THE MORNING RANT: Buck Shots – 7/12/2024

Tracking “Recycled” Plastic to the Landfill

Little if any plastic that goes through “recycling theater” actually gets recycled. Most ends up in landfills, even if it was placed in a recycle bin by a conscientious recycler. There is nothing surprising about this story to those of us who have long understood the farce about plastic bottles being recycled:

“This man put a GPS tracker in his recycling. Here’s where it ended up. A Del Mar man bought a GPS device, taped it to a plastic bottle and within a few hours, watched its journey to a landfill.” [CBS 8 – San Diego – 6/06/2024]

Every Monday [Kevin Grold] brings his bins to the curb, recycling all that he can to help the environment. "I always make sure my recycling bin is just the way it should be, I follow all the rules. I put the things in the right place," he said. To make sure his recyclables were indeed being recycled, he got the idea to track his trash.

He told us he bought a plastic GPS tracking device for only $8 online, taped it to a bottle and within a few hours, watched it go from Del Mar to a Recycling Center in Escondido. "I'm like ok cool, it's where it should be. And then I keep watching it, and a few hours later, it keeps moving - farther and farther north and ends up in a landfill, in Riverside," Grold said.

It would be more cost efficient and energy efficient if we stopped pretending that plastic is recyclable and just put it directly into the trash headed for the landfill.

I can’t recall if I’ve told this story before about my suburban town’s effort to stop residents from bringing glass to its recycle center. If so, here it is again, but it’s still funny. The processor who purchases the towns recyclables announced that it would refuse to accept any more glass, because there was no market for it. But residents kept bringing glass anyway, and dumping it in with the other items such as aluminum and steel cans which have actual raw material value. The most religiously devout recyclers seem to think that simply putting glass into the recycle container magically causes it to get repurposed. Anyhow, the town’s recycle center finally gave up and got another dumpster for glass only, and announced that it was accepting glass again! Residents dutifully come and dump their bags full of wine and liquor bottles into the “Glass Only” dumpster, unaware that it all heads to the landfill. But at least the aluminum and steel isn’t getting contaminated any longer with broken glass, and the people bringing in all their empty bottles can feel good that they have engaged in the virtuous sacrament of recycling.

(For what it’s worth, I do recycle my aluminum and steel cans, since they have value as a raw material. Giving those cans to the recycle center is the least I can do since they somehow get rid of all my cardboard boxes that I can’t put in my trashcan.)

The Philadelphia Vote is Crucial to Winning in Delaware

Last week at a campaign event in Philadelphia, President Biden stated that during his campaigns for US Senate from the state of Delaware, “Philadelphia in particular got me across the line.” While Philadelphia is very near Delaware, it is in the state of Pennsylvania.

“Biden says Philadelphia voters helped him win Delaware Senate seat” [Washington Times – 07/07/2024]

“Even when I was running for Senate, each time I ran, quite frankly, not a joke, Philadelphia, in particular, got me across the line,” he said during a campaign event. He then doubled down on his statement. “No, I’m not joking,” he said as people cheered and applauded. “No, I mean it, seriously, organizationally, and in terms of fundraising — the whole deal.”

Yes, Mr. Biden, I have no doubt that you “mean it,” and we all understand “the whole deal.” The Philadelphia political machine has an outstanding reputation for ”organizationally” finding enough extra, last-minute ballots to ensure Democrats always win statewide races in Pennsylvania. Offering a little mutual aid to Democrats next door in Delaware seems right neighborly of the Philadelphia machine.

America’s Classrooms Are Not in the Best of Hands

The President of the American Federation of Teachers cannot spell the word “tonight.” This is a powerful reflection on what has happened to education, and why there are so many classrooms where no actual education occurs.

To be fair, Randi Weingarten proved her hostility toward education during the Covid era with her passionate opposition to having teachers even show up to their classrooms, much less engage in the act of teaching children.

Record Hurricane Inactivity

As Hurricane Beryl headed west across the Caribbean, you probably saw headlines like this one from Salon magazine, for which I’m not going to provide a link because it is such ridiculous propaganda: “Record-breaking Category 5 Hurricane Beryl wouldn't be possible without climate change; The first hurricane of the 2024 season is already making huge waves — and burning fossil fuels made it possible” [Salon – 7/02/2024]

The ability to measure the intensity of hurricanes out in open waters does not have a lengthy history, but there was nothing “record breaking” about Hurricane Beryl other than the hyperbole surrounding it. By the time it made landfall in Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, it was just a Category 2 hurricane, and then it proceeded to make final landfall in Texas as a Category 1. While being in the bullseye of a hurricane of any strength is an awful experience, a Cat 1 or 2 storm making landfall in July is just not remarkable. It’s called “hurricane season” for a reason.

