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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

Yes, this is all completely true.

But let’s keep everything in perspective here.  Fox “News” is an extremely powerful institution.  Its business model is turning the truth completely upside-down as required to keep its audience engaged, and, given that it has no integrity, it has no compunction about doing precisely that.

Fox continues, at the astonishment of us all, to do anything it wants, regardless of how heinous, to keep tens of millions of hateful morons dialed in.  Though it’s possible that it may eventually be corralled via some blend of civil and criminal legal proceedings, right now it controls the minds, votes, and wallets of the most pitifully miserable of Americans.

If there is more violence (as suggested at left) as a direct result of its blatantly dishonest “reporting,” that’s just too f***ing bad for America and its teetering democracy, if it means more profits for Fox.

Is there anything we can do about that?  Not sure. Maybe we’ll find out some day.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

Finding God may not always make someone a better person, but is it correct to say that it never does?

Yes, many of our world’s most evil people were/are church-goers, and from there, it could be argued that their belief in God did nothing to help them become kinder and more humane.

Further, one could say that these terrible people’s religion only solidified their confidence that their desire to …. (fill in the blank) torture suspected heretics, enslave the blacks, commit genocide against the Jews, invade a neighboring nation, etc., was ordained by their Creator.  As they say, “Nobody counts the bodies when God is on your side.”

It’s a hard question to answer.  Even most atheists know many fine human beings who walk around all day believing that God has a plan for them.

Personally, I’m taken by the rhetoric of folks like Sam Harris, Richard Dawkins, and the late Christopher Hitchens, who summarize their positions as follows: religion is to the human mind what a virus is to a computer.

 

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

This is a nice thought, but it’s erroneous.

Nature, whatever we mean by that word, is inanimate.  It’s the summation of the laws of physics, chemistry, and biology.  It doesn’t ask or want anything.

If humankind succeeds in degrading the life-supporting qualities of this planet, the only loser will be ourselves.

Senior energy analyst Glenn Doty takes this one step further: he resents the entire concept of “Mother Nature.” He says the idea that there is a benign, animated force, especially a maternal one with a caring and nurturing personality that is actively working to bring us back from the precipice of global destruction provides justification for our gross selfishness and stupidity.

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

Below is an internal memo from chief of the U.S. Capitol Police to the officers themselves.

There is no limit past which Fox “News” won’t sink in tarnishing the reputation of brave public servants so as to continue its torrent of lies to its audience.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

Liz Cheney is bold, brave, honest …. and a complete anomaly in the Republican party.

When all this is over, she’ll be remembered as a national hero.

And btw, this will end.  This country and its people cannot continue to maintain a fiction of this magnitude forever.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

In their predictable fashion, Republicans are trying to pretend that the Insurrection never happened, or that it was peaceful and uneventful.

If that’s how these dishonest cowards want to play this going into their primaries, there’s nothing anyone can do to stop them.

But if they think they can lie their way to victory in the general election, they’re badly mistaken.  The majority of the country cares very deeply about justice, rule of law, and the preservation of American democracy.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

At left is a photo of a Ukrainian restaurant in the Lower East Side of New York City, taken in 1953.

It’s a reminder that when terrible situations come to an end, the human race has a long and well respected tradition of celebrating.

The world will be partying like rock stars when Putin leaves.

 

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

This quote from Orwell wasn’t a bad find on the day that Tucker Carlson told his audience that January 6th was a “peaceful protest.”

Note to Fox viewers (as if they’re reading this):  1003 people have been arrested, 350 individuals have been sentenced, 192 to incarceration.

That’s 192 violent rioters who attacked the Capitol, injured police, etc., sitting behind bars.  The right to peacefully assemble is enshrined in the Constitution.  Bashing law enforcement with flag poles is not.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

The meme here is from a group called “Positive Energy,” and, of course, it could be referring to anything.

In this house, however, it can mean only one thing.  As my wife asks frequently, “Any indictments yet?”

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

According to this article, “Every branch of the military is struggling to make its 2022 recruiting goals.”

I’m sure this is a complicated matter in which there are several contributing factors.  Here are a few points of speculation on my part:

• Perhaps a minor issue but one worth mentioning: American culture is far more focused on money as the definitive measure of success than it’s ever been before.  The pay, especially for enlisted personnel, is poor.  You’ll make more at Walmart, who just raised its base employees’ pay from $12 to $14.

• The U.S. military understands that its ultimate commander is the U.S. president, and most military personnel were appalled by Trump’s behavior between 2017 and 2021.  This was more pronounced in the upper echelon, where our most vocal generals and admirals would have done anything legal to remove Trump from his position.

The Military Times repeatedly published the results of surveys that showed how roundly despised Trump is by our armed forces.  This was brought into the fore by his regarding them as “suckers and losers,” and his overriding the internal judicial system to pardon a war criminal. An old friend, an extremely well educated man who recently retired as a Marine Corps colonel in the judge advocate system, said this “slap in the face” to everyone who has served, is serving, or will ever serve in the military, was one of the most indefensible abuses of power ever seen from a U.S. president.

• The GOP wants to stop supporting Ukraine against a clearly illegal invasion from a neighboring autocratic regime.  Many young people coming from rural America where perhaps traditional values mean more than they do elsewhere, are thinking: These people have no moral standards. At best, they are cowards.  I was raised to be a person of honor.  I didn’t graduate at the top of my class, and I’m not going to medical or law school, but no one can tell me that I’m not an ethical human being, and that I should join ranks with criminals who are rooting for a war criminal to take over a democracy, while arresting, torturing, and executing innocent people. 

• They may also think about practical matters.  If Putin prevails in Ukraine, he’ll be in the Baltics and/or Poland before I make corporal.  He’ll have a head of steam, and I’ll die fighting a war that my country, if it weren’t run by corrupt traitors, would have cut off long before it started.”

Would-be recruits understand that almost half the nation, i.e., the Republican party, is as likely as not to win the presidency in 2024.  We could even have Trump again, in which case, many of them would just as soon be a part of the Mafia or the KGB. They’d certainly rather be framing houses or tending bar than working for peanuts for a re-instated traitor to undermine what’s left of world democracy.

Our military has served us well for almost 250 years.  Maybe it’s time to start honoring, and stop abusing, these loyal young Americans, who live by the values for which our nation formerly stood.

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