The Benefits Of Air Pollution Control: Where’s The Beef?

This is an interesting article.  The author looks at the data and shows that cleaning up the air really hasn't moved the needle on deaths as we would have hoped it would.  Cleaning up air emissions that cause smog was supposed to improve our quality of life.  But did it really?

I certainly can't say I prefer a world covered in smog with little light from the sun shining through.  The author brings up the fact that the only people affected by coal burning in the UK in the 1950s were those who were already suffering from respiratory - cardio illnesses.

But wasn't that the intent on controlling emissions?  To improve our quality of life as we age over time?  For sure, the young will always have the ability and resilience to overcome wide ranges of pollutions.

I don't think there is anyone that thinks it's a good idea to completely wipe out existing pollution control regulations.  But maybe, we past the point of diminishing returns and can ease up a little and take the Heavy Boot off the neck of industry and replace it with a soft slipper.

It’s been 50 years since cleaning up the air in the United States began in earnest. Skies are much clearer now than in the mid-20th century. Leaded gasoline is gone, power plants have been abandoning coal and sulfur dioxide has dropped by 91%. Despite these growing improvements, why have epidemiologists been unable to show the demonstrable public health benefits that their computer models predict?

NY and CA spend billions more in taxes than TX and FL — and get worse results

This is the preamble to a blog I posted regarding the astronomic cost of installing handicap accessibility to existing subway stations in NY compared to other cities in other countries.

America’s four largest states — California, Texas, Florida and New York — have a lot in common. They are iconic, dynamic and diverse. Each could be formidable countries themselves.

And, yet, they are also very different in their politics and governance. California and New York are dominated by Democrats who have implemented the nation’s highest and sixth-highest marginal income tax rates, respectively, to help finance large social programs and bureaucracies. (New York’s rate rises to second-highest if New York City income tax is included.)

Texas and Florida, meanwhile, have been governed mostly by conservative Republicans for decades; they are among the few states that levy no income tax on workers, while maintaining leaner social programs.

Our big four states provide a good test case for two very different visions: Do higher taxes and bigger government actually deliver better outcomes, particularly in terms of education, poverty alleviation, and infrastructure? Or can simpler governments and lower taxes actually raise the fortunes of their citizens?

Here, the facts tell the story.

Worth reading.  The author shows graphs and statistics, wondering why NY and CA can't seem to get more bang for their buck.

Swiss Air Drops Christian Chocolate Supplier Following Protests

And the Far Left is cheering and high-fiving.  They have learned that by making complete asses of themselves and breaking things, they can get their way.  And why not?  It seems to keep working.  And who the hell are those Far Right Crackpot Christians anyway, other than...well, Far Right Crackpot Christians??

We are going down a deep and dark path that will only lead to one thing:  The destruction of civilization as we know it.  We are headed into a time of despotic rule.  The Bright Light of Truth is dimming at an ever increasing rate.

Get ready, we have to live in this world.

Despite Swiss Air’s ten-year affiliation with Läderach, the airline dropped the chocolatier after protests and extensive vandalism by left-wing activists, homosexuals, and young socialists, according to a report by LifeSite News.

Jürg Läderach, who owns the high-end chocolate company, is also the president of “Christianity for Today” (CFT), a Swiss evangelical organization that sponsors Switzerland’s March for Life and emphasizes the importance of the family based on a marriage between a man and a woman.

According to the Swiss news magazine Beobachter, negative press surrounding Läderach for its pro-life and pro-family positions was “clearly too much for the airline, which has many gay crew members.”

Swiss Air spokeswoman Meike Fuhlrott confirmed that there had been negative feedback from customers and employees due to the media reports.

Last fall, activists attacked a Läderach store in Basel, Switzerland, using Butyric acid, forcing the store to close for two days. This assault was just one instance of vandalism against the chocolatier, which reportedly took place at seven different stores.

California Freelancers Sue To Stop Law That's Destroying Their Jobs. Pol Says Those 'Were Never Good Jobs' Anyway.

To be honest, if you are still in CA...you are *STUPID*. The mountainous stack of laws and rules and regulations is appalling.  Hopefully, these brave souls will win.  We can only hope.

The bill's pending implementation has wreaked havoc on publications that rely heavily on California freelancers. Just last week, Vox Media announced it will not be renewing the contracts of around 200 journalists who write for the sports website SB Nation. Instead, the company will replace many of those contractors with 20 part-time and full-time employees. Rev, which provides transcription services, and Scripted, which connects freelance copywriters with people who need their services, also notified their California contractors that they would no longer give them work.

"Companies can simply blacklist California writers and work with writers in other states, and that's exactly what's happening," Alisha Grauso, an entertainment journalist and the co-leader of California Freelance Writers United (CAFWU), tells Reason. "I don't blame them."

Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez (D-San Diego), the architect of AB5, has heard these stories. "I'm sure some legit freelancers lost substantial income," she tweeted in the wake of Vox's announcement, "and I empathize with that especially this time of year. But Vox is a vulture."

And Gonzalez is calling Vox a vulture. I am no fan of Vox, but surely, even the LEFT has got to be waking up to the absolute chaos that is building.

Get the hell out. 

NOW.

Ocean Islands Are Not Sinking, New research shows the islands are growing, not receding

We already know the Maldives are not sinking.  Now there is more evidence that the Marshall Islands aren't sinking either among other islands.  

Using historic aerial photographs and high-resolution satellite imagery, Auckland University scientists Murray Ford and Paul Kench recently analyzed shoreline changes on six atolls and two mid-ocean reef islands in the Marshall Islands. Their peer-reviewed study revealed that since the middle of the 20th century the total land area of the islands has actually grown.2

This is due to accretion, where coral broken up by the waves washes up on these low-lying islands as sand, counteracting the reduction in land mass. Research shows that this process is overpowering the erosion from sea-level rise, leading to a net land area gain.

This is not only true for the Marshall Islands. The researchers write that within the recently emerging body of shoreline change studies on atoll islands there is little evidence of widespread reef island erosion. To the contrary, several studies have documented noteworthy shoreline progradation (growth) and positional changes of islands since the mid-20th century, resulting in a net increase in island area. The most famous of these studies showed that of 27 Pacific Islands, 14% lost area, yet 43% gained area, with the rest remaining stable.

Representatives from the Marshall Islands have been vocal about the need for strong global action on climate. President Hilda Heine has told reporters that longtime residents are leaving the Marshall Islands because climate change is threatening the nation’s existence. It’s true that approximately one-third of the population has relocated to the US, but for reasons other than climate change. 1

The following the statement from one of the world's most knowledgeable sea level expert in the world. If you can't believe him, then you are hopelessly duped and brainwashed:

One of the foremost sea level experts in the world, Swedish scientist Nils-Axel Morner says this, “As someone with some expertise in the field, I can assure the low-lying countries that this is a false alarm. The sea is not rising precipitously. I have studied many of the low-lying regions in my 45 year career recording and interpreting sea level data. I have conducted six field trips to the Maldives. I have been to Bangladesh, whose environment minister was claiming that flooding due to climate change threatened to create 20 million ‘ecological refugees’ in her country. I have carefully examined the data of ‘drowning’ Tuvalu and I can report that, while such regions do have problems, they need not fear rising sea levels. Our research is what the climate lobby might call an ‘inconvenient truth,’ it shows that sea levels have been oscillating close to the present level for the last three centuries. This is not due to melting glaciers: sea levels are affected by a great many factors. They rose in the order of 10 to 11 cm between 1850 and 1940, stopped rising or maybe even fell a little until 1970, and have remained flat every since.” 7