COVID Can't Get You If You're Traveling to a Climate Summit

That seems to be the position of the UK government anyway. The virus is smart that way. Fury at travel test bypass for thousands at Cop26 climate summit | Daily Mail Online

Thousands of people flying into the UK for the Cop26 climate summit will be allowed to dodge travel testing requirements.

Unlike Britons returning from holidays abroad, delegates travelling to the conference in Glasgow this November will not need to pay for a PCR swab two days after they arrive.

They will not even have to fill in the passenger locator forms millions of travellers have had to show at passport controls when returning from overseas.

Welcome to the Police state. One set of rules for you, and a different set of rules for people on the inside. "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others."

The new loopholes, quietly introduced over the Bank Holiday, also mean that attendees who have been officially invited from ‘red list’ countries will not need to quarantine.

Because they are "the right people" and so won't be impacted by the virus, which would attack all of those other people.

Or something.

Friday Links - 3 September

Small Dead Animals starts us off with some COVID statistics. “Unvaccinated”

Hey Israel you’re screwing up the narrative.

We Are the Mighty - 6 urban legends about Wright-Patterson Air Force Base Strange that there is a photo of a Skyline Cincinnati chili and cheese coney meal.

Chicks on the Right - Candace Owens Denied Covid Testing Over Her Politics We went from "Healthcare is a Human Right" to "Die for your wrongthink" in record time.

Vodkapundit - A Scientist Delved Into 100 Studies on Mask Efficacy. Here's What He Learned

Captain Capitalism - How Employers Forcing Employees to Take the Vaccine will Cause Atlas to Shrug

Ace of Spades HQ - Quick Hits: Sundown Joe Remembers That Time He Visited the Tree of Life Synagogue After a Shooting.

The Tree of Life Synagogue's Staff Doesn't Remember Him Ever Coming.

Victory Girls - Ann Coulter Finally Achieves Ignominy

Ann Coulter, once a quick-quipped stalwart of the Conservative movement, has tweeted her support for Joe Biden’s disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal.

Jihad Watch - Arizona: Muslim Family Tries to Kidnap Woman With Non-Muslim Boyfriend for Honor Killing

Bayou Renaissance Man - So much for financial privacy (what's left of it)

Again from Bayou Renaissance Man - Eric Clapton on the Big Brother-ish COVID-19 overreach Another Musical Interlude!

19th Ward Chicago - Was it hate?

River North late-night beatdown a hate crime? It’s complicated.

Political Hat - When Your Gender Is A Pizza. And a nice musical interlude.

What a stupid time to be alive…

Legal Insurrection - Prepping for the Worst

I no longer view “preppers” as crazy. Maybe they were right, just early. Better early than late.

Claire Wolfe - Dealing with our new totalitarian reality, part I

Again from 19th Ward Chicago - Video shows 2 men brutally beaten in downtown Chicago as bystanders look...

A complete breakdown of a civilized society.

Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler - Ages ago

So how did your childhood go?...
Age 10 – First Daisy BB rifle – off to target shoot and hunt mice in the fields

Chicago Contrarian - Release of Cop Killer Has Roots in Chicago

Cuomo’s release of Weather Underground member David Gilbert reveals radicalized Democratic Party

The Other McCain - Biden Speech Signals Beginning of Media Effort to ‘Pivot’ Away Afghanistan Have to put it behind him as fast as possible.

Again from Political Hat - Scottish Rape Crisis Center To Rape Victims: The Real Evil Here Is Your Transphobia

Pirate's Cove - A Woke College Group Is In Charge Of Our Foreign Policy

John Ruberry at Da Tech Guy Blog - The incomplete list of people to blame for the Biden debacle

Volokh Conspiracy - Baltimore Might Be Liable for Riot Damage to Businesses

A federal court so holds, applying Maryland's Riot Act, and quoting the Mayor's famous line that the City "gave those who wished to destroy space to do that."

Pushing Rubber Downhill - We hate our government Australia's police state.

