Save Around 27,000 Lives Per Year

By William Teach January 18, 2022 – 7:15 am

Darn you and your fossil fueled vehicle addiction! How dare you eat evil moo cows! It’s horrendous that you have central AC, a gas furnace, and a refrigerator!

Death warmed up: How Britain’s milder winters have ‘saved’ half a million lives

Half a million fewer people died in England and Wales as a result of cold weather as the climate warmed over the past 20 years, latest data from the Office for National Statistics has suggested.

Between 2001 and 2020, there was a decrease of 555,103 deaths associated with warm or cold temperature, about 27,000 a year, with the vast majority of the fall, 509,555, because of fewer people dying from the cold.

The Met Office has found that the period 1991-2020 was 0.9C warmer than the 1961-1990 average, while the 10 warmest years recorded have occurred since 2002.

To calculate what impact the changing temperature had on deaths, the ONS looked at how temperatures had impacted health conditions between 1990 and 2000, and calculated the change in the following two decades.

Let’s not forget that the 60’s through late 70’s was a slight cooling period, which would skew the temperatures for that time period down.

The figures showed that there were 108,722 extra hospitalisations associated with warm days over the period, but these did not lead to more deaths.

The ONS said that the findings confirmed climate change was affecting health in England and Wales, but said Britain’s temperate climate meant that the impact on deaths was limited and much of the health risk could be alleviated. (snip)

Cold weather can trigger respiratory and heart conditions, worsen dementia symptoms and depression, cause lethal injuries from slips, trips and falls, and increase car accidents.

The ONS study found that the biggest impact on mortality declines had come from falls in respiratory deaths, with 336,882 fewer deaths in the 20-year period compared to previous years.

There were also 270,280 fewer cardiovascular deaths and more than 100,000 fewer deaths from dementia of Alzheimer’s, with some conditions overlapping.

Of course, they go on to mention anthropogenic climate change. Why can’t this be mostly natural? Just like during the Medieval Warm Period, the Roman Warm Period, and others. None of which were caused mankind.

Read: Your Fault: Milder U.K. Winters Save Around 27,000 Lives Per Year »

Posted in Collapsing Science, Global Warming | 4 Comments | Trackback URL

Who’s Up For Massive Tax Raises In California To Pay For Universal Health Care

By William Teach January 18, 2022 – 7:00 am

But, see, health care will be totally free! That’s what those advocating for it tell us

California weighing proposal that could double its taxes

California lawmakers unveiled a new bill at the beginning of the year that would establish a single-payer health care system – an ambitious plan that would be funded by nearly doubling the state’s already-high taxes.

A new analysis from the Tax Foundation, a non-partisan group that generally advocates for lower taxes, found that the proposed constitutional amendment would increase taxes by roughly $12,250 per household in order to fund the first-of-its-kind health care system. In all, the tax increases are designed to raise an additional $163 billion per year, which is more than California raised in total tax revenue any year before the pandemic.

The proposal includes three main revenue raisers, according to Jared Walczak, a fellow at the Tax Foundation: Higher income taxes on wealthy Americans, a payroll tax on certain employees’ wages for large companies, and a new gross receipts tax.

Under the bill, the top marginal rate on wage income would soar to 18.05% – well above the median top marginal rate of 5.3% and the state’s existing rate of 12.3%. There would be an 18-bracket system, with higher taxes kicking in for individuals earning more than $149,509.The highest rate would apply to those who earn more than $2,484,121.

Totally free, right? Just wondering, how many of the rich folks in California would leave for other states immediately? How many non-rich will skedaddle to greener, cheaper pastures when they realize they’ll be paying for?

California would also expand the payroll tax paid by employees who earn more than $49,990 in annual income if they work for a company that has more than 50 workers. Walczak noted the plan could deter small businesses from expanding by inadvertently creating a tax cliff. For instance, if a company that had 49 workers earning $80,000 each hired one additional employee, they would suddenly create a tax bill of more than $90,000.

Finally, the state would also adopt a new 2.3% gross receipts tax (GRT) on qualified businesses minus the first $2 million in annual gross receipts, at a rate more than three times that of the country’s current highest GRT.

