Monday, June 24, 2024



CNN Goes ‘Mann Overboard’ on Eastern U.S. Heatwave

From Chris Martz

CNN’s Brianna Keilar interviewed their number one climate czar, Dr. Michael Mann from UPenn, yesterday, to discuss how this week’s “brutal” and “unprecedented” heatwave is being fueled by global warming and is a taste of our future.

“๐—ง๐—ต๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—ฎ ๐—ด๐—น๐—ถ๐—บ๐—ฝ๐˜€๐—ฒ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—ป๐—ผ๐˜ ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—น๐˜† ๐˜„๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ ๐—ณ๐˜‚๐˜๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐˜„๐—ถ๐—น๐—น ๐—น๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—ธ ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ธ๐—ฒ, ๐—ฏ๐˜‚๐˜ ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐—ณ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐˜ ๐—ถ๐˜ ๐˜„๐—ถ๐—น๐—น ๐—น๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—ธ ๐—พ๐˜‚๐—ถ๐˜๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ ๐—ฏ๐—ถ๐˜ ๐˜„๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐˜€๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐˜๐—ต๐—ถ๐˜€. ๐—ช๐—ฒ ๐˜„๐—ถ๐—น๐—น ๐˜€๐—ฒ๐—ฒ ๐—บ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐˜„๐—ถ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฑ ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ต๐—ผ๐˜๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—น๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ด๐—ฒ๐—ฟ-๐—น๐—ฎ๐˜€๐˜๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐˜๐˜„๐—ฎ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ณ๐˜‚๐˜๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—ถ๐—ณ ๐˜„๐—ฒ ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—ป๐˜๐—ถ๐—ป๐˜‚๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐˜‚๐—ฝ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฝ๐—น๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐˜.”

Mann then goes off on an activist sales pitch, demonizing affordable and reliable energy consumption, which he himself benefits from:

“๐—”๐—ป๐—ฑ, ๐˜€๐—ผ ๐—ฎ๐—น๐—น ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—ด๐—ฒ๐˜๐˜€ ๐˜„๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐˜€๐—ฒ ๐—ถ๐—ณ ๐˜„๐—ฒ ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—ป๐˜๐—ถ๐—ป๐˜‚๐—ฒ ๐—ฝ๐˜‚๐—บ๐—ฝ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฏ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐—ฝ๐—ผ๐—น๐—น๐˜‚๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐—ถ๐—ป๐˜๐—ผ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—บ๐—ผ๐˜€๐—ฝ๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐˜„๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—บ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐˜‚๐—ฝ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฝ๐—น๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐˜. ๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜’๐˜€ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฏ๐—ฎ๐—ฑ ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐˜„๐˜€. ๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ด๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—ฑ ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐˜„๐˜€ ๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐˜„๐—ฒ ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐˜€๐˜๐—ถ๐—น๐—น ๐—ฑ๐—ผ ๐˜€๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐˜๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ฎ๐—ฏ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐˜ ๐—ถ๐˜; ๐˜„๐—ฒ ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐˜€๐˜๐—ผ๐—ฝ ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐—ธ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—ฏ๐—น๐—ฒ๐—บ ๐˜„๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐˜€๐—ฒ ๐—ฏ๐˜† ๐—ด๐—ฒ๐˜๐˜๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ผ๐—ณ๐—ณ ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐˜€๐˜€๐—ถ๐—น ๐—ณ๐˜‚๐—ฒ๐—น๐˜€.”

Someone should tell these people that this is what a glimpse of SUMMER looks like. There is nothing unprecedented or all that unusual about this heatwave. Not by summer standards nor by June standards.

Let’s look at the NWS forecast through Sunday for the same cities CNN plotted on their WSI graphic (seen above) at the 12-second mark in the video:

Atlanta, Georgia:
• Tue 6/18: 89° / record: 101° (1944)
• Wed 6/19: 89° / record: 99° (1933)
• Thu 6/20: 90° / record: 98° (1933)
• Fri 6/21: 93° / 98° (1933)
• Sat 6/22: 97° / 98° (1964 and 2022)
• Sun 6/23: 97° / 99° (1930 and 1944)
• Mon: 6/25: 95° / 99° (1930 and 1988)

Chicago, Illinois:
• Tue 6/18: 93° / record: 98° (1954)
• Wed 6/19: 95° / record: 102° (1953)
• Thu 6/20: 89° / record: 104° (1988)
• Fri 6/21: 92° / record: 101° (1988)
• Sat 6/22: 96° / record: 97° (1988)
• Sun 6/23: 86° / record: 97° (1930)
• Mon 6/24: 85° / record: 97° (1937 and 1953)