Roberta X - Munchausen's Syndrome By Political Speculation

A Failure of the Victim-selection Process

Washington State may be deep blue, but it has a long history of self-defense. Bonney Lake suspected home intruder dies after shooting

The man was shot Tuesday afternoon by the homeowner’s son, Pierce County Sheriff’s Department Detective Alex Richards said. He said the suspected intruder entered the home, and an altercation between the man and the 31-year-old son ensued.

The son shot the intruder, who died later a local hospital.

Self-defense is a human-right. The cops did not arrest the son, having determined that the shooting was probably self-defense. Cops don't make the final decision on prosecutions.

Ransomware and Holidays

When people are out of the office, for extended periods, bad guys have more time to encrypt PCs. FBI, CISA: Ransomware attack risk increases on holidays, weekends

The two federal agencies said they "observed an increase in highly impactful ransomware attacks occurring on holidays and weekends—when offices are normally closed—in the United States, as recently as the Fourth of July holiday in 2021."

Aside from that, enjoy the 3-day weekend!

Do We Really Need More Resident Evil Movies?

Well, movie anyway. Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City - Exclusive First Look Photos - IGN

I get that the original movies were not that close to the original story in the game. But haven't we said everything that needs to be said about the Tyrant Virus and Umbrella Corporation?

I guess not.

The Storm Is Over, But the Hazards Remain

This is a tragedy. 71-year-old presumed dead after post-hurricane gator attack

Gators were a hazard after the hurricane hit Houston. (That was the very alliterative Hurricane Harvey that hit Houston).

She helped him get away from the gator, and onto the steps.

When she returned and realized the severity of his injuries, deputies say she immediately got into her pirogue and went to higher ground a mile away to get help.

When she returned, her husband was no longer lying on the steps.

You are only an apex predator when you are armed, and prepared for an attack.

More on the New Orleans Power Situation

I meant to publish this post yesterday, or maybe this morning. So the information in the news article isn't what I would call timely. It was the photo in the news article, that caused me to go looking. The collection of photos at the bottom of the post via Entergy (one of the New Orleans area utilities) is fascinating, as it shows the scale of what they have to deal with.

This article has some info, but it mostly caught my eye for the photo of busted telephone pole. Entergy says slowly turning lights on after first power plant, transmission line restored.

It isn't a random neighborhood, as there is a hospital in the background of the photo. But then the utility is prioritizing hospitals, emergency services, and critical infrastructure ahead of everything else.

She said that power to about 11,500 customers was restored initially, including to homes in the Littlewoods neighborhood, to the Veteran's Administration hospital, and to the New Orleans Fire Department.

After that, will come things that will help everyone.

May said that as the power is restored gradually, starting with critical infrastructure, like hospitals, Sewerage & Water Board, and emergency responders, there will also be some adjacent neighborhoods that are restored. He said also "social infrastructure", including gas stations and grocery stores, will be prioritized.

Here is a link to a collection of photographs of damaged electrical infrastructure from Entergy, just from Hurricane Ida.

Isn't It a Bit Dangerous to be Underground in a Flash Flood?

But then people do crazy stuff for video, and the trains were still running through some of the insanity. They were running through some of it anyway. 'Exceedingly rare' flash flood emergency across NYC region where Ida has killed at least 14

Relentless rain from the remnants of Hurricane Ida has sent the New York City area into a state of emergency as the storm carried into New England with threats of more tornadoes.

According to the New York Times and others, at least 14 deaths were reported in the NYC region overnight into Thursday morning.

The last video on the article shows some of the insane video from the NYC subway system last night. Tons of water, paired with high voltage DC electic power? I would not be there, not even to get cool video.

Here is a link to the main video from the article linked above. They won't let me embed it here, even though they would still get credit for the plays/revenue... At least 8 deaths reported in New York City region after Ida causes flash flooding.

If you look for video - which I was doing last night - there is a lot of insanity, like people driving into high water and killing their cars. (The engines died, and they were left to sit. What do you think will happen?) And there is a lot of tragedy around houses and apartments flooding. I wonder whether people have flood insurance in NYC. Since they've never had flash flooding before, I tend to doubt it.

