This Is The “Yes We Can” Moment For ‘Climate Change’ Action Or Something

By William Teach March 20, 2020 – 7:14 am

It’s probably not a really good idea for the doomsday Cult of Climastrology to be pushing this right now

‘This is a yes-we-can moment’: What the coronavirus response means for climate action

Climate scientists believe the unprecedented measures in place to tackle the coronavirus pandemic give a glimpse of what could be possible when it comes to fighting the climate emergency.

The coronavirus outbreak and the climate crisis are two inherently different global risks, but both have a potentially devastating human cost. Despite this, only one has kickstarted widespread action across the globe in recent weeks.

With COVID-19 infections now confirmed in more than 150 countries, governments around the world have imposed war-like measures to contain its spread.

Some countries have been put into lockdown, with public gatherings canceled, schools closed, and citizens being advised to avoid discretionary travel and work from home over the coming months. Emergency funds have also been released for businesses struggling to stay afloat.

All of these measures have been implemented to help save lives.

It’s not a particularly good argument for implementing ‘climate change’ policy, is it? We know that the measures for Corona/Wuhan/Chinese virus are temporary (and perhaps over-blown). All the restrictions, loss of productivity, lost jobs, inability to travel, loss of personal and business revenue, stuck at home, slow Internet, not creating new movies and TV shows, no sports, and so forth, these are all temporary. With ‘climate change’ policy, this is permanent.

And will these same Warmists who screech about Trump being a dictator and authoritarian be cool with the government making do all these things?

Speaking to CNBC via telephone, Rockstrom emphasized that the degree of risk between the coronavirus pandemic and the climate crisis was “completely incompatible,” as the latter is much more serious.

“They are incomparable. The coronavirus is nothing compared to the climate crisis … The climate crisis is an existential crisis,” he said.

Oh, blow it out your ass. Let’s see Warmists live this life for a few years, see how they do.

Read: This Is The “Yes We Can” Moment For ‘Climate Change’ Action Or Something »

Posted in AGW Scaremongering, Global Warming, New Climate Deniers | Comments Off on This Is The “Yes We Can” Moment For ‘Climate Change’ Action Or Something | Trackback URL

Netflix Reduces Streaming Speed In European Union Nations

By William Teach March 20, 2020 – 6:58 am

Has anyone noticed a reduction in Internet speed, especially during the day? Doing speed tests through Ookla, I’m seeing well below the 200mb I’m paying for. Not even getting to 100mbps. Multiple tests on my laptop are getting around 35mbps, phone is getting around 63mbps, and tablet around 45. Interestingly, the first two are on WiFi N, while the table gets WiFi C, which can do half the speed. Upload speeds are a good measure, around 11mbps on all, and usually go to around 15. And it’s just 6:35am. I did not really notice an issue Wednesday, when I was off, at least not while streaming a movie and some TV shows (the Expanse and The Americans). But, in the EU

Netflix to slow down streaming so the internet doesn’t break

In what could be a harbinger of things to come in the United States, Netflix is tapping the breaks on its download speeds in Europe in order to reduce network bandwidth now that millions of people have committed to staying home.

The move is in response to European Commissioner Thierry Breton, who spoke with Netflix CEO Reed Hastings the service reducing its streaming speeds. Breton is encouraging people and companies to switch back to standard definition, instead of high definition (let alone ultra-crisp 4K) in order to keep the bandwidth pipelines flowing to all who need online access during the crisis.

“Following the discussions between Commissioner Thierry Breton and Reed Hastings — and given the extraordinary challenges raised by the coronavirus — Netflix has decided to begin reducing bit rates across all our streams in Europe for 30 days,” Netflix said in a statement obtained by EW. “We estimate that this will reduce Netflix traffic on European networks by around 25 percent while also ensuring a good quality service for our members.”

Previously, Netflix pointed out they use “adaptive streaming” which automatically adjusts picture quality based on a network’s capacity. The company has also distributed hubs of its content on servers worldwide so shows can be delivered locally and quickly rather than all steaming from one central source. In other words, Netflix has already taken steps to not be a bandwidth hog. But even with just those existing measures in place we could see streaming quality potentially reduced to standard definition (like 1990s-level picture quality) during the pandemic bandwidth crunch regardless of whether the U.S. likewise asks streamers such as Netflix to scale back.

A double-edged sword. People are stuck at home not working (not everyone is capable of telecommuting) and need entertainment and then have their streaming capability reduced to even standard definition (480i) from high def (720 and 1080). For most things, a slower Internet speed is not going to affect them. Writing posts, playing my escape games, cruising around, etc, doesn’t require much speed. Streaming movies and such? More required. I do have my Firestick cable connected to the router, rather than WiFi, so, runs smoother.

