Re: the opinion expressed at left, I’m not naive enough to think that I’m changing the political philosophy of any significant number of my friends who happen to be Trumpers with my blog and other writings.
That said, I find it important to communicate my beliefs, regardless of the effect they may have on others.
Here’s a call for investors to pump money into a Michigan-based start-up that claims it will produce small commuter aircraft with drone-like rotors.
Oh. Well, I guess if it’s “pure” opportunity, it must be pretty special. I’d pass if it were just some sort of adulterated opportunity.
Let’s do some math and physics associated with the claim made here. The typical passenger train requires about 5 megawatts. If the average efficiency of solar PV is 25%, and its capacity factor is also 25%, and the solar irradiance is 1000 Watts/square meter, we need:
x square meters * 1000 Watts/square meter * 0.25 * 0.25 * 10 square feet / square meter * 1 acre / 43000 square feet / acre = 5,000,000 Watts.
That means we need about 20 acres of train roof to get that done. If the train is 20 feet wide, it needs to be almost a mile long. Does that describe the typical passenger train?
The quote at left comes from former U.S. Labor Secretary Robert Reich. While I don’t disagree, it would be possible to bifurcate this into separate pieces.
Piece #1: Get rid of Trump, and to whatever degree possible, everything he represents: lawlessness, authoritarianism, racism, the rejection of science, and the destruction of education. Until this happens, the United States is going nowhere but backwards into savagery.
Piece #2: Take the steps necessary to get corruption out of politics, beginning by overturning the SCOTUS decision “Citizens United.”
We need to start by defining the word “investment.” In the strict sense of dollars in versus dollars out, the subject can be debated; there are plenty of wealthy people who made their money without degrees.
On the other hand, as we all know, there are many elements of a successful and rewarding life that have nothing to do with money, and many of them are enhanced via higher education.
Take involvement in political philosophy as an example. Very few 2GreenEnergy readers are Trump supporters, but think for a moment how happy you would be with yourself if you thought Trump to be an honest and effective servant of the American people, and that our country and our planet are better places because of his involvement.
How proud of yourself would you be if you believed that most scientists are corrupt, and know no more about their subjects than the average baseball coach or pastry chef?
Making an investment in one’s ability to distinguish truth from bulls*** is a good thing, IMO.
A college education isn’t required to see that Trump is a sociopathic con man, but it helps.
I had to laugh when I saw this blurb about Putin’s banning Satanism in Russia.
First, how many Satanists are we to think there actually are in the Motherland? 11?
Secondly, how much danger do you think Satanism truly represents in one of the world’s great dictatorships, where political dissidents are routinely arrested and tortured while incarcerated?
I just happened to come across the meme here, and it made me wonder how this was derived.
If you’re not a Trump supporter, I would stay far away from #3 and #5.
If your aging body has issues with long and cold winters, you’ll also want to avoid #1, #2, and #4.
If being close to loved ones isn’t a consideration, I recommend Virginia.
Trump’s approval rating at home is hovering at 36%.
Internationally, about half that, depending on the country.
Love the sense of humor expressed at left.
When my son was a little boy, he loved to see speeding railroad trains and the huge earth-movers that operated in landfills. My daughter preferred acting in skits with her little friends. We see this stuff playing itself out wherever we look.
Included in the “boy thing” is hydrokinetics. Speaking for myself, I’m enchanted by the idea of converting the kinetic energy of massive amounts of moving water into electricity.
It’s for that reason that I’m saddened that hydrokinetics is largely a relic of our clean energy past. It’s not a “has been”; it’s a “never was.” By the time people were starting to make progress in terms of efficiency and reliability, the levelized cost of solar PV and wind came crashing down, dooming hydro to the domain of hobbyists and a few niche commercial applications.
