Goalposts: Soon, Everyone Will Have To Wear An N95 Mask

By William Teach January 23, 2021 – 3:00 pm

If we just lockdown for 15 days, we can beat this thing. If everyone would just wash their hands and social distance, we can beat this thing (still good ideas, folks, and don’t touch your face). If everyone would just wear a mask, we can beat this thing. Once we have herd immunity, through vaccines and recovering from COVID, we can beat this thing. And more. They keep finding ways to extend it out. Now?

The face mask that could end the pandemic

Getting Americans masked up is a top priority for the Biden Administration.

Biden, who calls wearing masks “a patriotic act,” signed an executive order Wednesday — his very first as president — to ask Americans to wear masks of their choice for the first 100 days of the new administration. The executive order also requires mask use on all federal property, though in this case, not just any old mask will do.

On Wednesday after the inauguration, White House press secretary Jen Psaki showed off her bright white N95 mask in the press briefing room. “I wore it out, of course, here today and will continue to do that,” Psaki said after removing her medical-grade mask and before turning to questions.

“After removing her medical-grade mask”, and not one complaint from CNN in this article, or any Credentialed Media out.

N95 masks are considered the gold standard in personal protective equipment because they block 95% of large and small particles utilizing a unique electrostatic filter (snip)

Studies have shown that masks significantly decrease the chances of transmitting or contracting the coronavirus. But not all masks provide equal protection. Depending on the fabric and number of layers, homemade and simple cloth masks have a range of effectiveness that can be as low as 26%, which leaves the wearer vulnerable.

But, they told us to just wear a mask, right? Any mask, as long as you had one on?

Some experts like Brigham Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School physician Dr. Abraar Karan have been advocating for public use of N95 masks from the start of the pandemic. In an interview with CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Dr. Karan outlined why N95s are critical at this stage of the pandemic. (snip)

The biggest problem is lack of supply. This week marked a full year of the coronavirus, and the Biden Administration has committed to invoking the Defense Production Act more often to boost manufacture of N95 masks and other critical supplies. Experts hope manufacturing will hit a speed to be able to sufficiently supply the population.

So, yeah, next up is keeping things locked down till these are all available, and then requiring everyone to wear one. Which are disposable, so, a new on each day. Not like your fun mask you wash. And they’ll say you cannot go anywhere without a medical grade mask. Even though they’ll still be in short supply.

Read: Goalposts: Soon, Everyone Will Have To Wear An N95 Mask »

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If All You See…

By William Teach January 23, 2021 – 1:00 pm

…is the US flag, which is now a great country because it rejoined the Paris Climate agreement, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is The Other McCain, with a post on buyer’s remorse.

Read: If All You See… »

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#Unity: China Joe Considers Turning Over Trump’s Tax Records To House

By William Teach January 23, 2021 – 10:30 am

Well, this will totally help the nation come together and heal, right? Deciding to turn over the private tax records of someone who is now a private citizen

Biden administration weighs turning over Trump tax returns to House Democrats

Move OnHouse Democrats have renewed their long-stalled demand for Donald Trump’s federal tax records, but the Biden administration has not decided whether it will drop its predecessor’s objections and release the Treasury Department records to investigators, Justice Department attorneys told a federal judge Friday.

U.S. District Judge Trevor N. McFadden declined Friday to lift a stay on a pending House lawsuit. Instead, the judge agreed to give Treasury and Justice Department officials two weeks to report back to him, acknowledging that President Biden’s team was just settling in after the inauguration this week.

McFadden also kept in place an order requiring the government to give the former president’s lawyers 72 hours’ notice before releasing his tax return information to allow them to file a request to block the release.

Separation-of-powers issues that have slowed the case “may fall out” now that Trump is no longer in office, the judge noted.

“It would be a former president trying to stop a political branch, rather than one branch suing another. At least that’s my instinct,” said McFadden, a 2017 Trump appointee to the federal bench in Washington.