How many businesses will more out of state? I wonder if all the Hollywood business will be good with this? But, hey, California should give it a whirl. Every experiment needs an experimental group, right? And no complaining from all the Democratic Party voters in California, as this is what they’ve been pushing for.

Read: Who’s Up For Massive Tax Raises In California To Pay For Universal Health Care »

Posted in Democrats, Healthcare, Taxation | 8 Comments | Trackback URL

Your Fridge Is An Agent Of Climate Catastrophe Or Something

By William Teach January 17, 2022 – 3:00 pm

How many times have I mentioned in the If All You See posts (like here and here) about seeing an evil fridge? Some might think I’m kidding. I’m not. There are other posts about the climate cult hating on refrigerators, and now we add

How the Refrigerator Became an Agent of Climate Catastrophe

A couple of years ago, in spring, my wife and I took our dog for a walk near Bantam Lake, in northwestern Connecticut, a few miles from our house. In swampy woods on the lake’s northern shore, we noticed a double row of lichen-spattered concrete pillars, each one four or five feet tall. The rows began at the edge of the water and extended maybe two hundred yards into the trees. Nearby was a narrow canal filled with water and dead leaves, crossed in several places by wooden bridges that looked like shipping pallets. In a rectangular clearing beyond the inland end of the canal, we saw two parallel strips of concrete, hundreds of feet long and more than a hundred feet apart. They made useful walking paths over the mucky ground.

I learned later that we had seen ruins of the Berkshire Ice Company, which ran a harvesting operation on the lake a century ago. Each winter, at that site, Berkshire employed a hundred and forty men, many of whom lived in bunkhouses. They worked from three in the morning until six at night, seven days a week. Teams of horses pulling sleigh-like “scorers” cut grid lines in the ice, and men with long handsaws followed the lines. The ice, to judge from old photographs, was more than a foot thick. The concrete pillars that we saw supported a conveyer belt. It moved freshly cut blocks away from the lake to an immense icehouse, which stood on the concrete footings that we had used as walking paths. The icehouse held sixty thousand tons. Train cars could be loaded from two sides of the building at the same time.

OK….. This reminds me of those cooking instructions, where they have to give you a life story before giving the recipe. Anyhow, this story goes on and on and on, even delving into AC, till we get to

Much of the world’s recent growth in cooling capability has been an adaptive response to global warming. The problem is self-perpetuating, because the electricity that refrigerators and air-conditioners run on is mostly generated by burning fossil fuels. There are other climate impacts. Hydrofluorocarbons—which, for decades, have been the volatile compounds circulating inside most new cooling equipment—were widely adopted as refrigerants because they don’t have the same destructive effect on the Earth’s ozone layer as their immediate predecessors, chlorofluorocarbons. But hydrofluorocarbons are greenhouse gases with hundreds or thousands of times the warming potential of carbon dioxide. Last year, the Environmental Protection Agency adopted a rule phasing down their production and use in the United States by eighty-five per cent over the next fifteen years. But vast quantities are still being manufactured. Leakage is a common problem, and not only when old refrigerators and air-conditioners end up at the dump.

This is all your fault!

If increased energy efficiency makes over-all energy consumption go down, as the I.E.A. and the D.O.E. suggest, then why does our warming problem keep getting worse? Defenders of efficiency as a climate strategy argue that the amount of energy our machines use today would be vastly higher if our machines were as inefficient as they were ten or twenty or fifty years ago. But the flaw in that argument is easy to see. If the only refrigerators we could buy now were thirties-era G. E. Monitor Tops, Cumberland Farms wouldn’t have an entire wall filled with chilled soft drinks and drinking water (in minimally recyclable plastic bottles, which themselves would not exist without the efficient refrigerated display cases that keep them cold). Similarly, if the only way to fly from one coast to the other were to hitch a ride with the Wright brothers, you wouldn’t travel to California for Christmas.