Here in the U.S., carriers have suspended data caps to help people communicate during the outbreak, but our broadband capability is going to be heavily taxed. According to The New York Times, “internet networks are set to be strained to the hilt” with “serious consequences, not just for the performance of our broadband networks but also for student access to education and the security of corporate data and networks.” The U.S. has a strong infrastructure to handle such pressure compared to many other countries, but rural areas, in particular, could experience performance issues.

Much will be dependent on how many are using Internet in your local area and who the carrier is.

I bet a lot of people are missing actual DVDs and Bluerays right now, eh? They don’t buffer. People are going to rediscover Red Box hard if this continues. Of course, when the EU speaks with Netflix, they have the power to force the slowdown. The US federal and state governments do not have that power.

Read: Netflix Reduces Streaming Speed In European Union Nations »

Posted in Web/Tech | Comments Off on Netflix Reduces Streaming Speed In European Union Nations | Trackback URL

Comrades In People’s Republik Of California Keep Calling 911 To Report Other People’s Coughs

By William Teach March 19, 2020 – 4:47 pm

This is not the way to do this, folks

California residents keep calling 911 on coughing neighbors during coronavirus pandemic

California residents are calling the police on neighbors they hear coughing amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Riverside County police officers have seen their 15th instance of people reporting coughing neighbors to authorities, according to the Desert Sun. The Coachella Valley, Cathedral City, and Palm Springs departments have all been receiving calls from residents concerned their neighbors have the coronavirus because they heard them sneeze or cough.

Authorities are treating each call seriously and often send paramedics to the area if treatment is needed.

California Peace Officers Association President Neil Gallucci, however, warned that sending paramedics to a possibly infected patient’s house after a call from concerned neighbors raises the chances of first responders contracting the virus and spreading it to each other.

I would think the first concern would be dispatching law enforcement officers to check on coughs rather than deal with crime. But, this is California, ya know. Hey, perhaps the governor could ask people to stop doing crime, kinda like the mayor of Baltimore asked the low lifes to stop shooting each other, because they’re taking hospital beds. Hasn’t worked so far in that Democratic Party run den of rats.

Oh, then there’s Excitable Liz

Read: Comrades In People’s Republik Of California Keep Calling 911 To Report Other People’s Coughs »

Posted in Barking Moonbats | 6 Comments | Trackback URL

If All You See…

By William Teach March 19, 2020 – 1:00 pm

…is a horrible fossil fueled cruise ship which we’ll all be living on when the world floods, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Political Clown Parade, with a post on quarantine humor and toilet paper.

Read: If All You See… »

Posted in If All You See | 45 Comments | Trackback URL

‘Climate Change’ To Make Weather Even More Extreme Than Prognosticated Or Something

By William Teach March 19, 2020 – 10:30 am

The original prognostications for weather related Doom from a tiny increase in CO2 and a marginal increase in the Earth’s average temperature didn’t actually pan out. Seriously, nothing has changed. Weather happens. It hasn’t gotten worse. So, what to do? Predict even worse future doom

Stanford researcher reveals influence of global warming on extreme weather events has been frequently underestimated

A new Stanford study reveals that a common scientific approach of predicting the likelihood of future extreme weather events by analyzing how frequently they occurred in the past can lead to significant underestimates – with potentially significant consequences for people’s lives.

Stanford climate scientist Noah Diffenbaugh found that predictions that relied only on historical observations underestimated by about half the actual number of extremely hot days in Europe and East Asia, and the number of extremely wet days in the U.S., Europe and East Asia.

The paper, published March 18 in Science Advances, illustrates how even small increases in global warming can cause large upticks in the probability of extreme weather events, particularly heat waves and heavy rainfall. The new results analyzing climate change connections to unprecedented weather events could help to make global risk management more effective.

“We are seeing year after year how the rising incidence of extreme events is causing significant impacts on people and ecosystems,” Diffenbaugh said. “One of the main challenges in becoming more resilient to these extremes is accurately predicting how the global warming that’s already happened has changed the odds of events that fall outside of our historical experience.”

Of course, in the past, we do not have complete data or even close to what we’ve had for, say, the past 50 years, because people weren’t living in lots of places and no one was really recording that rain storm, that tornado, that tropical system. You didn’t have satellites viewing it all and weather chasers and news/weather organizations.

