I’ve often wondered why people like this German woman, an ultra-right-wing politician with no more training in this subject than my gardener, is taken more seriously than the many thousands of scientists who have been studying climate physics for all their adult lives.
And Germany? Anti-science?
Yes, this sect is minor, but how does it exist at all?
It’s understandable that Americans are seeing their culture descend into the pits of the cutthroat, the bastard, since that’s the character of the man whom we elected (twice) to lead our country.
I caught a glimpse of this as a soccer coach about 25 years ago, when my son Jake was a considerable powerhouse when he was little. In the first game of his under-8 season, he scored all three goals in a 3-2 win over an opponent whose dominant player — Paul, as I remember — had scored both their goals. When we walked off the field, I asked Jake if he wanted to say something to Paul. As a coach and as a father, I was lucky enough to hear the brief but poignant conversation. Jake told they boy, who was clearly taking the loss rather hard, “Hey. You’re a good player.” Paul smiled, bowed his head, and replied softly, “Thanks. But you’re better than I am.”
Maybe we’re not doomed to become heartless assholes. Maybe the core humanity with which we are all born will somehow rise to the surface and move us forward.
George Bernard Shaw nails it here. How proud should you be because you happened to have been born in the United States?
Intelligent, fair-minded people are proud of their accomplishments, not some accident that happened to them.
Arguably, American patriotism is even worse than other countries’. The U.S. has by far the planet’s mightiest military, and belief in American exceptionalism frequently is the driver of the world’s most deadly wars.
I just met an elderly woman from Vancouver, Canada, in town for a family wedding, who explained to me her country’s position on the tragedy that’s occurred here in the United States with Trump’s dismantling of American democracy. It happens to coincide with the meme here.
She believes that it will take generations before the rest of the world begins to trust and respect the U.S. again.
She mentioned in passing that if it weren’t for her obligation to attend the wedding that she wouldn’t even think of setting foot in the United States.
This device apparently uses the kinetic energy of the moving water in the stream to lift itself up against the force of gravity. Or maybe energy was used to pump it up. So far, so good.
But then it releases the water and extracts more energy than went into lifting the water! Wow. Would an average 10-year-old kid believe this?
And what happens after five years? Does it evaporate? Self-annihilate? Implode? Rapture itself into heaven?
The vast majority of Americans are fine with the systems each of our 50 states have put into place, per the U.S. Constitution. There is an infinitesimal amount of voter fraud.