This really should be so simple: the law has massive restrictions on releasing the private tax records of any American without just cause, and it’s quite clear this is a partisan fishing expedition, looking for anything. If the GOP was trying to get Biden’s tax records, or those of any other Democrat, in such a way I would be 100% against it. For one thing, it is just improper. For another, it sets a precedent. A really bad one. What if the Dems get his tax records now, and then a Republican wins the White House in 2024 and the GOP controls the House, and want Joe’s tax records, a basic fishing expedition? Do you think Democrats would be OK with that? Do the want a tit for tat? We literally have a Right against this

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

At what point is this “reasonable” to do a fishing expedition on someone’s private documents?

Also, he said the Treasury Department and the House historically have always agreed that requests made under the 1924 law giving the tax-writing committee authority to seek tax returns and other records in overseeing the effectiveness of the Internal Revenue Service’s audit program survive the turnover of Congress.

The House has been stymied for months, “numerous investigations have been obstructed,” and “enough is enough,” Letter argued, saying, “The statute here is clear. ‘Shall’ means ‘shall,’ and therefore the Treasury Department should turn over these materials . . . and that should be the end of it.”

That law requires there to be a serious reason, not just “we want them to attempt to get Trump, we’re just not sure how.” This is dangerous to the rule of law, and certainly won’t turn the political stove down.

Read: #Unity: China Joe Considers Turning Over Trump’s Tax Records To House »

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Excitable Bill McKibben: We Need To Stop Burning Things To Stop Climate Crisis (scam)

By William Teach January 23, 2021 – 7:47 am

It might just only be grand high poobah Bill McKibben writing this, but, he’s a major Cult of Climastrology player, and other cultists will follow along

To Counter Climate Change, We Need to Stop Burning Things

If one wanted a basic rule of thumb for dealing with the climate crisis, it would be: stop burning things. Human beings have made use of combustion for a very long time, ever since the first campfires cooked the first animals for dinner, allowing our brains to get larger. Now those large brains have come to understand that burning stuff is destroying the stable climate on which civilization depends.

By this point, it’s pretty clear to almost everyone that we’d be better off not burning coal, the first fossil fuel that we learned to set on fire in a big way. The explosions set off by a billion spark plugs every second around the world are—for serious motorheads—being replaced by the electric engines in the most admired cars on earth. Even natural gas, long heralded as the clean fossil fuel, is now widely understood to be climate-dangerous, spewing both CO2 and methane. That leaves the original fuel for fires: wood.

In the early years of the climate crisis, scientists thought that “biomass” was an exception to the burning rule. That’s because, when you cut down a tree and burn it, another one eventually grows in its place, theoretically sucking up the carbon dioxide that the burning emitted. But, in recent years, researchers have upended those calculations. For one thing, wood burns inefficiently, producing large amounts of carbon for each unit of energy that it produces. Worse, it takes decades for those forests to regrow and suck up that carbon—decades that we don’t have. We’re breaking the back of the climate system in real time and, as we’ve known for years, burning wood hurts, not helps. So far, large-scale biomass-burning to produce electricity has not become a major factor in the United States, but the fight is on: in Massachusetts, for example, where there’s a proposal to build an enormous wood-burning plant in Springfield, opponents are trying to insure that biomass isn’t counted as renewable energy under state guidelines.

That’s right, Bill is coming after burning all the other things besides fossil fuels, including wood (and those fake logs) in your fireplace, when you go camping, a nice bonfire on the beach (actually, Warmists went after those in places like California back in the early part of this century). People in Europe have been relying on wood pellets for heat, because all the climate cult regulations have made heating their homes with other sources expensive and unreliable. And the climate cult wants to stop the solution to the problem the cult created.