New York City, NY:
• Tue 6/18: 89° / record: 95° (1929)
• Wed 6/19: 91° / record: 98° (1994)
• Thu 6/20: 94° / record: 98° (1923)
• Fri 6/21: 94° / record: 97° (1953 and 1988)
• Sat 6/22: 88° / record: 98° (1988)
• Sun 6/23: 89° / record: 96° (1888)
• Mon 6/24: 87° / record: 96° (1888)

Oklahoma City, OK:
• Tue 6/18: 87° / record: 104° (2011)
• Wed 6/19: 89° / record: 101° (1918, 1953 and 2011)
• Thu 6/20: 86° / record: 104° (1918 and 1953)
• Fri 6/21: 91° / record: 104° (1936 and 1988) • Sat 6/22: 95° / record: 107° (1936) • Sun 6/23: 97° / record: 101° (1925, 1933 and 1934)
• Mon 6/24: 98° / record: 104° (1911)

St. Louis, MO:
• Tue 6/18: 91° / 101° (2021)
• Wed 6/19: 95° / 105° (1936)
• Thu 6/20: 96° / 103° (1953)
• Fri 6/21: 98° / 99° (1988) • Sat 6/22: 99° / 102° (1930)
• Sun 6/23: 94° / 101° (1930)
• Mon 6/24: 95° / 102° (1988)

Washington, D.C.:
• Tue 6/18: 92° / 97° (1944)
• Wed 6/19: 89° / 99° (1994)
• Thu 6/20: 92° / 99° (1931)
• Fri 6/21: 96° / 99° (2012)
• Sat 6/22: 97° / 101° (1988)
• Sun 6/23: 97° / 98° (1988)
• Mon 6/24: 93° / 100° (2010)

No daily records are in [the] forecast for any of those locations. This week’s heatwave does not compare to those of June 1936, 1944, 1953 or 1988.

Completely and totally ignorant of our weather history. Clowns.

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New York Lawmakers Threaten To Ban Insurance for Fossil Fuel Projects

A new proposal in the New York Legislature would prohibit insurance companies from doing business in the state if they insure businesses that make over 10 percent of their money from fossil fuels. The bill, however, could backfire, encouraging insurers to vacate New York entirely rather than leave the lucrative industry.

"Within five years of the effective date of this article," the bill mandates, the "superintendent shall require any insurer doing business in the state to certify that they have divested" from "any company that derives ten percent or more of revenue from exploration, extraction, processing, exporting, transporting, and any other significant action with respect to oil, natural gas, coal, or any byproduct thereof."

Additionally, the law would force insurers to divest from any projects that are "intended to facilitate or expand" any "significant action with respect to oil, natural gas, coal, or any byproduct thereof."

New York is not the only state currently attempting to implement backdoor restrictions against fossil fuels by warding off insurers. Since last year, the Connecticut Legislature has debated a proposal to enact a fee against insurance companies for covering fossil fuel projects.

These pieces of legislation aim to kneecap fossil fuel companies by undercutting their funding. The New York bill threatens would-be insurers of fossil fuel projects—for instance, pipeline construction and natural gas power plant production—with economic exclusion from the state.

"There's no real magic bullet to stopping the oil and gas beast," Pete Sikora, a climate director at New York Communities for Change, told New York Focus, "but to the extent that there is, it could be insurance….No insurance, no projects."

"Insurance is a very powerful cudgel," added state Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal (D–Manhattan), one of the proposal's legislative sponsors.

New York's 2024 legislative session concluded on June 6, meaning the bill cannot be passed before the next legislative session begins in January 2025. But New Yorkers and beyond should hope that it never sees the light of day.

If the bill succeeds, it would increase insurance costs for energy production and potentially cause projects to proceed without insurance.

"Making insurance scarce or impossible to obtain for fossil fuel-related projects will not stop these projects from moving forward; it will only stop them from proceeding with the crucial protections provided by insurance," says Dave Snyder, the Vice President of the American Property Casualty Insurance Association (APCIA), in a comment to Reason.

Given the prevalence and profitability of fossil fuels, New York's "Insuring Our Future Act" could also backfire completely. It presents insurance companies with a choice: Leave the fossil fuel industry or leave the state. And many companies would likely pick the latter.

While New York lawmakers may think of fossil fuels as a thing of the past—perhaps belonging to some less happy time when gas stoves were still legal—they are here to stay, at least for the time being. Fossil fuels account for over 80 percent of total energy in the United States and 60 percent of our electricity. According to some estimates, oil and natural gas will comprise 60 percent of total energy consumption in the U.S. through 2040.