Scientists trying to isolate the influence of human-caused climate change on the probability and/or severity of individual weather events have faced two major obstacles. There are relatively few such events in the historical record, making verification difficult, and global warming is changing the atmosphere and ocean in ways that may have already affected the odds of extreme weather conditions.

Considering that multiple previous Holocene warm periods were warmer than today, what made them warm, and was the weather worse?

In the new study, Diffenbaugh, the Kara J. Foundation professor at Stanford’s School of Earth, Energy & Environmental Sciences, revisited previous extreme event papers he and his colleagues had published in recent years. Diffenbaugh wondered if he could use the frequency of record-setting weather events from 2006 to 2017 to evaluate the predictions his group had made using data from 1961 to 2005. He found in some cases the actual increase in extreme events was much larger than what had been predicted.

Interestingly, Diffenbaugh also found that climate models were able to more accurately predict the future occurrence of record-setting events. While acknowledging that climate models still contain important uncertainties, Diffenbaugh says the study identifies the potential for new techniques that incorporate both historical observations and climate models to create more accurate, robust risk management tools.

OK, use those models to tell us the weather for the rest of this year and next year. How many tornadoes, tropical systems, rain events, snow events, and what the temperature will do. Oh, right, they just predict way in the future by proclaiming that they were super right in the past.

“The good news,” Diffenbaugh said, “is that these new results identify some real potential to help policymakers, engineers and others who manage risk to integrate the effects of global warming into their decisions.”

In other words, how Government can institute more taxes and citizen controls.

Read: ‘Climate Change’ To Make Weather Even More Extreme Than Prognosticated Or Something »

Posted in AGW Scaremongering, Global Warming | Comments Off on ‘Climate Change’ To Make Weather Even More Extreme Than Prognosticated Or Something | Trackback URL

Cult Of Climastrology: Don’t Let This World Wide Pandemic Stall ‘Climate Change’ Action

By William Teach March 19, 2020 – 8:30 am

The Earth could be experiencing the threat of a massive asteroid impact, a super volcano, alien invasion, etc, and the climate cultists would still yammer about their cult

Don’t let coronavirus stall climate action, warns architect of Paris deal

Governments must not let the coronavirus pandemic derail action on climate change, an architect of the landmark Paris agreement warned on Wednesday, saying the vulnerabilities laid bare by the virus could serve to spur a more concerted response.

Laurence Tubiana, a former French diplomat who was instrumental in brokering the 2015 accord aimed at averting catastrophic global warming, said the disruption caused by the coronavirus was a wake-up call.

“In a way, it’s a lesson: viruses don’t respect borders, climate change doesn’t respect borders,” Tubiana, who continues to closely track climate diplomacy, told an online briefing. “If we do not manage the climate crisis it will be the same.”

Tubiana was speaking amid mounting concerns that the economic disruption caused by the coronavirus could tempt governments to shy away from the massive effort to cut carbon emissions needed to stabilise the Earth’s climate system.

So, wait, is Tubiana admitting that it would cost a lot of money and massive economic disruption to implement the Paris Climate Agreement and other climate cult measures? Weren’t we told that we would feel little impact? Huh. Someone in the comments for the article writes “The law of unintended consequences…..the media overblows this virus,and the blowback is that it hurts their efforts on the redistribution of wealth scheme known as global warming/climate change/climate crisis….”

No matter the crisis, the CoC will do what it can to take advantage, as well as link itself in some fashion. This is the measure of a cult.

Read: Cult Of Climastrology: Don’t Let This World Wide Pandemic Stall ‘Climate Change’ Action »

Posted in Global Warming, New Climate Deniers | Comments Off on Cult Of Climastrology: Don’t Let This World Wide Pandemic Stall ‘Climate Change’ Action | Trackback URL

Some Ask Whether America Is Over-reacting To Wuhan Virus

By William Teach March 19, 2020 – 8:12 am

It’s a rather taboo question, isn’t it? But, it’s not quite what you think

Some Ask a Taboo Question: Is America Overreacting to Coronavirus?

As an America desperate to stem the coronavirus outbreak put in place sweeping restrictions last week on every facet of public life, the University of Wyoming economist Linda Thunstrom asked what felt like a taboo question: “Are we overreacting?’’

It helped that Thunstrom was in her kitchen, drinking coffee with her husband, Jason Shogren, a fellow economist who studies how much Americans are willing to pay to reduce risk of threats like terrorism, food-borne illness and climate change.

Calculating the economic costs of curtailing social interaction compared with the lives saved, he agreed, might yield a useful metric for policymakers. The U.S. government routinely performs such analyses when assessing new regulations, with the “statistical value of life” currently pegged by one government agency at $9 million.

