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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Hydrokinetics


Ocean-current hydrokinetics has drawbacks, but harm to aquatic life isn’t one of them.

The real problem is the cost per KWhr of the electricity they generate.

When 2GreenEnergy was launched in 2009, the world was abuzz with the developments in a great number of variations on the theme of hydrokinetics: ocean-current, wave, tidal and run-of-river among the most popular.  Given the plummeting prices of solar and wind, all that’s left of this is the hobbyists, and the folks who are content to focus on niche applications.

If I owned the place shown below, that might as well be on a different planet in terms of access to the grid, I’d have some sort of wave or tidal solution in place in a heartbeat.

 

 

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

The Founding Fathers are revered by patriotic Americans because they did everything they possibly could to avoid what is happening now, 200 years after Madison.

If one had to choose a single reason for the demise of the balance of powers, it would be the corruptive influence of money on what once were democratic principles.

To those who ask: “Well, what about ignorance?  Why have Americans become so incapable of observing that Trump is a person of horrific character?”

It goes back to money.  Wealthy and powerful people have no interest in a population of well-educated people who are capable of critical thought.  Is there another reason for the destruction of our school systems, the banning of books, and the mandate of the Ten Commandments in every public school classroom?

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

The purpose is causing non-whites to suffer, thus pandering to hateful, ignorant people.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

Interesting discussion at left.

Keep in mind that Charlie Kirk’s audience almost exclusively consists of poorly educated MAGA racists; they generally don’t come across thoughtful stuff from people like Alex Cole.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Electric Vehicles

There is a lot to look forward to about next year, 2026.  One is the celebration of the 20th anniversary of the founding of Aptera, founded in 2006, the company that promised investors that it would build and sell the three-wheeled EV shown at left.

Are they any closer today than they were back then?  There’s no real evidence to support that belief.  In fact, it looks even sillier than it did two decades ago.

Does this deter them from hitting up gullible fools?  Of course not.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

There are two schools of thought here.  America will be a stronger country if:

1) Kids are taught the truth about our nation’s history, learn to think for themselves, and come to their own conclusions about what we’ve done  both right and wrong.  This will put our children in a solid position to do what they can to make the United States a better place to live.

If you want to live in North Korea, where all this is impossible, be my guest.

2) We ban controversial books, force kids to recite the Pledge of Allegiance and read the bible, and edit out the parts of our history that are unflattering to rich white people and evangelical Christians.

Your call, America.

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

It appears that approximately 10% of the working poor who are slated to lose their healthcare coverage via the so-called “Big Beautiful Bill” are from Louisiana.

This deep-red southern state has a dearth of billionaires, but it has a bumper crop of poor folks whose lives are soon to be made even more miserable.

 

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

First of all, the proposal shown at left won’t happen.

More to the point, what a tragedy it is that the world is being subjected to this, 10 years after the agreement with Iran was finalized in Vienna among the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC)—China, France, Russia, the U.K., U.S.—plus Germany together with the European Union.

Trump’s interested in a Nobel Peace Prize.  Is it possible that he could stop provoking international war?

Perhaps the way forward to the Prize is to stop tearing up peace agreements like this one and cease threating to annex, via military force as required, Canada, Greenland, and the Panama Canal.  The support of Ukraine would be an extra bonus.  The cessation of tariff-driven trade wars would be the cherry on top.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

To the reader who sent this to me for comment:

1) Re: President Biden locking down the country, from an AI Summary:
Biden’s administration implemented a comprehensive strategy for responding to the COVID-19 pandemic that focused on vaccination, testing, masking, and supporting businesses and individuals. He repeatedly stated that a nationwide lockdown was not necessary, and that he would “shut down the virus, not the economy.”
Instead of a complete shutdown, the Biden administration emphasized a localized approach, with restrictions calibrated based on the threat level in each community. They also focused on increasing vaccine availability and administering doses, providing resources for businesses and individuals affected by the pandemic, and supporting efforts to keep schools open for in-person learning. 
2) Re: Kamala Harris’ not going through a primary:
Throughout the history of the U.S. presidency, there have been many times that people ran for the office where the incumbent either died or became incapacitated.  A fairly recent example is LBJ.  Maybe a refresher on U.S. history would be of benefit here.

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

Here are a couple of comments on the story at left:

My wife and I owned a horse-breeding ranch when we were younger, and virtually all our employees were Latinos.  There is no question that these folks are by-and-large honest, family-oriented, and extremely hard-working people.

The fellow telling the story is the typical Trump supporter, in that in order for something in our society to be deemed “bad,” it has to happen to them. People being arrested by armed, faceless kidnappers and deported to torture-prisons while their little children are swept away didn’t seem bad at all–until these gross violations of human rights and international law affected his business.

The line “I might have f***ed up” is actually kind of funny. Pal, you f***ed up the moment you voted for an overtly racist criminal sociopath to lead what was once a great nation.

We’re at approximately the one-eighth mark through Trump’s second presidency.  We actually do see a diminution in his support, perhaps due to the epiphanies of folks with construction companies who need honest workers.

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