That makes fossil fuels a lucrative business for insurance companies. Northwestern Mutual, New York Life Insurance, State Farm, and six other companies each invested over $10 billion in fossil fuels in 2019, according to data compiled by the California Department of Insurance. Combined, insurance companies invest over $500 billion per year in the industry, and they raked in, according to one estimate, over $21 billion in revenue from the industry in 2022.

Many companies might decide that staying in the fossil fuel business is more important than staying in the Empire State, and if they do, then it will be New York businesses—not fossil fuel companies—that feel the brunt of the law's impact.

But all of this assumes that the proposal's sponsors actually intend to get the bill through the Legislature and are not simply trying to signal their willingness to go the extra mile on climate change by making a political statement.

"I cannot imagine this passing even in the fairly 'woke' atmosphere in the Assembly in Albany," John C. Coffee, a professor at Columbia Law School, tells Reason about the bill. "If it did, it still might face a veto from the Governor."

Hoylman-Sigal and state Rep. Phara Souffrant Forrest (D–Brooklyn), the bill's two legislative sponsors, did not immediately respond to Reason's request for comment.

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UK More green elitism

Brendan O'Neill below rightly calls them narcissists

So now we know: nowhere is safe from the entitled fury of the Just Stop Oil mob. Not even Stonehenge. That prehistoric wonder, one of the oldest monuments of humankind, has been showered with orange powder paint by JSO’s loons. They say they want to ‘raise awareness’ of the climate crisis. All they’ve really raised awareness of is what conceited, heartless narcissists they are.

These people really do believe they are saving the planet, don’t they?

This was cultural desecration. It was savagery masquerading as protest. To attack a 5,000-year-old monument, this stone echo of the earliest stirrings of human civilisation, is to show horrific disregard for the history and people of this nation. I don’t want to hear a word about how they used powder paint and it will wash off in the rain, yada yada. The fact is they reduced a millennia-old structure to a soapbox for showy moral preening, and that is unforgivable.

Their smugness was almost as offensive as their vandalism. They strode towards the slabs with all the cockiness and zealotry of every apocalyptic cult in history and sprayed the paint all over them. Then they sat down, for photos, naturally, looking heartily satisfied with themselves. These people really do believe they are saving the planet, don’t they? They really think they are the final line of defence against the manmade heat death of Earth. It would be funny if it wasn’t so deranged.

It is precisely this delusion, this religious conviction that they are the enlightened few who might yet save mankind from the fires of climate change, that underpins their anti-social, anti-democratic behaviour.

When you think of yourself as the saviour of the dumb hordes from a world-ending smog of their own making, anything can be justified. Blocking highways, gluing yourself to art, laying siege to Stonehenge – nothing is off-limits to the upper-middle-class brat with a Messiah complex.

There is always a hectoring tone to JSO stunts. These double-barrelled donuts, many of whom hail from the well-to-do, love nothing more than to terrify the plebs with tales of our coming doom. Hence they target the snooker, and football matches, and daytime traffic that consists mostly of working people trying to get to their jobs. It’s an aristocratic finger-wag dolled up as progressive activism, a sermon from the old landed classes to us Aldi-shopping, Skoda-driving, Ryanair-flying commoners. ‘Can’t you see how disgusting you are?!’, is the subtext of every single stunt carried out by these silver-spoon cultists.

And it’s the subtext of their assault on Stonehenge yesterday. Their vile defilement of this ancient wonder is yet another elitist attempt to stupefy the stupid, to rouse the ignorant from their consumerist haze in order that they might finally change their behaviour. It feels like the country is being held hostage by the neuroses of the bored bourgeoisie. There is no telling where they will turn up next with their orange paint and End is Nigh lunacy and that turbo-smug look on their faces.

Action needs to be taken against these hysterics and irritants. If you see them in the road, drag them off it. If you see them in an art gallery about to pounce on a Van Gogh, stop them. As to the callous vandals at Stonehenge – a long prison sentence, please. We often hear about the usefulness of prison as a deterrent to the petty crimes of the poor – how about prison as a deterrent to the self-regarding crimes of the rich?

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Australia: Conservative activists launch pre-election attack on the Greens

The conservative activist group that torpedoed Anthony Albanese’s voice referendum will pump millions of dollars into a sole election campaign vehicle designed to drag down the Greens’ vote and expose the party’s radical policies.

The Australian can reveal that Advance, backed by 306,000 supporters and 32,000 donors, will spend $5m on phase one of a national election campaign titled “Greens Truth”, aiming to inflict “significant damage” to the left-wing party’s brand.

Armed with a post-voice war chest and new research showing voters remain disillusioned by the major political parties, Advance is launching its pre-election campaign to disrupt and halt the expanding electoral success of the Greens.

Amid rising speculation of an early election, and Peter Dutton’s Coalition making ground on the Albanese government, there is growing probability the Prime Minister could be forced into striking a deal with Adam Bandt to form minority government in a hung parliament.

