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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

The guy who wrote the meme here is referring to something called the subjunctive mood, used mainly to state a contrary-to-fact conditional.  He’s not in LA, therefore we say, “If I were in LA,” not “If I was in LA.”  Similarly, I would say, “If I were president,” rather than “If I was president,” because I’m not president.

Having said this, the proper use of the subjective mood has almost completely disappeared from English; news commentators butcher this far more frequently than they get it right.  I’m not happy about this, but getting frustrated with the degradation of our language seems silly, when the United States is turning into an authoritarian state, and our planet is on fire.

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

Nicely put, Sir David.

Not to put too fine a point on it, but human civilization, driven by its voracious greed, is in grave danger.

For a while it appeared that humankind might find a way to harness its vast command of science and use it to prevent environmental collapse.  Now, it’s anyone’s guess as to what life will be like 50 years hence.

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

A reader “Tim” sent me the meme here.

Thanks, Tim, but let me ask you this:  Of all U.S. voters who are registered with a certain party, a clear majority, 54%, 44.1 million, are Democrats. How many of these people could honestly be said to be “pro-assassination?” 11? 85? Obviously, I don’t know, but no decent person is in favor of political violence.

What a remarkably asinine claim to make.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

The idea suggested at left is most closely associated with 18th Century French writer Voltaire.

It’s of particular relevance today, as our right-wing government is aggressively muzzling anti-Trump comedians like Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

Since the origins of humankind, we have known what late 20th Century American philosopher Terrence McKenna said at left to be true.  With great consistency, we somehow select the worst people to lead us.

What many have realized, perhaps starting with Plato and Aristotle, is that good leaders do not want power; conversely, it’s our species’ cruelest and stupidest, one could say the “Donald Trumps of Earth,” whose lust for power drive them to the top.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

I like this, though there is nothing “imaginary” about the vast wealth controlled by the fossil fuel industry.  The top echelon of Big Oil has more money than the GDP of some of Earth’s countries.

As Mr. Spock says here, the whole practice is “illogical,” not to mention despicable.

Having said that, there is very little pushback.  People who care about the wellbeing of Earth’s ecosystem and its people are derided as “woke anti-capitalists.”

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Science

At left is another example of a trend within American society that will either:

1) Remain indefinitely, and expand to become an even more vicious force on our society than it already is, or

2) Retreat to a point that it has practically no bearing on our lives.

I’m betting on #2; I think the dissolution of Trumpism will, by definition, mean a return to sanity and reason.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

Re: the second Trump presidency, one of two things is going to happen; it’s hard to imagine any real middle-ground:

1) Trump will ultimately fail in his bid to take over the United States government, and to rewrite its history.  Tidbits of what we now call “Trumpism” may remain, e.g., the White Nationalism,  but they lay just beneath the surface anyway, even before Trump came on the political scene in 2015.  In any case, the vast majority of Americans will remember the horrific events of January 6th, how Trump watched them as they unfolded from a television in the White House for more than three hours, before he realized that his insurrectionists were not going to succeed, and finally made a move to stop them.

2) Trump will ultimately succeed in transforming the United States into a post-truth, autocratic nation.

I’m betting #1.  Even as disgusting as our current events may be, it’s still hard to believe that one sociopathic criminal can bring down something as vast as the United States of America.

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

Many of Trump’s supporters, whether they’re in farming or some sort of small business, are realizing to their bitter disappoint that the economic policies that their leader has put into place are driving them into bankruptcy.

I’m not a political advisor, but I don’t think this bodes well for the president.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Climate Change

Here’s a woman dancing for joy that RFK Jr. is owning the libs.

It’s true that some people, myself included, would rather take health instructions from scientists rather than a recovering heroin addict whose brains have been eaten by worms, and we’re chagrinned that our country’s citizens are under the medical care of a total crackpot.

The problem for our nation’s morons is that owning the libs means degrading our nation and the safety and well-being of its people across the board, regardless of their political  persuasion.   Here, that means ignoring health science that has virtually eliminated dozens of dread diseases.  In other scientific arenas, it means baking our planet, and all the accompanying dangers: floods, droughts, wildfires, loss of land mass, etc.

We are all on the same planet, dealing with the same contagious diseases, and the same catastrophic storms.  “Owning” those who think differently seems a bit childish, doesn’t it?

 

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