I actually started this post last night, and gave up... So some of the video at the New York Post is redundant... NYC streets, subways flooded by Ida remnants

Of course I'm thinking that you really don't want to be underground during a flash flood. That sounds like a bad idea. And some of the video is of subway stations.

Geyser-like volumes of rainwater were seen gushing into the 28th Street station in shocking images tweeted by @SubwayCreatures. Rapids from the onslaught of rain overran the platform and spewed onto the tracks, footage showed.

There is video of a stairway (not at that link) that looks like a fish ladder. I'm thinking that would make it difficult to get out of the underground.

It is the first time a flash flood warning has been issued for NYC.

To be clear... this particular warning for NYC is the second time we've ever issued a Flash Flood Emergency (It's the first one for NYC). The first time we've issued a Flash Flood Emergency was for Northeast New Jersey a an hour ago. [National Weather Service NYC]

The video on Twitter and the news sites and YouTube shows exactly how much of NYC is underground.

And yes, it is dangerous to be caught underground. Four people drowned in their homes after being trapped in their basements. (When the staircase is like a waterfall, you can't just walk up the stairs.)

Blast (of Advice) from the Past

I'd like to be kind and say that this advice is from 2015. It isn't; it is older than that. Much older. But we're talking about the government. CISA: Don’t use single-factor auth on Internet-exposed systems

That is the .gov bureaucracy with the name (and the logo) I hate: The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. Was it named by the Department of Redundancy Department? Couldn't Security only be in the name once? Apparently not.

Just for reference on the subject of two-factor authentication... Amazon Web Services introduced 2-factor authentication in 2009, and Google introduced Google Authenticator in 2010. You can't expect the government to be right on top of these changing technologies. (Local governments are still trying to figure out how to deal with these newfangled cellular telephones and the 911 system.)

And it didn't catch on right away, so we can't really say that the .gov is 10 or 12 years behind the times. Or maybe we can. Anyway, it does work. Ring Dorbell only made 2-factor authentication MANDATORY in 2020. But then Ring doorbells aren't exactly "critical infrastructure."

Single-factor authentication (SFA) has been added today by the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) to a very short list of cybersecurity bad practices it advises against.

I can hear the screams from here. Multi-factor authentication is hard. I don't want to install another app on my phone. (Oh look, the new Angry Birds!) I don't want to put a security fob on my key-chain. I don't want to [insert lame excuse here].

The number of examples that lead up to this are legion. Just in the past year or so there was that Florida water treatment plant - where someone tried to poison the water - right down to Colonial Pipeline. And though Colonial Pipeline had a raft of problems, 2-factor authentication would have stopped that insanity before it started. (They may have been vulnerable to other attacks. Like I said, they had a raft of problems.)

As the federal cybersecurity agency said, SFA (a low-security authentication method that only requires users to provide a username and a password) is "exceptionally risky" when used for remote authentication or logging into an account with administrative permissions.

"The use of single-factor authentication for remote or administrative access to systems supporting the operation of Critical Infrastructure and National Critical Functions (NCF) is dangerous and significantly elevates risk to national security, national economic security, and national public health and safety," CISA says.

As I have said before, security is NOT the focus of this blog, but when I see the .gov acting as a conduit for good advice from tens years (OK 8 years) ago, I have to take notice.

Though in thinking about this, I think it might actually be a case of "better late than never." CISA can lord it over federal government agencies, and maybe the statement can be used to move some executives off the "Why do we have to do that?" square.

Prosecutors HATE Self-defense

You should rely on the State for your safety, even if we know that they cannot ensure your safety. Corey Kendig homicide trial: Not guilty of all charges in strip club killing

Another homicide case involving a self-defense claim has ended in an acquittal at the Erie County Courthouse, as a jury on Monday swiftly found 30-year-old Corey R. Kendig not guilty of all charges in a fatal shooting outside a Harborcreek Township strip club in October.

