Trump’s “Budget for a Better America” is great if you’re part of the military-industrial complex, as it calls for a huge increase in “defense” spending and almost $9 billion to build (at least a piece of) a wall on the southern border. But it’s terrible for essentially everyone else, and especially those with lungs, as it slashes spending for environmental regulation, and economic stimuli for the development of new, clean technology. (more…)
From the Associated Press: A judge blocked oil and gas drilling across almost 500 square miles in Wyoming and said the U.S. government must consider climate change impacts more broadly as it leases huge swaths of public land for energy exploration. (more…)
Lots of people are asking themselves how it’s possible for New Zealand to ban assault rifles in a matter of days after the slaughter of 50 Muslims as they worshiped in their mosques, when such a change in laws is a political impossibility here, regardless of the incredible frequency and horrifying body-count of our gun-related tragedies . Here’s a thought: (more…)
On Wednesday, March 13, California Governor Gavin Newsom made history by announcing that he would not allow the state to execute anyone on his watch. “Our death penalty system has been – by any measure – a failure. And as governor, I will not oversee the execution of any individual,” he said in his announcement. (more…)
It seems that everywhere you look in the U.S. you see partisan politics. If Obama did it, it needs to go. If Trump supporters like it, it’s crap. That’s why it’s so nice to find a place where this rule simply doesn’t exist–and especially when that place is so unlikely: the blood-red city of Georgetown, Texas. (more…)
As you watch this video in which Ronald Reagan’s daughter Patti Davis discusses Trump, consider this:
• Everyone whose family that is even remotely connected to the U.S. presidency–past, present and future–will rue the day Trump took office, and, ironically, this will apply to Trump’s family at least as much as the descendants of James Monroe, et al. The institution has been indelibly tainted, as the very word “Trump” will be forever associated with the drubbing of what at one time were core American values: truth, honesty, compassion and fairness. (more…)
A friend wants my comment on a device that would somehow help large trucks achieve regenerative braking. While I don’t know the details, I point out:
I’m concerned that this won’t work as well in the real world as you think. (more…)
Over 200 years ago, German philosopher Johann Gottlieb Fichte said, “You could not remove a single grain of sand from its place without thereby … changing something throughout all parts of the immeasurable whole.” (more…)
Those who endeavor to leave this world a better place than the one they found are frequently ridiculed for their altruistic goals, especially in today’s robo-consumer, me-first world, where people so often find themselves judged on the basis of their net worth. Those who care about the welfare of others are frequently laughed at with words like “kumbaya.” (more…)
From this morning’s Los Angles Times: Time and again, President Trump has made clear that he doesn’t like Sen. John McCain, the late Republican war hero. (more…)