Y’all are willing to give this up, right? More story

My wife and I lived in Connecticut without air-conditioning for thirty-seven years. The summers are getting hotter, though, and we’re both in our sixties and therefore more susceptible to heat-related health problems. In December, we installed a modern four-zone air-conditioning system in our house. Because the system is so energy efficient, a consortium that includes the state and two electric utilities covered part of the cost. The transaction encapsulates the main flaw of America’s principal response to climate change: we increased our annual energy consumption by making a luxury addition to our house and got credit for helping to save the world.

Luxury edition. Everyone can afford this, right? And your fridge is evil.

Read: Your Fridge Is An Agent Of Climate Catastrophe Or Something »

Posted in AGW Idiocy, Global Warming | 7 Comments | Trackback URL

If All You See…

By William Teach January 17, 2022 – 1:00 pm

…is a swollen river from too much carbon pollution driven rain, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Diogenes’ Middle Finger, with a post on many Americans having a Ralphie Ovaltine moment.

Read: If All You See… »

Posted in If All You See | 11 Comments | Trackback URL

Scientists Say To Stand By For More Chinese Coronavirus Variants

By William Teach January 17, 2022 – 10:30 am

They’re probably right, but, how much fearmongering will be involved, and how many government officials will use it to their advantage, and how many governments will use it for control?

Scientists Warn Omicron Not Last Of COVID Variants, New Strain May Hit Soon: Report

Amid the devastating COVID-19 situation worldwide, scientists have warned that the Omicron variant won’t be the last version of the coronavirus. The other variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that was initially reported from China’s Wuhan province will further mutate in the next few months, scientists warned, AP reported.

According to the researchers, quoted in the AP report, every infection provides a chance for the virus to mutate and therefore, they concluded that the next variant of the coronavirus may hit the world in the next few months. They said that there is always space for the new variant. Citing the earlier variants, the researchers said that the new variant gradually degrades in terms of “lethality” and “transmissibility”.

Though the scientists said they are not aware of the new variants and how they affect the health system globally, they said there’s no guarantee that the sequels of Omicron will cause milder illness or that the existing vaccines will work against them.

“The faster omicron spreads, the more opportunities there are for mutation, potentially leading to more variants,” Leonardo Martinez, an infectious disease epidemiologist at Boston University was quoted by AP as saying.

Thanks, China. Which would mean more mandates, more masking, more economic problems, and more Elected Officials lecturing everyone, trying to tell them what to do. While not doing it themselves, of course.

https://twitter.com/TimothyNerozzi/status/1482418239430877184?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1482418239430877184%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitchy.com%2Fbrettt-3136%2F2022%2F01%2F15%2Fsen-kirsten-gillibrand-to-do-better-after-getting-caught-blowing-past-a-mask-required-to-enter-sign%2F

There’s video of her blowing past a sign that says “masks required” along with an employee asking her to wear a mask. But, she’ll tell you to wear a mask.

Read: Scientists Say To Stand By For More Chinese Coronavirus Variants »

Posted in Bat Soup Virus, Democrats | 10 Comments | Trackback URL

Instead Of Spending COVID Money On COVID, Some Governors Using It For Hotcoldwetdry

By William Teach January 17, 2022 – 7:00 am

If the Chinese coronavirus pandemic is so darned bad, so dangerous, is harming so many people, why spend money allocated for COVID relief and measures?

Governors Using Federal Coronavirus Funds to Fight ‘Climate Change’

States across the country have budget surpluses, including federal coronavirus stimulus payments, and many governors are using the money for projects to fight so-called climate change.

The excess cash is also from tax collection and post-lockdown consumer spending, and governors of both red and blue states are directing funds to improve protection from extreme weather, which Democrats and the press blame on human activity and fossil fuels.

The Associated Press reported on the development:

Democratic governors such as California’s Gavin Newsom and Washington’s Jay Inslee have been clear about their plans to boost spending on climate-related projects, including expanding access to electric vehicles and creating more storage for clean energies such as solar. Newsom deemed climate change one of five “existential threats” facing the nation’s most populous state when he rolled out his proposed state budget this past week.

