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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

Before I decided to write a post of the map below, I read a few brief analyses by sociologists who talked about the different cultures and financial statuses, and political leanings of the various countries.

I’m sure all this is true.

What I notice is that children in families of Scandinavian countries tend to hit the road earlier than any other region in Europe.  The question, of course, is why.

One answer must be education and general affluence.  Young people in these countries enjoy free education and are actually paid stipends to go to college.   Thus we have huge numbers of folks in their early twenties who are fully ready to leave home and pursue a career of their choice.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

Trump is a disgusting human being, and the cruelty of his actions on a day-to-day basis knows no bounds.

He needs to be removed.  Now.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Nuclear

From a reader: Look at the footprint of solar panels it takes to produce the same amount as a nuclear plant, then tell me what’s better for the Earth!

Needless to say, I’ve heard this a great many times over the years.  The subject is a bit complex.

While it’s true that nuclear offers far better energy density than solar (and wind), this is one of many criteria we use to determine the best resource(s).  We might rank our presidents on the basis of how few wars the Unites States was fighting during their tenure in office, yet there are dozens of other important criteria: economic strength, lessening the gaps between rich and poor, etc.

Another way to look at this subject is to look at competing resources in a certain region.  The central part of the U.S. has incredible wind resources; a normal day in the Nebraska grid-mix offers 70% wind.

If human civilization is to avoid environmental collapse driven by climate change, nuclear is going to be absolutely necessary, but only partially due to energy density; nuclear boasts high reliability and capacity factor, as well as low operating expenses.

In all, the world needs to hope that nuclear advances quickly; we won’t do well without it.

Thanks for the comment.

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

If you believe Donald Trump, voter fraud in the U.S. is widespread. This, of course, was the (supposed) basis on which he refused to accept the results of the 2020 election, and brought the country to the edge of an armed revolution, e.g., leading thousands of Americans in an insurrection against the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.

Here’s a piece from the Brennan School of Justice at New York University Law School:

Debunking the Voter Fraud Myth
Sensationalist claims have circulated this election season about the extent of voter fraud, with some politicians going so far as to tell voters to fear that this November’s election will be “rigged.”

Because electoral integrity is one of the elements necessary to making America the greatest democracy in the world, claims like this garner media attention, and frighten and concern voters. But putting rhetoric aside to look at the facts makes clear that fraud by voters at the polls is vanishingly rare, and does not happen on a scale even close to that necessary to “rig” an election.

Studies Agree: Impersonation Fraud by Voters Very Rarely Happens

 The Brennan Center’s seminal report on this issue, The Truth About Voter Fraud, found that most
reported incidents of voter fraud are actually traceable to other sources, such as clerical errors or
bad data matching practices. The report reviewed elections that had been meticulously studied for
voter fraud, and found incident rates between 0.0003 percent and 0.0025 percent. Given this tiny
incident rate for voter impersonation fraud, it is more likely, the report noted, that an American
“will be struck by lightning than that he will impersonate another voter at the polls.”
 A study published by a Columbia University political scientist tracked incidence rates for voter
fraud for two years, and found that the rare fraud that was reported generally could be traced to
“false claims by the loser of a close race, mischief and administrative or voter error.”

When I moved from Washington D.C. to California in 1982, I got a new drivers license, then used it to register to vote. I’ve voted every two years since, and no one has asked me to show my ID.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

Looks like the committee was unimpressed with some of Trump’s key credentials:

Convicted felon (x34)

Adjudicated rapist

Insurrection instigator

Traitor – Insurgent against U.S. federal government

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

OK, our president doesn’t know what habeas corpus is.

But what’s that compared to his strengths in terms of fanning the flames of racial hate, and all his other fine abilities?

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

Well, that depends.  Do you think it’s a good idea to invest in a product you know nothing about, in a market you know nothing about?

What about the people?  A) You’ve never met any of them, and B) Their business plan calls for attracting randos from social media.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

Sarah, my hat’s off to you.  You nailed one of the two main modalities of Trump’s second term: retaliation against anyone who has dared to challenge Trump and his wantonly criminal behavior.

The other, of course, is his relentless drive to acquire ever more wealth and power, so as to make it impossible for the United States to have a free and fair election in 2028.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

I remember a sixth-grade science class in which our teacher, Mr. Tokeida, brought in a number of meal worms and a large petri dish.  He told the class, “I’m going to take a few meal worms, one at a time, and put them in the center of the petri dish.  I want you to watch what happens.”  Each one moved in a straight line until it encountered the edge of the petri dish, then followed the rim in a circle, never veering away back towards the center.

“Why do you think they all did this exact thing?” he asked us.

One of us said, “Because they think they can get out.”

Mr. Tokeida smiled and asked my classmate in response, “So you’re attributing a meal worm with the ability to think?”

I was stunned; I hadn’t seen this coming.  Here was an introduction to philosophy that hit me like a ton of bricks.  There must be some mechanism that drove the meal worms to follow the rim, but it couldn’t properly be called “thinking,” could it?

There is an analogy to a recent monologue that Bill Maher did, aimed at Trump supporters, asking them to consider what “America” actually means in terms of rule of law, due process, no-one above the law, and the U.S. Constitution. He concluded: “What good is Making America Great Again if you wind up losing the ‘America’ part?”

When I heard this, I traveled back to sixth grade, and I asked myself: are we over-attributing the capacity to think to these people?

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

I just came across the rules at left, and thought I’d make a few comments:

1) The word “their” in the sentence “Each student (singular) should bring their (plural) book,” is a workaround for “Each student should bring his or her book.”  Since the latter is clumsy, I prefer, “Each student should bring his book.” This is sexist, of course (why not “her?”) Yet, I think this is the best option.

2) “Ain’t” is most definitely a real word; it’s slang for “isn’t,” and should be used in appropriate settings, e.g., “Farmer Bob said, ‘My corn crop ain’t what it was last year.'”

3) I see no reason that emoji/emojis should be treated differently than any other noun.

4) Misusing “literally” like this merely shows one’s ignorance. I know it’s common among young undereducated people, and I’m sure it works in conversations with their peers.  I can assure you that it wouldn’t work at all in job interviews for med-law school, Deloitte, Boston Consulting, etc.

5) “Impactful” is a legitimate word, and I can’t understand why some people (pedants?) are critical of its use.

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