Still, Thunstrom asked, “Do we even want to look at that? Is it too callous?”

No one wants to be seen as prioritizing profit or, say, youth soccer over saving lives. But in recent days, a group of contrarian political leaders, ethicists and ordinary Americans have bridled at what they saw as a tendency to dismiss the complex trade-offs that the measures collectively known as “social distancing” entail.

Besides the financial ramifications of such policies, their concerns touch on how society’s most marginalized groups may fare and on the effect of government-enforced curfews on democratic ideals. Their questions about the current approach are distinct from those raised by some conservative activists who have suggested the virus is a politically inspired hoax, or no worse than the flu,

Let me tell you, it’s not just “conservative activists” who have suggested those, especially that it’s not worse than the flu. I’ve seen this stuff from Lefty websites and commenters on chat boards, some who say this is being ramped up so Trump can rescue the day for re-elected, or even “postpone” the November elections.

Regardless, are the monetary and social costs of all this worth it? That’s what these folks are considering.

Some college students who were abruptly ushered off campus last week complain that they are more likely to infect higher-risk older adults at home than they were at college. Among the throngs who have been ordered to self-quarantine, some people question the purpose of isolating themselves if the virus is already circulating widely in their communities. Certain parents balk at the pressure from friends to withdraw their children from schools that are still open, or at what they see as groupthink that has prompted the cancellation of events that are still weeks or months away.

And how do you weigh the risk of an unknown number of deaths against the possibility that several hundred thousand students who depend on free lunch at school will go hungry? Or against other lives that may be lost in an economic contraction born of social isolation?

The kids would rather be at spring break using all that student loans money which they want The Government to forgive to party and twerk.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, given the recent plunge in value to their stock portfolios, some Silicon Valley figures have taken to social media to underscore the economic impact of social distancing.

“The fear is far worse than the virus,” tweeted Tim Draper, a venture capitalist, using the hashtags #corona #dustbowl, #food, #clothing and #shelter. “The governments have it wrong. Stay open for business.” (snip)

“We need to give the response to the virus our full attention,” said Jennifer Nuzzo, an associate professor at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. “But we’re following every rabbit that pops out of its hole, as opposed to trying to prioritize responses that have the most impact.’’

The fear may be the worst thing. My favorite Chinese takeout place was closed yesterday afternoon, with no sign up at all. The martial arts place next door was closed, as was the Italian restaurant in same complex. It had a sign, didn’t read it. Bojangles had someone with gloves on showing where to stand while waiting and ordering. I had to stand 6 feet away and yell my order, then came right up to pay. No eating in the store. And the drive thru had way less than normal. The Lowes Foods was business as usual. The place I get my haircut was slow enough that I walked in and didn’t have to wait. Costco looked slammed as I drove by, as did Aldi and Food Lion. So, some stay open, others aren’t, and others are barely hanging on. The Washington Post is running an opinion piece by a small business owner who says the CDC order is a death center for her business.

And then there’s this

An Italian study revealed that most of the patients who have died from the coronavirus previously had some type of illness or pre-existing condition.

But while these people are dying, the majority of coronavirus patients in hospitals are younger, healthier people — and they’re being prioritized by hospital staff.

The average age of those who have died from the Chinese virus in Italy is 79.5, according to a study by Italian health authorities, who have been examining the medical records involving the nation’s surging coronavirus death toll.

The study adds that more than 99 percent of Italy’s coronavirus deaths have been people who were previously ill or had some type of pre-existing medical condition, such as high blood pressure or diabetes.

Among those who have died from the Wuhan virus in Italy, more than 76 percent of them had high blood pressure, more than 35 percent had diabetes, 33 percent had heart disease, and more than 24 percent had atrial fibrillation, or “AFib,” according to Italy’s national health authority.

Wuhan is putting some young people in the hospital, just like the regular versions of the flu do. So, the question is, how much is too much? Do we want to crater the world economy?

Read: Some Ask Whether America Is Over-reacting To Wuhan Virus »

Posted in Current Affairs, New World Happenings | 44 Comments | Trackback URL

NY Times: Wuhan Virus Is Worse Than 9/11 Or Something

By William Teach March 18, 2020 – 3:06 pm

There once was a time when the people in charge of media outlets would sit back and say “is this really a good idea?” Sure, they weren’t always perfect, but, in these days, reading the Credentialed Media is more like reading the Democratic Underground, Daily Kos, or Media Matters. Here we have Unhinged Frank Bruni

Why the Coronavirus Is So Much Worse Than Sept. 11

After the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, we were exhorted to defiance. I remember it well.

