Like beauty, the concept of an emergency is in the eye of the beholder. If you were asked to point to one, you would not be wrong if you pointed to the opioid epidemic, veterans’ suicide rates, environmental devastation, Americans’ dying of treatable illnesses, or 1.5 billion people worldwide with no access to clean drinking water. (more…)
The woman who wrote the piece on the left makes a fabulous point. When it comes to climate change denial, we think of a demagogue leading ignorant people around by the nose. Of course, that’s part of it, but realize that none of this would be possible if it weren’t for the constant pounding of the disinformation campaigns that have been promulgated from the traditional energy industry over the last 40 years.
Here’s a cool video about the marvelous progress that Norway is making in terms of electrifying transportation, and the gains they’re seeing in terms of improved air quality and thus, human health. This didn’t happen without government subsidies, but Norwegians tend to trust their public sector to make good decisions on their behalf. (more…)
What are the criteria by which Americans evaluate candidates for public office? I suppose that depends on what part of the country we’re talking about.
A West Virginia Republican lawmaker is facing bipartisan backlash after comparing LGBTQ people to the Ku Klux Klan and saying he would “see if (his kids) can swim” if they came out as gay. (more…)
I wish I had a dollar for every time I (gently) complained about the packaging, as well as a the sourcing, of TJ’s produce.
There are good reasons to shop at TJs, but produce isn’t one of them. It never comes from local sources, and I understand why: it’s impossible to control. But that means it’s usually flown in from places all over the world, at incredible carbon footprint. And yes, the packaging is obscene as well.
Check out your farmer’s market.
The meme here is a reference to President Trump’s recent conversation with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un about the death by torture of Otto Warmbier, an American college student who died after being jailed by North Korea, in which Trump said, “I don’t believe Kim knew of Warmbier’s mistreatment; I will take him at his word.”
Obviously, (at this point) there is no definitive evidence that we’ve been “invaded.” But my GOD it’s hard to explain this phenomenon if you believe that the U.S. president is an honest person with the best interests of our country and its people at heart.
Insofar as the concept of the “Green New Deal” is in the news, it’s worth looking at some of the broad ideas that would serve to support such a concept in general…or that might invalidate it as an unavoidably wasteful and ill-conceived boondoggle. (more…)
When you spend four college years with a class of about 400, you get to know a great many of them, from course work inside and outside your major, dorm life, sports, fraternities, and other social activities. A great many of them will be on your Christmas card list for the rest of your lives, but only a very few will make you genuinely proud. (more…)
Here’s an article that shines another little ray of light on what’s happening in the Trump administration’s EPA. In this case, it’s an attack on the Obama-era Mercury and Air Toxics Standard (MATS), where the EPA, at the time, found that it was “appropriate and necessary” to regulate mercury and hazardous air pollutants from power plants. (more…)
Question: What key change has the Trump administration’s EPA made in regulating the toxic waste coming from mining operations? What is the impact on the health and safety of the people living in Montana, California, Colorado, Oklahoma, and other states? (more…)