Read: Excitable Bill McKibben: We Need To Stop Burning Things To Stop Climate Crisis (scam) »

Posted in Global Warming, New Climate Deniers | 5 Comments | Trackback URL

China Joe Finally Says There’s “Nothing We Can Do” To Slow COVID

By William Teach January 23, 2021 – 7:09 am

Remember when Joe and his folks, including his Credentialed Media cheerleaders/lapdogs, were telling us he would Do Something to slow and stop COVID? That ended on day three

Biden says ‘nothing we can do’ to change pandemic ‘trajectory’ in coming months

(NM) President Biden provided a grim outlook about the country’s ability to combat the coronavirus pandemic Friday while calling on Congress to move forward with additional stimulus relief measures.

Biden addressed his administration’s response efforts during a press briefing on two executive orders meant to provide food assistance to low-income families and protect workers’ rights during the pandemic. Days after the US surpassed 400,000 deaths related to COVID-19, the president warned the country had little ability in the near term to prevent spiking case totals.

“If we fail to act, there will be a wave of evictions and foreclosures in the coming months as this pandemic rages on because there’s nothing we can do to change the trajectory of the pandemic in the next several months,” Biden said.

Biden had pledged efforts to jumpstart the US economy and provide aid to struggling Americans would be his top priority upon entering the Oval Office. The two executive orders Friday followed 10 other actions related to the pandemic he signed the previous day, including a mandate requiring masks to be worn on federal land.

The president faced some pushback over his remarks on the pandemic’s trajectory. Critics, including former Michigan Rep. Justin Amash, pointed out that coronavirus-related restrictions imposed in several states were meant to “flatten the curve.”

“Haven’t we been told for months that restrictions and mandates were necessary to change the trajectory of the pandemic in the next several months?” Amash wrote on Twitter.

Well, Justin, you were a major #NeverTrumper, this is what you told people to vote for, the guy you told people to vote for. What did you expect? Own it. Anyhow, the original forecast for COVID deaths in the first year were between 200K and 2 million. Sure seems like President Trump kept the deaths on the low end. And now Joe is saying “nope, can’t do anything”, after months and months of him and his Comrades saying that Trump failed and Joe would fix this.

Guess not. Surprise?

Read: China Joe Finally Says There’s “Nothing We Can Do” To Slow COVID »

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Climate Cult Wants Super Bowl Visitors To Think About ‘Climate Change’

By William Teach January 22, 2021 – 3:00 pm

There’s always something they look to ruin as they hitch their wagons to things that are going on

Environmental group wants Super Bowl visitors to think about climate change

The idea is that anyone looking up at the football will then be forced to think about climate change.

The Florida office of the Environmental Defense Fund, seeking to draft on hype around the big game, has arranged for at least three billboards to carry a green message in Tampa for the Super Bowl. The ads read: “94% of Floridians Agree that Climate Change is Real.” White block text is set on a football field backdrop, next to a ball. The billboard directs readers to a website with policy proposals for how Florida lawmakers could begin to address the problem.

“Football is a great unifier in Florida, and it was really important for us to get past all of the partisan rhetoric,” said Dawn Shirreffs, the organization’s director in Florida. “Because climate is actually non-partisan.”

Yes, climate change is happening. That’s not the debate. It’s a matter of anthropogenic vs natural causation. But, if it is non-partisan, why are all the climate cult’s ideas about Big Government, higher taxation, and removing liberty, freedom, and choice?

The “Let’s Tackle Climate Change” campaign will also include ads on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Shirreffs said the blitz costs about $30,000. Rotating digital billboards are planned to display the message near Dale Mabry Highway and Hillsborough Avenue, and another ad will be stationed off Interstate 275 at Westshore Boulevard.

Shirreffs noted that leaders in Tampa are expected to vote soon on setting the city’s targets for lowering emissions. At the state level, the Environmental Defense Fund is pushing policymakers to formalize Florida’s chief resilience officer position, encourage school districts to use solar energy for their buildings and devise a plan for transitioning the area to electric vehicles.

