Home › Blog › Page 274

by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Climate Change

It would be great if we could pull off what Harrison Ford is suggesting i.e., that our leaders believe in science and create policy that is informed accordingly.  The problem is that our elections here in the United States are bought with extreme sums of money that are directed towards convincing massive numbers of poorly informed Americans that a certain candidate offers them solutions to their main concerns in life.

In 2024, hordes of people believed that runaway inflation was ruining the economy, that immigrants were taking their jobs, and that the crime rate was skyrocketing.  Of course, none of these assertions was true, but that was hardly relevant.

Trump promised to bring down the cost of groceries and deport many millions of immigrants.  He won every state and territory but nine.

Is climate change a hoax?  No.  Are vaccinations safe and effective?  Yes.

Is any of this important? Not on your life.

 

Tagged with: ,

by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Science

The drawing here reminds me of a kid I tutored who introduced himself as follows, “Hi, Mr. Shields.  I’m Andy.  I hate math and it hates me.”

Of course, I chuckled amiably and tried to reassure him that we were about to change all that.

What makes this story worth telling is that things got worse before they got better.  What really sent him through the roof was when he learned that some problems have more than one solution.  He thought this is positively demonic.

Tagged with:

by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

I could be wrong, but I believe that Trump has made at least some of his picks simply to create outrage.

Attorney General?  How about an alleged statutory rapist and sex trafficker? Couldn’t get any more insane than that, right?

Secretary of Health and Human Services?  Let’s see.  Got it!  Long-time heroin user with brain worms.  Perfecto.

Tagged with:

by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

A reader asks: We seem to overuse the word “very.” Can you comment on that?

Sure.  Excellent point.  It’s because most people’s vocabularies are limited and they’re too lazy to look for the proper word. For most adjectives, say “large,” there is another, perhaps “gargantuan,” that intensifies it without the need for “very.”

I try to use what I believe to be the right word, while not coming off as pompous.

Tagged with:

by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

The problem is that it doesn’t matter what you would rather have.

Because of things like the U.S. Supreme Court decision Citizens United, the most powerful entities in this nation can spend as much as they wish influencing our elections.

Tagged with: ,

by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

Is the fast-food franchisee here improving his relationship with his community / customer base with this sign?

If I were writing it, the sign would read, “Wednesday Night Running Group: Please feel free to use our bathrooms. At Chipotle, we believe that health is cool, and we fully support you folks.  Go for the gold!”

I know we live in tense times, but maybe a bit more courtesy and less face-slapping is called for.

Tagged with:

by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

Seriously?  The author of the meme here must be putting me on.  He “can’t explain it?”  “Things just don’t feel right?”

The United States is facing four more years of leadership by a sociopath–one who has nothing to lose from implementing policies that will a) nullify the justice system’s attempt to prosecute him for his crimes, b) use that same justice system to punish his enemies, c) further enrich himself and his billionaire friends by looting the U.S. treasury, d) cripple our nation’s efforts to mitigate environmental collapse, e) further destroy American education, f) remove women’s rights, and g) kick tens of millions of Americans off of healthcare.

I’m not sure how observant and intuitive you need to be to see all this.

Tagged with: , , , , , , ,

by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Science

I had to laugh when I came across the meme here.

A few weeks ago, I ran into two ladies who had been friends since they were children.  One said, “Gosh we’ve known one another for a long time.  We’re 40 now, and we met when were what, eight?” She pulled out her phone and after a few seconds said, “That’s 32 years!”

 

Tagged with:

by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Science

In response to the question posed at left, a reader remarks:  No, it makes you restless.

That’s a fine answer, and it’s true that a blind certainty provides better peace of mind than living in a constant state of doubt, searching for something that appears to be elusive.

There is another side to the coin however, in that science is the only method we have to get at the truth.

It’s not that science is always right; in fact, it would be more proper to say that it’s always wrong.   Think of how little of what we believed about the world 400 years ago we still hold true today.  And this is only likely to get worse in the future, as the pace of our investigations continues to increase.

That said, there is a certain comfort to knowing that we’re employing the only good tool for the job.

 

 

Tagged with: , ,

by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

It would be interesting to know what percentage of religious people think according to the Hindu proverb at left.

To take a guess:

Of the Eastern religions like Buddhism, Hinduism, Shinto, and Jainism, it’s probably fairly high, possibly close to 100%.  Of the monotheistic belief systems of the West, it’s very close to zero.

That’s what makes the latter group so dangerous.  Not only are people from differing religions “other,” they’re wrong on the most important principle of our existence.

Tagged with: , ,