With Greens preferences helping Mr Albanese claim victory after Labor secured a paltry 32.6 per cent primary vote at the 2022 election, Advance is warning voters of “catastrophic” outcomes for families if the left-wing party’s agenda is implemented.

The Greens, who have come under fire over accusations they are fanning anti-Semitism, push a range of extreme economic, defence, health, education and social policies that the major parties warn would wreck Australia’s economy and undermine national security.

Advance, initially established as a rival to left-wing activist group GetUp, has raised just over $900,000 from more than 5000 donations since soft-launching the Greens Truth campaign with supporters in May.

New donations data obtained by The Australian shows Advance continues to attract grassroots backing following its influential role in the Indigenous voice referendum campaign.

In the past 12 months, 18,492 out of 22,485 donations up to $499, were received, 3652 of $500-$4999, 329 of $5000-$24,999, 71 of $25,000-$99,999, and 31 of $100,000-$999,000.

A key driver of the anti-Greens campaign, which has been in the works since January, is the dramatic shift away from major parties and rise in protest voting.

Almost 32 per cent of Australians voted for a minor party or did not vote at the 2022 election, representing the biggest drift from the major parties in a century. Highlighting the protest vote trend, almost 258,000 people voted for the Greens in 2022 but preferenced the Liberal Party higher than Labor.

Research by Advance reveals 52 per cent of voters still believe the Greens look after the environment, water and wildlife, 26 per cent think they take action on climate, 20 per cent feel they stand for nothing, 8 per cent believe they look after the disadvantaged and 6 per cent categorise them as left-leaning, progressive and socialist.

Advance executive director Matthew Sheahan said the Greens Truth campaign would be an “all-out assault on the party that is a toxic and extreme influence on Australian politics”.

The campaign is targeted at erasing House of Representatives and Senate electoral gains made by the Greens over eight years and shining a light on extreme policies and culture, with Advance warning voters the party founded by Bob Brown is “not who they used to be”.

“Australian voters need to know that every election sees the Greens with more influence and closer to implementing their full agenda, which would be catastrophic for mums and dads, and their kids,” Mr Sheahan told The Australian.

“The Greens are not who they used to be, and there is no greater threat to Australia’s freedom, security or prosperity. This election day no reasonable Australian mum or dad should be voting Green.”

The campaign will publicise darker sides of the party, including “the lie that the Greens are a party of transparency and integrity (and the) litany of cover-ups of toxic and sexist behaviour”.

Mr Sheahan said this includes “the cover-up of assaults, accusations of bullying, claims of rape, and even MPs resigning over sex scandals”.

“The Greens have a track record of being a disgraceful and dysfunctional party that has failed its female supporters, volunteers and candidates time after time,” he said.

Advance said the Greens, who have won major concessions from the Albanese government in return for their votes, have been left unchecked for more than 40 years.

With the Greens eyeing off government seats Macnamara and Richmond at the next election, after winning Griffith off Labor and Brisbane and Ryan from the Liberals in 2022, Mr Sheahan said the left-wing party’s free ride “ends today”.

A campaign priority is exposing the Greens’ “fraudulent brand positioning as a party that is only concerned with the environment”. Advance research shows when voters think of the Greens, “they think of who they used to be – an environmental movement who fought against the Franklin Dam in the 1980s, who stood in front of old-growth forests”.

“Forty years later, this is obviously untrue and, when tested, voters start looking for an exit.”

Mr Sheahan said Advance research shows “Australians are not across some of the Greens’ more extreme policies including defunding non-government schools, implementing an inheritance tax and decriminalising hard drugs including ice and heroin”.

“Australian families have every reason to fear this agenda and its impact on not only cost of living, but the future and safety of their children.”

He said another major line of attack focused on debunking the Greens’ “outsider reputation”.

“The Greens like to perpetuate the idea that they are a protest party with no influence. The reality is much different. The Greens are already deciding what legislation passes or at least having a major say in parliaments across the country.

“Their policies are already being implemented as they hold Labor governments to ransom with their preferences all over the electoral map.”

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My other blogs. Main ones below

http://dissectleft.blogspot.com (DISSECTING LEFTISM )

http://edwatch.blogspot.com (EDUCATION WATCH)

http://pcwatch.blogspot.com (POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH)

http://australian-politics.blogspot.com (AUSTRALIAN POLITICS)

http://snorphty.blogspot.com/ (TONGUE-TIED)

https://immigwatch.blogspot.com (IMMIGRATION WATCH)

https://awesternheart.blogspot.com (THE PSYCHOLOGIST)

http://jonjayray.com/blogall.html More blogs

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