The jury deliberated about an hour before finding Kendig not guilty of third-degree murder, voluntary manslaughter, involuntary manslaughter and other counts. [My emphasis. Z-Deb]

And the Erie County Prosecutors really hate self-defense. This guy was jumped by 4 people. There is video showing that he did in fact try to retreat, before he pulled his gun - legally owned - and defended himself.

The defense attorney gets the last word.

"This was a classic case of self-defense," Carlson said after the verdict. "You have a citizen who is jumped outside of a nightclub by four people who he had no idea who they were or what their intentions were. Conversely, at least some if not all of them knew who he was. And their words, their actions, their size and their numbers led to his reasonable belief that he was in jeopardy of either serious bodily injury or death at their hands."

Don't Bring a Knife to a Gunfight

Especially against cops. Stabbing suspect shot after charging at a deputy with a knife, Harris County Pct. 5 says

First he stabbed his parents (they are in stable condition). Allegedly stabbed... Then he was wondering the neighborhood with the knife. Cops were called.

According to information released by Precinct 5, as a deputy tried to make an arrest, the suspect lunged, and the deputy shot him in self-defense. The deputy who fired his weapon is a sergeant and 17 year law enforcement veteran.

The guy with the knife is also at a local hospital in stable condition.

What is it that The Other McCain always says? Crazy People Are Dangerous.

Lockdowns Killed More Under 65 than COVID

At least in Canada, and probably everywhere. Lockdowns killed more Canadians under 65 than COVID-19: Statscan | True North

In a report titled Provisional death counts and excess mortality, the government agency reviewed the number of deaths between January 2020 to April 2021 and concluded that 5,535 Canadians under the age of 65 died because of “indirect consequences” due to the pandemic.

Over the same time period, 1380 Canadians in the same age group died because of COVID-19 itself.

Always count on government to screw things up.

My Daily Kona Musical Interlude

My Daily Kona has Monday Music "The Boys of Summer" by Don Henley

This was a big song in 1984, and has been covered a bunch of times. Click thru for the original.

New Orleans Getting Some Power Back

Very little power, but every little bit helps. Some customers in New Orleans East get power restored after Hurricane Ida Wednesday morning

It seems that some of the high-tension/high-voltage power lines that cut out when the tower collapsed and dumped other high-voltage transmission lines into the Mississippi River were not damaged, and are back on-line. That power enabled them to connect (reconnect?) the New Orleans East generating station to the grid. It generates about 128 megawatts of electricity, which is not nearly enough for the entire city. (See the link below.)

Reporters are also unclear on the idea that the utility can't say how long it will be to fix the problems, when they don't even have an accurate list of what all the problems are.

It was also not clear how long it would take to get additional electricity into the region served by those lines - which also includes Jefferson, Plaquemines and St. Bernard parishes - or what the timeline would be for getting more customers online.

The earlier report actually has more information on the overall status. Entergy NO CEO: New power plant could get electricity back to hospitals in 3 days, 'God willing.'

Entergy New Orleans CEO Deanna Rodriguez said she hopes the new gas-fired power plant in New Orleans East will help the utility restore power lost in Hurricane Ida to critical infrastructure, including hospitals now running on generators, in the "next three days, God willing."

A little more than an hour later, Mayor LaToya Cantrell relayed an even bolder promise from Entergy: that some of the high-voltage transmission lines feeding the New Orleans area from the outside world could come back online by Wednesday afternoon or evening.

All of that combined won't be nearly enough to restore power to all customers in the area, and there are power lines down in every part of the city, but it would be enough to power hospitals and emergency services. Hospitals, and emergency services generally, are all currently running on generators. To bring back power to all of the impacted region requires 1100 Megawatts of power, and they are hoping to restore about half that much in the coming days. Replacing the transmission lines that cross the river will take more time.

I have seen any number of "Why can't they just [fill in hair-brained scheme]" from a lot of people who don't know what capacitance, reactance, or inductance are, or how to calculate the amps consumed by an electrical load. And there is some of that in the second article linked above. But mostly there is anger at Entergy New Orleans over the failure of their power system. Suffice it to say that when you are dealing with 500,000 volts of AC power, you can't just "flip a switch."