If Tampa really cares, they’d get rid of their pro-sports arenas and airports, get rid of all fossil fuels gas stations, and require the city to only use EVs. And no more Super Bowls. They aren’t. And you can bet the group members aren’t giving up their own fossil fueled lifestyles.

Read: Climate Cult Wants Super Bowl Visitors To Think About ‘Climate Change’ »

Posted in AGW Idiocy, Global Warming | 3 Comments | Trackback URL

If All You See…

By William Teach January 22, 2021 – 1:00 pm

…is a horrible evil keg full of carbon pollution, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is The First Street Journal, with a post on speaking truth to power.

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Sore Winners: CNN Wants Government, Private Sector To Go After “Trump’s Instruments Of Information Warfare”

By William Teach January 22, 2021 – 10:30 am

How’s that healing and unity going to work when Democrats and their pet media want to eradicate the ability of their opposition to speak out? Also, place your bets when the unhinged finally move on from Trump

Trump may be gone, but the instruments of information warfare that empowered him remain

Donald Trump might no longer be in office, but the information infrastructure he exploited to ascend to the Oval Office and then exert a firm grip over the Republican Party is still largely in place. During Trump’s 2016 run for office and throughout his presidency, the focus was mostly on spotlighting the lies he told and the conspiracy theories he promoted. And to be clear, that was important work.

But the conversation should — and, frankly, needs — to go deeper than that. Trump was only one person who took advantage of the existing instruments in place to wage information warfare on his political opponents and critics in the media. Yes, he’s now out of office. But those instruments he used to amass power still remain out on the battlefield ready for another aspiring candidate to come along, pick up, and use for their own benefit.

These tools include right-wing cable channels, talk-radio, hyper-partisan news websites, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. In the wake of the domestic terrorism that took place on Capitol Hill earlier this month, some of these platforms have made some tweaks that have helped curb the spread of disinformation. But if you speak to experts, most aren’t convinced that these tweaks are enough. And elsewhere in the information economy, such as on Fox News, nothing has fundamentally changed.

This is the kind of thing that Fascists do. That we see in Communist China, Cuba, Venezuela, Iran, Russia, etc, where they do not allow opposition voices to flourish. It’s insidious and against every notion of being America.

While Big Tech certainly deserves to face questions for helping to radicalize untold numbers of Americans, other platforms that disseminate disinformation and conspiracy theories for profit really shouldn’t be left without scrutiny. That includes channels like Fox News, Newsmax, and OAN. But it also includes TV providers that willfully deliver such channels into the living rooms of millions and companies such as Premiere Networks that distributes shows from dishonest talk-radio hosts like Rush Limbaugh.

How’s this going to work with healing? With unity? It’s like Democrats actually want a physical civil war. Resistance is apparently no longer patriotic. And things will not go very well if they try and shut down people’s voices.

Read: Sore Winners: CNN Wants Government, Private Sector To Go After “Trump’s Instruments Of Information Warfare” »

Posted in American Flag, Constitution, Democrats, Wonky Media | 26 Comments | Trackback URL

China Joe Kills Off Keystone XL Pipeline

By William Teach January 22, 2021 – 7:18 am

The Keystone XL pipeline became a flashpoint about “the environment” and ‘climate change’ back during the Obama years, despite there being numerous pipelines being built around the country. Obama tried to kill it, Trump got it working, Biden has now killed it for his unhinged Warmist base

American Workers, Business Leaders on Biden Axing Keystone Pipeline: ‘Slap in Face’ to Union Members

President Joe Biden on his first day on the job axed the Keystone XL Pipeline, drawing the ire of union workers, industry stakeholders, and GOP lawmakers whose states will be negatively impacted by the decision.

Mike Sommers, president and CEO of trade group American Petroleum Institute, said Biden’s announcement “is a slap in the face to the thousands of union workers who are already a part of this safe and sustainable project.”

“This misguided move will hamper America’s economic recovery, undermine North American energy security, and strain relations with one of America’s greatest allies,” Sommers said.

