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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

By the time we’re into our teen years, most of us outgrow the need to bully other kids by calling them hurtful names.

It’s pathetic that U.S. politics has degenerated to the point that one of our two candidates for the presidency thinks that deliberately mispronouncing his opponent’s name could win him votes at the polls.  American voters are not children in terms of chronological development, and it’s a shame that some of us don’t seem to have grown up.

I’m quite sure Kamala Harris will not be calling Trump “Don Old” or “Fatso” or “Don the Dummy” or whatever else cruel idiots might get a chuckle out of.

FWIW, the fact that we may re-elect a man whose constituents are mostly poorly educated is bad, but that our right-wing news media, e.g., Fox News, follows along and consistently mispronounces “KAH-mela” as “ka-MAH-la” should tell you all you need to know about their legitimacy.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Climate Change

From the ad:  “Climate Change for Kids…and Parents Too!” is more than just a book — it’s a roadmap for families seeking to understand and engage with one of the defining challenges of our time. Full of brilliant illustrations, scientific, logical, and theological truths, this resource will empower concerned parents and curious children to navigate the complexities of climate change with biblical wisdom, compassion, and faith.

Exactly what “theological truths” are may be a bit unclear.  First, are we talking about the Christian God, the Jewish God, or Allah?  What about the polytheists, e.g., the Hindus and the earlier civilizations in Europe and Scandinavia?

From the video trailer: Climate change is just one example of what happens when we ignore God’s word and pay attention to man’s word. And yes, the Genesis 8:22 makes this quite clear: “Only God can destroy the Earth.”

Not to quibble about subtleties in the meaning of words, but in no case will climate change “destroy the Earth,” though it’s making life for most of us more difficult and painful than it’s been in the past.

Regardless, if this is what you already believe, I’m not sure you need to spend $18 for a book, however nicely illustrated, that lays all this out across 80 pages.

From the book:  Beyond the predominant theories attributing climate change to human activity, we must also weigh in various factors such as natural cycles of the earth and the sun, which significantly influence climate patterns.

Does anyone really believe that tens of thousands of climate scientists, the eldest of whom have been working on this problem since the 1970s, have somehow failed to consider the “natural cycles of the earth and the sun?” That’s a seriously stupid accusation.  The book’s authors should be ashamed of themselves.

by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Science

KV Industries appears to offer an energy solution in the hydrogen space, though they refuse to explain what it is.

What we do know from their website is that their fundamental values are “God, Family, and Country,” and that may be a good intro to uneducated people who don’t have the capacity to understand the scientific and financial issues at stake.

Also, KV is promising an ROI of 100:1 with, again, nothing of substance other than the semi-literate statement below, and the overview at left, almost all of which is completely false.

KV Industries LLC is a new entity in the blue energy playing field. Myself (sic) and Timothy Smith started developing our ideas for the move away from fossil fuels about 25 years ago and have been developing the business model to make it a reality ever since. Our break throughs (sic) are world changing.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

We’re told that, politically speaking, “Pennsylvania is composed of Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, with Alabama in between.”

This gives rise to the question: Will Trump “park” Vance in the middle of the state, where he’ll be preaching to the choir, or in the urban  and suburban areas, where he is (and will remain so) roundly detested by the well educated liberals?

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

If your product is a super-effective laundry cleaner, would you call it “Dirty Labs?”

In your advertisement, would you say that your product is “expensive?”

If you answered both questions no, you have what it takes to pass Marketing 101.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

As noted previously, there are two distinct types of Trump supporters: a) Amoral/immoral rich people, who, at the top echelon, donate huge sums of money in exchange for tax breaks at the corporate and personal levels, and b) working-class white people who like how Trump punishes the already marginalized: Latinos, Muslims, blacks, LGBTQs, women, the poor, and the uneducated, and who make nominal donations, a large percentage of which go to keeping their hero out of prison.

As the author of the meme here points out, Kamala Harris is in a position to spend 100% of the money she raises on defeating her opponent.  Simple and straightforward.  As much as I would like to see money out of politics, in relative terms, there’s a lot to be admired here.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

. . . . before Trump created a pejorative name for Kamala Harris and starting attacking her with it.

Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich has a few point he’d like to make here.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

Donald Trump faces plenty of obstacles, but perhaps chief among them is the considerable number of Republicans who maintain some level of integrity.

For example, take the former lieutenant governor of Georgia, whose thoughts on the subject appear at left.

And he’s not the only one out there who hasn’t drunk the proverbial Kool-aid. There are lots of folks in the GOP who understand that this election is the most important decision this country will ever make, and have pledged to prevent the United States from becoming just one more autocracy.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

A reader asks:

I learned almost all the grammar I still know from Latin, French and German where these constructions had to be more explicitly explained: Declension and conjugation from Latin, subjunctives from German, etc. My question is, am I unusual in this respect or did you gain a better command of English by comparing (it) with other languages? 

Studying Latin and the other languages helps, but I wouldn’t overemphasize this.  English has the subjunctive mood.  We don’t say, “If I was king.” or “Joe wishes he was taller.”  We don’t have conjugations of verbs, but we have more than our share of irregular verbs, which I would argue earns our language what it’s known to be: a beast to learn.

My  point is that one can achieve a solid command of English grammar without any exposure to anything beyond.

The issue is caring. My family cared a great deal, as did the private school my brother and I attended.  When I come across people with poor grammar I realize: no one cared.  That’s sad, especially considering that the average European high school student becomes fluent in at least two languages, and sometimes four or five.

When my kids were young, I told them, “No one can look into your mind and read your thoughts. For that reason, those around you will listen to what you say or read what you write and form their judgements as to your intelligence accordingly.  If you don’t want to be thought to be an idiot, put in a bit of effort and nail down the basics of our language.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Climate Change

At least in the U.S., this is going in the opposite direction, largely via disinformation campaigns.  Now we have masses of people, supported by Fox News and other right-wing media outlets, believing that climate change is a hoax, that phasing out fossil fuels is killing the American economy, and that environmentalism is for the woke, radical left.

 

 

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