This Could Be the End of American Democracy
It’s possible that American democracy will not survive (at least) four more years of Trump, given the way he is consolidating power around him.
Tagged with: American democracy
Reagan Predicted Trump
Americans need to face the truth about the 2024 election: half of us voted for a man with zero integrity, whose only loyalty is to himself.
Tagged with: Reagan Predicted Trump
The Removal of Dams
The removal of dams is a good thing environmentally, but only if there is a low-carbon way to offset the loss of that clean energy onto the grid.
There is a feature-length documentary on this subject called “Dam Nation” that doesn’t mention the grid once.
Grammar
Let me first point out that there is no such rule prohibiting ending a sentence with a preposition. Anyone who asks, “For what are you looking?” as opposed to “What are you looking for?” is a fool.
Now, to the matter at hand, when I was a little boy, my mom corrected me on the verbs “lie” and “lay,” which are easily confused, perhaps because the past tense of “lie” and the present tense of “lay” are the same word (“lay”).
Lie – intransitive verb (doesn’t take an object) To recline
Present: Lie – I lie down on the sofa. Please lie down here. The dog lies on its bed. Don’t bother me; I’m lying down.
Simple past: Lay – Yesterday, I lay down on the sofa.
Present perfect and past perfect: lain – I have lain on the sofa many times.
Gerund: Lying — Lying in the sun feels good.
Lay – (transitive verb, takes an object) To put an object somewhere
Present: Lay – I lay the book on the table.
Simple past: Laid – Yesterday, I laid the book on the table.
Present perfect and past perfect:: Laid. I have laid books on that table many times.
Gerund: Laying — Laying down a winning poker hand and raking in the pot feels good.
Tagged with: grammar
Unscientific American
Here’s an example of the sad fact that any idea can be introduced to the American public without an iota of truth, and will be immediately adopted as fact by a significant number.
This is even worse than things we sometimes hear, like: Increasing levels of CO2 in our atmosphere are improving life on Earth, because plants use it to make their food.
Tagged with: Increasing levels of CO2
Trump: Evil Genius or Moron?
The author of the meme here poses an interesting question, but I honestly don’t believe it has a straightforward answer.
A couple of things are certain: a) Trump is intensely driven to become the most powerful person on Earth, one with unassailable control of the wealthiest country on Earth, and b) he’s absolutely ruthless; he’ll do anything, regardless of how grossly immoral, to achieve his goals. Wait till you see what he does to his enemies in the Justice Department unless he is, by some miracle, stopped.
To our country’s (and the world’s) great misfortune, Trump came along at a time when the average American had just lost his ability to distinguish an honest, hard-working public servant from a criminal sociopath.
As the author concludes: Here we are.
What Scientists Can’t Do
As this fellow notes, we’ve long since passed the point of developing the technology required to address environmental issues like climate change and the loss of biodiversity.
The problems we face are not those of how to decarbonize our energy and transportation sectors; rather, they reside in our greed. Phasing out the consumption of fossil fuels in favor of nuclear and renewables will move uncountable trillions of dollars out of the hands of the wealthiest and most powerful people on Earth, and they’re fighting this to the death.
Yes, It’s Who We Are. Admit It, Then Do What You Can to Change It.
I agree with this woman 100% (though I point out that her last sentence here is a statement, not a question).
Here in the U.S., for instance, we wouldn’t have elected a terrible person to lead us if we ourselves weren’t terrible people.
Tagged with: Trump terrible person
Run Away!
A reader sent me this and notes, “This is what happens when you let the 16 year old employees make the signs.”
My reaction: This is a good place to avoid.
Tagged with: This is a good place to avoid.
Watching Out for Trump
I like this guy’s positivity, but I caution that Trump is coming out “armed for bear,” in terms of centralizing power within the U.S. presidency, and he’s making sure he runs into as little resistance as possible.
What he’s doing is precisely what our Founding Fathers worked so hard to protect us against.
Tagged with: Watching Our for Trump