In Republican-led states, governors want to protect communities from natural disasters and drought, even as many of them won’t link such spending to global warming. Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey this past week pitched $1 billion for water infrastructure as drought grips the Western U.S., shriveling water supplies for cities and farms. Idaho Gov. Brad Little, who has acknowledged climate change’s role in worsening wildfires, proposed $150 million for five years’ worth of fire-fighting costs, plus more for new fire personnel. In South Carolina, Gov. Henry McMaster called on lawmakers to spend $300 million in federal money for, among other things, protecting the state’s coastline against flooding, erosion and storm damage.

How many businesses are just barely getting by? How many closed? How many people are seeing reduced earnings due to economic slowdowns? How many are looking at getting evicted? That governors are using pandemic money for a completely unrelated (fake) issue should tell people that COVID is over. Take off the masks. Live your life

Most states are awash in money as tax collections have exceeded expectations because of strong consumer spending and rising prices, which together have bolstered sales tax revenue. On top of that, states are taking in billions of dollars in federal pandemic relief and are preparing for a big boost in federal infrastructure money after Congress passed a $1 trillion public works bill in November. Beyond increasing climate spending, states are looking to the windfall to pad their reserves, cut taxes, boost funding for education and increase affordable housing.

Way to help your citizens suffering from the Chinese coronavirus, guys and gals.

Read: Instead Of Spending COVID Money On COVID, Some Governors Using It For Hotcoldwetdry »

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Good News: U.S. West Coast Supply Chain Backlog May “Never Clear”

By William Teach January 17, 2022 – 6:45 am

It’s because you darned Americans want your stuff, you know

Supply-chain backlogs may `never’ clear as long as U.S. consumer demand persists, says RBC Capital Markets

Insatiable demand for goods by American consumers heading into the third year of the COVID-19 pandemic is leading to a scenario in which supply-chain bottlenecks may “never” let up, absent major infrastructure improvements at the U.S.’s two busiest ports, based on an analysis by RBC Capital Markets.

In a report released Thursday, Michael Tran, RBC’s head of digital intelligence strategy, and others concluded that “the supply chain stretching from Asia to California is simply not constructed to handle the current level of consumer demand for goods,” and that overwhelming demand “was the crux of the problem.”

“If demand for goods remains elevated in perpetuity, the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach will never fully clear the logistical hurdles required to untangle the supply chain,” and “the supply chain will never normalize, barring significant infrastructure investments,” they wrote. The Port of Los Angeles is the nation’s No. 1 container port, followed by the Port of Long Beach, the second-busiest — accounting for almost 40% of the country’s imported goods as of November.

Is demand any higher than before the Wuhan flu started? I wonder how many consumers are just holding off because there aren’t as many products available, be they TVs, cars, computers, etc? And there just aren’t the sales like normal. I’d like a Dolby Atmos soundbar, which is at least 3.1. Where there were about 80 at Bestbuy.com a couple weeks ago, now there are less than 50. Is the Government supposed to create a whole new port in California, Oregon, or Washington? How long will that take? Years? Perhaps the Biden admin should focus on getting stuff off ships, on trucks, and getting it out of the ports. Get waivers for truckers who aren’t compliant with California’s insane ‘climate change’ requirements for a short period.

The findings are significant because they would imply that the highest U.S. inflation rate in almost 40 years could run for much longer and may not ease up even if COVID-19 cases fall off. By focusing on consumer demand, RBC raises the notion of a more permanent dilemma that isn’t yet being factored into the thinking of financial markets or Federal Reserve policy makers, who expect their preferred inflation gauge, the personal-consumption expenditures price index, to drift back toward 2% by 2024 and in the longer run.

You know one thing: when Brandon loses in 2024 whichever Republican wins will put all their focus on the economy.

RBC’s math suggests that U.S. consumer spending would need to be curbed by 15% over 10 months to “untangle the congestion” and put the PCE price gauge “back on the long-term trend line.” Spending on consumer goods, however, is roughly about 20% higher than it was before the pandemic, according to the report.

How much of that 20% is due to prices being way up? It’s just a little thing, but, the 12 pack of Lidl brand cola I buy used to be around $2.45. Now it’s $3.18. How much is consumer purchasing of products down? I couldn’t find a winter jacket the other day. Very limited supply. That’s something I want to buy in person, not off the Internet. So, I’ll hold off. New shoes? Limited. So, I’ll hold off. How many are forgoing purchases for vacations because they aren’t taking one? Nothing is really getting better, thanks in part to Joe’s counterproductive policies.