Mark McManus, general president of the United Association of Union Plumbers and Pipefitters, said in a statement:

In revoking this permit, the Biden Administration has chosen to listen to the voices of fringe activists instead of union members and the American consumer on Day 1. Let me be very clear: When built with union labor by the men and women of the United Association, pipelines like Keystone XL remain the safest and most efficient modes of energy transportation in the world.

“Sadly, the Biden administration has now put thousands of union workers out of work,” McManus said. “For the average American family, it means energy costs will go up and communities will no longer see the local investments that come with pipeline construction.”

You know who this helps? China. When Obama threatened it and killed it off Canada had plans to redirect their portion to their west coast, and ship it to China. But, they waited 2 years to see what Trump would do. Will they wait four years to see if a Republican wins in 2024, or just move on?

The Wall Street Journal editorial board also responded to Biden’s move, concluding that not only is it destructive to the U.S. economy but possibly illegal:

[TC Energy] can avail itself of Nafta’s investor-dispute settlement provision until June 2022, which would allow it to recoup its investment. The company also has a strong legal case that the U.S. Constitution gives Congress, not the President, power over foreign trade and that Mr. Biden’s reversal violates due process.

So, basically, on day one Joe Biden killed thousands of American jobs during a recovery. And has also banned fracking, along with drilling in ANWAR and ending all new leases on federal land for fossil fuels

Say hello to a higher cost of living. All you “I voted Joe because Trump tweets mean things” idiots will get what you deserve. No whining. No complaining. Own it.

Read: China Joe Kills Off Keystone XL Pipeline »

Posted in Energy, Global Warming, Joe Biden | 21 Comments | Trackback URL

Bummer: Biden Will Have A Tough Time Raising Taxes Due To Trump Tax Law

By William Teach January 22, 2021 – 7:04 am

Joe Biden wants to raise taxes? Huh. Oh, right, only on “the rich”. Which is what Democrats always say, and then raise the taxes on the middle class, because why would they raise taxes on the rich people who sustain the Democratic Party?

Biden Wants to Raise Taxes, Yet Many Trump Tax Cuts Are Here to Stay

Donald J. Trump has left the White House. But many of his signature tax cuts aren’t going anywhere.

A lot of his stuff was done through the legislature, rather than jamming everything with an EO, so, it is much harder to get rid of

Democrats have spent years promising to repeal the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which Republicans passed without a single Democratic vote and was estimated to cost nearly $2 trillion over a decade. President Biden said during a presidential debate in September that he was “going to eliminate the Trump tax cuts.”

By “cost”, they mean less money that people worked hard to earn will go to the federal government.

Mr. Biden is now in the White House, and his party controls both chambers of Congress. Yet he and his aides are committing to only a partial rollback of the law, with their focus on provisions that help corporations and the very rich. It’s a position that Mr. Biden held throughout the campaign, and that he clarified in the September debate by promising to only partly repeal a corporate rate cut.

In some cases, including tax cuts that help lower- and middle-class Americans, they are looking to make Mr. Trump’s temporary tax cuts permanent.

Interesting: they finally admit that the 2017 tax cut bill lowered the taxes of lower and middle class Americans, after years of saying that it raised them.

Mr. Biden still wants to raise taxes on some businesses and wealthy individuals, and he remains intent on raising trillions of dollars in new tax revenue to offset the federal spending programs that he plans to propose, including for infrastructure, clean energy production and education. Much of the new revenue, however, could come from efforts to tax investment and labor income for people earning more than $400,000, in ways that are not related to the 2017 law.

Here’s an idea: the GOP should propose a tax increase that would hit the big tech companies, entertainment industry, major sports players, and news outlets. And for all those millionaires and billionaires saying they want their taxes raised? Increase the capital gains tax for them. Let’s see how they all like this, and see if Joe and the Democrats support it.

Plenty more in the NY Times screed.

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