Don’t let the terrorists win, we were told. Don’t let them steal your joys or disrupt your routines — at least not too much. Be wary, yes, and be patient with extra-long security lines where they didn’t previously exist. If you see something, say something. But otherwise, resume normal life. Venture out. Revel.

“Get down to Disneyworld,” President George W. Bush said.

Disneyworld is now closed.

The specter of the coronavirus is utterly different from prior moments of national panic or devastation. I keep hearing comparisons to Sept. 11 in particular, and I understand why: The terror now is similar to the terror then, a wicked weave of vulnerability, helplessness and the inability to guess what’s next.

Frank gives it a whirl, discussing social distancing, shuttered businesses, etc and so on, but, last time I check, we didn’t lose 2,996 people in the space of a few hours, and be concerned with a real threat of violence from Islamic jihadis (though we weren’t allowed to call them Islamic). Coronavirus is not 9/11: this is disrespectful to those who were murdered and all those who pitched in.

But jokes don’t fly right now. And in my eerily languid, palpably tense Manhattan neighborhood, it has been a few days since I heard the music of human laughter.

His piece is a joke, and monumentally overestimates the threat of Wuhan, which most in the media have done, because, I hate to say it, the media wants to use this to take down Trump, along with the fact that they love fear-mongering. It’s seemingly part of their job. “If it bleeds it leads.”

From that article

During the swine flu pandemic, were there mass cancellations of events including conferences, concerts, sporting events, and entire professional sports leagues? Did colleges cancel classes, finishing the remainder of their semesters online? Were travel restrictions imposed between America and Europe? Were panicked Americans hoarding everything from toilet paper to pasta?

That was 2009

Reported deaths had occurred in people ranging in age from 22 months old to 57 years old. Also, only 13% of hospitalizations had occurred in people 50 years and older, and there were few cases and no deaths in people older than 65 years, which was unusual when compared with seasonal flu. (snip)

Swine flu caused 60.8 million illnesses, 273,304 hospitalizations, and 12,469 deaths in the U.S.

Worldwide, swine flu may have killed up to 203,000 people, more than the number thus far infected with Coronavirus, and the vast majority of those infected recovering uneventfully.

Cases are leveling off in China. There, Italy, the UK, here in the U.S., etc, most people had minor to moderate symptoms, and lots don’t even know they have it. We certainly do not need to under-estimate or minimize it, but, we shouldn’t be over-estimating nor maximizing it, and that’s what has happened, to the point people are hoarding toilet paper, tampons, sanitary pads, pudding, and more.

Read: NY Times: Wuhan Virus Is Worse Than 9/11 Or Something »

Posted in Current Affairs, Unhinged Tools | 25 Comments | Trackback URL

If All You See…

By William Teach March 18, 2020 – 1:00 pm

…is horrible heat snow from carbon pollution, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Moonbattery, with a post on intolerance being tolerance.

Read: If All You See… »

Posted in If All You See | 2 Comments | Trackback URL

In Deep Blue Ventura County, Climate Tax Dies A Hard Death

By William Teach March 18, 2020 – 10:30 am

Ventura County, California, is just north of the Los Angeles area, with the two biggest cities being Ventura and Oxnard, right on the Pacific Ocean. They have been yammering about Future Doom from ‘climate change’ for decades. This is a county that went for Hillary Clinton 61.6% to Trump’s 32.8%, and always votes Democrats. So, a climate tax would be something they’d want, forcing themselves to pay for their own carbon footprints, right?

Climate change tax proposal dies after poll shows limited support

A proposal to raise the sales tax rate in Ventura County to address climate change, fire protection and other concerns died Tuesday after county supervisors concluded the voters were unlikely to pass it.

The Ventura County Board of Supervisors decided against proceeding with the November ballot measure after polling showed 63% of likely voters supported a quarter percent increase in the sales tax to fund the programs. The sales tax totals 7.25% in most areas of the county.

The 63% approval number was less than the major show of support Supervisors Linda Parks and Steve Bennett were seeking for the measure that would need a two-thirds vote to pass in the election. The tax would have raised an estimated $35.8 million annually until ended by the voters.

Wow, a quarter percent increase! And could only get 63% to agree to it? Why not go big? How about a 1% sales tax increase? Why are these Warmists so afraid to spend their own money? Oh, right, because while most people agree with Doing Something in theory, in practice most do not want to spend more than $10 a month on Hotcoldwetdry stuff.

Read: In Deep Blue Ventura County, Climate Tax Dies A Hard Death »

Posted in Global Warming | 21 Comments | Trackback URL
Pirate's Cove