Read: Good News: U.S. West Coast Supply Chain Backlog May “Never Clear” »

Posted in Economy, Joe Biden | 2 Comments | Trackback URL

Climate Cult Today: Taking Property, EV Chargers, And The Constitution

By William Teach January 16, 2022 – 3:02 pm

Coming to a nation near you?

Land may be seized to make way for solar farms in net zero drive

Homeowners and farmers are being threatened with having their land effectively confiscated to make way for solar farms to meet Britain’s net zero target, The Telegraph can disclose.

Energy firm Sunnica has submitted plans to build a 2,792 acre solar farm and energy storage infrastructure on the Suffolk and Cambridgeshire borders.

If the Planning Inspectorate recommends to ministers that the plans should be given the go-ahead later this year, it will be the largest solar farm built in the UK so far, providing power for 100,000 homes.

But MPs and residents living in many of the small villages in the area have decried proposals by Sunnica to use compulsory purchase orders for land on which it needs access and where it cannot reach a negotiated settlement with owners.

So, basically, taking your property to put up unreliable, inefficient, expensive energy sources. Strange how the True Believers aren’t giving up their own land, nor is is being confiscated from the climate cult elites.

Bill would require new residential buildings to be ready to accommodate EV charging

A measure before the (Illinois) General Assembly would require new and renovated residential or commercial buildings to set aside parking spaces that could easily be converted into electric vehicle charging stations.

Rep. Robyn Gabel, D-Evanston, advanced House Bill 3125 through the House Energy and Environment Committee on Tuesday, noting she would work on an amendment to remove extra language that does not pertain to the parking provision.

Under the bill, newly built or extensively renovated residential buildings would have to make all spaces “electric vehicle capable,” meaning they meet certain wiring requirements. Depending on the size of the parking lot, a certain number of spaces would have to be “electric vehicle ready,” meaning they contain receptacles with the necessary voltage to install an EV charging station.

This doesn’t seem to apply to individual homes, more commercial and apparent buildings. It’s so nice that activists and politicians are going to force property owners to install chargers which will mostly not be used

“One of the best conveniences of an EV is that you can wake up to a fully charged vehicle in your own home. A privilege that is less certain for renters or those in multifamily homes who tend to have lower incomes overall as well,” Deylami said.

I’m sure the lower incomes can afford the average $54k for an EV.

Chile is rewriting its constitution. Americans should pay attention.

Chile has a new president-elect: Gabriel Boric, a scruffy 35-year-old who looks like any of about a hundred leftist podcasters. The country is also in the process of writing a new constitution, thanks to a referendum that passed by an eye-popping 4-1 margin. A prime focus of the new government will be what to do with its enormous reserves of lithium, even as the departing president continues to sell off leases to extract it.

Meanwhile, the American Supreme Court recently struck down President Biden’s coronavirus vaccine mandate in part because COVID-19 “is not an occupational hazard in most” workplaces. Chile is blazing a totally new political trail in the process of tackling the most urgent problem facing humanity, while the American government is a mummified hulk unable to carry out elementary acts of self-protection.

Climate policy, the relationship of the people to their government, the ownership of national resources — these questions and more are being decided right now by the Chilean people. It’s a time of danger and opportunity for Chile, and a lesson for the United States that national institutions can be changed at will.

Climate cultists are very upset that the U.S. can’t just rewrite the U.S. Constitution on a whim to put their cult into law. And forced vaccination. And any other restriction they want on a whim. It should be interesting to see what happens in Chile in a few years.

Read: Climate Cult Today: Taking Property, EV Chargers, And The Constitution »

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

If All You See…

By William Teach January 16, 2022 – 1:00 pm

…is extreme snow from too much carbon pollution, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Fisherville Mike, with a post saying it’s going to be a fun 4 years in Virginia.

Read: If All You See… »

Posted in If All You See | 3 Comments | Trackback URL
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