That said, it will still be weeks before power is restored to every customer. It will take that long just to replace snapped telephone poles and replace/fix broken cables.

August In Chicago

Not quite record-breaking. HeyJackass! brings us the August Wrap-up.

Coming off a record July, it was highly unlikely that August would be an encore performance. However, a “downward trend” can now be claimed since we’ve gone from record territory into slightly not quite as record territory. Therefore “crime is down” and any other explanation is just a “misconception”.

Click thru for the comparison to prior years, and stats like the racial breakdown of victims, #ShotInTheAss, and Selfies, and more.

I would actually quote the stats, but Mayor Groot considers the statistics (and apparently reality) to be "divisive." Click thru.

Wednesday Link Roundup - 1 September

Pirate's Cove starts the ball rolling with Sorta Blogless Sunday Pinup

3. Jihad Watch discusses the Taliban cutting a gay man to pieces
4. Geller Report News highlights the Taliban mass executing people

Bacon Time!!!! - Sunday Linkage

Hogewash: Leaks in the Memory Hole
Watts Up With That: Great Barrier Reef Sea Surface Temperature: No Change In 150 Years

EBL - Does Joe Biden Really Know What Time It Is? ⌚️😬😠

Instapundit: US had the option of controlling Kabul and turned it down? and Biden Abandons Americans
AoSHQ: Morning Report 08.31.21 and Gold Star Families Blast Biden

Wombat-socho at The Other McCain - In The Mailbox: 08.31.21

Michelle Malkin: Coward Cuomo’s Last Act Of Treachery
Nebraska Energy Observer: Old Testament Historical Content
Outkick: Jerry Jones Continues His Love Affair With Tony Romo

Don Surber - Highlights of the News

ITEM 12: Via Trending Politics, the Washington Post reported on the family of Rylee McCollum, 20, who was one of 11 Marines, a Navy corpsman, and an Army staff sergeant killed in Kabul.

Daley Gator - Your CCW News Update For Tuesday (08/31/21)

Nearly 90 retired generals and admirals signed a letter Monday calling for Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley to resign over their roles surrounding the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Political Hat - News of the Week (August 29th, 2021)

Portland Cops Announce They’ll Sit Out Planned Antifa Assault on ‘Pro-Freedom March’ … and Then a Gunfight Breaks Out
An actual gun battle broke out on the streets of Portland Sunday during an attack by antifa

Battleswarm Blog - LinkSwarm for August 28, 2021

Speaking of which: Democrats have the State of California investigating Larry Elder’s campaign.
Speaking of voting fraud, polls show growing support for voter ID.

A View from the Beach - Election 2020: Pelosi to Pull Congressional Phone Records

As Capt. Ed at Hot Hair notes Distractions: House 1/6 committee leaks *possible* records demand on Congress, Trump, CNN, January 6 committee to ask telecommunications companies to preserve phone records of members of Congress who participated in 'Stop the Steal' rally.

Vlad Tepes - Trudeau wants us all locked up forever, Bolsonaro wants us all armed to protect us from the Trudeau mentality: Links 1, August 31, 2021

5. Brazilian President Bolsonaro: ‘Everybody Buy a Gun – Armed People Cannot Be Enslaved by the Elites’
(No wonder the elites in Brazil are working so hard to destroy him

Gates of Vienna - News Feed 8/31/2021

Brexit Live: Trouble for EU! UK Business Confidence Hits 4-Year High — Eurozone Dealt Blow
BUSINESS confidence in Brexit Britain reached a four year high as eurozone confidence fell

J.J. Sefton at Ace of Spades HQ - The Morning Report - 8/31/21

"I hope you burn in hell!"
Families of Slain Service Members Recall Raw Response to Joe Biden at Dover Ceremony

Doug Ross - Larwyn’s Linx: U.S. Officially Out of Afghanistan, Americans Remain Stranded

Nearly 90 retired Generals and Admirals call for Gen. Milley and Lloyd Austin to resign: PM
Vice Media Lays Off Writers: BattleSwarm

Anonymous Conservative - News Briefs – 08/31/2021

New report finds 44,000 potentially fraudulent absentee ballots in Georgia county were in violation of chain-of-custody rules.
Wisconsin is missing 82,000 absentee ballots from the 2020 election.