Meanwhile, despite the climate cult constantly promising more and worse hurricane activity, the North Pacific has just recorded an historic stretch without any tropical cyclones.

“Unseen Calm: The North Pacific's Historic Storm-Free Period” [Dr. Matthew Wielicki – Irrational Fear – 7/07/2024]

For the first time in the satellite era, which began in 1966, the entire North Pacific has experienced an extraordinary meteorological anomaly. From June 1 to July 3, 2024, there was no named storm activity in the western, central, or eastern North Pacific. This period of calm is highly unusual given the historical storm activity in the region during these months. The absence of named storms during this time has significant implications for meteorology and climate science while the silence about this event in the MSM is clear evidence of the bias surrounding climate change.

The calm in the North Pacific doesn’t mean there will be fewer hurricanes, nor that they will be any less intense. There are so many inputs and cycles involved in weather activity that are still not understood. But it certainly does negate all the hype from the climatistas about “record” hurricanes.

Peachy News out of Georgia

On a similar subject, Georgia peach farmers had a devastating year back in 2023, when a late freeze wiped out the peach crop. The climate apocalysts blamed it on a warming climate, of course.

From the Washington Post in June of 2023: “Wild weather swings have devastated Georgia’s peaches”

Lawton Pearson has seen bad years. So has his father. And his father before him. As a fifth-generation peach farmer at the core of Georgia’s peach-growing region, he knows how fickle growing the state’s signature fruit can be. Yet after Georgia endured record-breaking warmth this winter, Pearson’s peach harvest was wiped out in a way not seen in decades. His 1,700 acres of peach trees are yielding only about a tenth to a twentieth of what they should have.

This piece was epically dishonest and misleading. The WaPo immediately blamed “record breaking warmth” for the crop failure, but it’s not until the 14th paragraph that this piece even mentions that the crop was actually lost to a late freeze!

No regime media propaganda can talk about climate without the awful predictions from “scientists” and “experts,” so this was naturally part of the WaPo’s Georgia peach storyline in 2023:

But across the state this year, growers are struggling to produce its quintessential crop, with experts projecting losses of 95 percent. As Georgia’s winters get warmer due to human-induced climate change, scientists fear it may get harder to grow peaches in the Peach State.

Well, a year has passed since then. Let’s check in on the climate-induced peach apocalypse…

“Georgia farmers report best-ever peach season after devastating losses last year” [Atlanta News First – 5/13/2024]

Jake Carter, a third-generation farmer and owner of Southern Belle Farm, began picking peaches on Monday. He said this crop is the best crop he’s ever seen. “No matter where you go, whatever corner of the state that you enjoy getting your peaches from, they should have a great crop,” said Carter.

He said this year could be life-changing for some farmers who lost everything during a late deep freeze that destroyed the majority of the peach crop last year. “It’s really a shot in the arm. There are lots of great farms in the state of Georgia and everyone I know of has a tremendous crop,” said Carter.

Bad harvests happen, and they are awful. It is a blessing that this year’s crop will help offset some of the damage from 2023’s loss. But it is also despicable how the climate communists seized on a bad harvest that was due to a cold snap to advance their wicked agenda.

The President Goes “Moo”

Former Senator from Oklahoma Prominent Climate Change Denier Dead at 89

Former Oklahoma Senator Jim Inhofe died last week at age 89. He was one of the few politicians I genuinely admired, because he dared to defend freedom and stand up to the climate hoax long before there was a large “climate denier” movement.

Legacy left-wing media outlets handled his death with the class and dignity you’d expect.

I’ll just put it out there right now – when my earthly race is over, nothing would please me more than to have my obituary refer to me as a “Prominent Climate Change Denier.” Heck, put it on my tombstone!

Throckmorton’s First Law of Live Music: “If There’s an Upright Bass in the Band, It’s Probably Going to be Good”

Country musicians Kelly Willis, Brennen Leigh, and Melissa Carper have teamed up to form a supergroup named “Wonder Women of Country.” They are indeed super, with some really beautiful harmonies. Here is “Fly Ya to Hawaii.”

Have great weekend.

[buck.throckmorton at protonmail dot com]

posted by Buck Throckmorton at 11:00 AM

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