Maggie's Farm - Tuesday morning links

Playing the Race Card on Larry Elder. Engaging in shameful duplicity regarding crime and policing, the media attempt to portray the California gubernatorial candidate as anti-black.
Kamala Harris: The absentee VP by design

I leave you with Sunday Funnies, 08-29-21 from Stately McDaniel Manor, Sunday Funnies from Flopping Aces, and F*cking Mondays gifdump (again) from Knuckledraggin My Life Away

Floridians Are Almost as Heavily Armed as Texans

The bad guys haven't gotten that memo. Melbourne barbershop owner shoots, injures masked gunman

A Melbourne barbershop owner shot and wounded a masked gunman who entered the shop Saturday afternoon and pointed a firearm at several people, police said Sunday.

Now I've been upset about haircuts in the past, and I have complained, but this is definitely peak Florida.

"The investigation revealed that it wasn't related to a robbery. It was actually related to a prior haircut transaction he was unhappy with, or an interaction inside the business," Schorer said.

It seems that Americans have lost all sense of proportion.

Self-defense is a human-right, and this happened in Florida. Good Guys 1, Bad Guys 0. So is this Peak Florida? "Florida Man Doesn't Like Haircut, Pulls Gun." Seems like it could be.

Economics Does Work

Imagine a world in which people take a better-paying job for doing EXACTLY the same work. 'They're really tired:' 2nd wave of COVID causes nursing shortage at Triangle hospitals

No it isn't the Twilight Zone, where people choose more pay for the same work, it is the world of nursing, where doctors (and others) who run hospitals have traditionally treated nurses like [expletive deleted].

Hospital administrations seem shocked that people pay attention to their personal economics, and how they are treated at work. And that if they are going to work long hours in a stressful job, they will choose more pay, over less pay.

Oh, and the administrations love to blame everything on COVID. Apparently you don't have to take an Econ class along with Biochemistry to get into medical school.

They finally get around to the subject of Traveling Nurses, who are employed via agencies.

"We have increased our nurse agency use like everyone across the Triangle has," [Jeronica Goodwin, WakeMed's senior vice president of human resources] said. "I don't think any hospital across the nation could function right now without travelers."

But traveling nurse agencies also help increase hospital turnover, because they pay so well. Fuchs says Duke lost 100 nurses in three months last winter to travel agencies.

Now who would take a job for more pay, doing exactly the same work? Especially when doing so makes life difficult for the doctors (and others) who run hospitals? </sarcasm> Just about everyone would make that choice.

Those people who have traditionally treated nurses like [expletive deleted] have been forced - FORCED - to offer more pay, signing bonuses, and flexible work schedules. Oh the horror. And it is ALL COVID-19's fault. Nothing at all to do with low pay, long hours, and a bad working environment.

As for the blame everything on the Delta Variant... Mississippi nurses resigning amidst severe stress. The Delta Variant is playing a role.

"There's not a bed shortage, there's a nursing shortage."

Even the bean-counters won't put people in hospital beds if no one is available to take care of them. They have heard of malpractice, after all.

That decreases the "total beds available" number, and so increases the percentage of occupied beds. See lies, damn lies, and statistics.

They even have a statement from someone who didn't resign, because she couldn't leave her friends unsupported - those being the other nurses, not the hospital administration.

Lights Of Manos

Pandora has been feeding me some new-to-me music again. Spotify has apparently made a change to its algorithm, and people are not happy about that. But Pandora is still working for me.

Today's song showed up in Buckethead Radio. Buckethead is a very good guitarist, even if he is a bit eccentric. And today's artist is also a good guitarist. And while today's song is instrumental, most of her songs are not.

This song is "Lights Of Manos" by Orianthi from the 2007 album Violet Journey. It is less than 3 minutes, so you can risk that much.