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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

A reader notes:  Kari Lake, a senator? Forget it. She is ruined after Fox News reveals crushing polls (now 14 points behind), which means she will get annihilated.

I’m not a political advisor, but it’s possible that she made a mistake by aligning herself with a common criminal like Mike Lindell, the MyPillow guy.  Arizona is not unlike many other U.S. states: lots of well educated and affluent people in and around its cities: Phoenix, Tucson, Mesa, Tempe, and the like.  On top of that, there are artsy places like Sedona that remind one of Santa Barbara, CA where, try as you might, you really can’t find a Trump supporter.

OK, so does Lindell help or hurt a political figure in this state?  Well, keep in mind his position on the 2020 presidential election, which is as follows:

Lindell:  I have absolute proof  that the election was stolen from Trump.

Journalists: Do you mind sharing that with us?

Lindell: I’d love to, but I can’t.

Might honesty have been a better course for Kari Lake?  I don’t know, but again, you’re asking the wrong guy.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Uncategorized

Let’s start here:  Who exactly is economist Mark Zandi?

Mark M. Zandi (born 1959) is the chief economist of Moody’s Analytics, where he directs economic research.  Zandi’s research interests encompass macroeconomics, financial markets and public policy. He analyzes the economic impact of government spending policies and monetary policy response. A trusted advisor to policy makers, he has testified before Congress on the economic outlook, the nation’s fiscal challenges, fiscal stimulus and financial regulatory reform. 

What about Trump’s assertion that the economy is in freefall, and our country is a shambles?  Outside of Trump himself, there are three groups of people who support these beliefs:

• Republican members of the U.S. Congress, who have sacrificed any level of integrity they may have had earlier in their now-pathetic lives in a nauseating attempt to stay in public office, with all the money, power, and prestige it provides.

• The amoral rich.

• The grossly undereducated whom Trump is using as if they were hammers ands screwdrivers.

As a friend once wrote, “If you’re a Trump supporter and you wonder which of these three groups you belong in, all you need to do is ask yourself two easy questions:

Are you in Congress?  If not, look at your bank account statements so as to determine: are you worth at least a few millions of dollars?  If not, bingo.  

 

 

 

by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

There is no way this country will forget about the January 6th insurrection.

For Trump to escape prosecution, he’ll have to convince the appellate courts and perhaps SCOTUS that trying to overthrow the U.S. government was an “official act,” and that won’t be a piece of cake.

More than 890 people have been found guilty of federal crimes thus far, and 541 have been sentenced to periods of incarceration.  Does anyone honestly believe that the principal architect of the riot will walk free?

Maybe Jack Smith will renounce the oath he took swearing to protect and defend the U.S. Constitution.  Sure.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Climate Change

The abolition of NOAA will put an end to the flow of weather-related information that helps to protect Americans’ lives and property from natural disasters like hurricanes.  If the Heritage Foundation, as a representative of the extreme right-wing in the United States can pull this off, that will be quite an accomplishment for those who want to punish us with their anti-science views.

But wait a second.  Remember that the U.S. represents only 4% of the world’s population, and only about 20% of the world economy.  Fortunately, the other 200+ countries around the globe are not saddled with this stupidity.  Regardless of what the Heritage Foundation wants, every other nation on the planet will continue their efforts to decarbonize their energy and transportation sectors.

 

 

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

I’m sure this subject has been studied countless times by sociologists and economists.  If I were asked to explain it, I would suggest the following:

Certain states place less value on education, and therefore their people ultimately become less productive in the workplace, thus poor relative to the rest of the country.

Poor and uneducated people are naturally afraid that their lives might get even worse, and are thus easy targets for a political party that sells fear, i.e., the fear that migrants are flooding across the southern border, stealing white people’s jobs and voting for Democrats.  When a Republican president refers to immigrants as “animals” and “vermin,” he has an attentive audience and a solid voter base.

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

The message on this guy’s truck tells us a great deal about him: his level of intelligence, compassion for others, and understanding of the world around him.

He seems unaware that virtually every American supports our troops (though we may question the validity of the situations we send them into).

Now, is it possible that this guy is not a Trump supporter?  Of course.  And I might be a bald eagle, too.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics
Here we have former Kansas U.S. Senator Nancy Kassenbaum (retired in 1996), a Republican, whose smile may derive from the fact that she just endorsed Kamala Harris for President.
It’s interesting to see that there is very little correlation between well educated, true conservatives and Trump supporters.  As a state, Kansas is about as red as it gets, going for Trump over Biden by more than 13 points in 2020.  Yet people like Kassenbaum (master’s degree in diplomatic history from the University of Michigan) understand the need to keep Trump as far from the White House as possible in 2024.
In other words, she’s a conservative, not a traitor.
Fortunately, there are a great number of them out there.
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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

A reader asked for my position on his question at left.

Of course.  And often, it’s not just “in my head”; I shout it aloud.

On CNN just now: “Someone with whom they’re speaking to,” should have been, “Someone to whom they’re speaking.”

Other things that get my attention on a routine basis:

Disagreement between subject and verb, e.g., “There’s so many changes in our tastes in music.”

Disregarding the subjunctive mood, e.g., “If I was president, I’d …”

Sure, there are newscasters who make second- or third-grade-level grammatical mistakes, like “Those off-course bombs could have went anywhere.”  But these truly horrific errors are rare, as (I suspect) producers of these shows immediately ban the offenders from the airwaves.

 

 

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Science

I often say, “It hasn’t been a good last hundred years-or-so for philosophy.”  And as shown at left, this sentiment is shared by minds far brighter than my own, in this case, German-British physicist and mathematician Max Born.

Until fairly recently, if you wanted to learn what humankind knew about:

The ultimate building blocks of the universe, you asked a metaphysician, especially one focused on ontology, the study of being.  Now you ask a particle physicist.

The origins of the universe, you asked a theologian.  Now you ask an astrophysicist.

The limits of human knowledge, you asked an epistemologist.  Now you ask a neurologist, or perhaps an extremely specialized psychologist.

I don’t regret have reading Aristotle, Descartes, Hume, and the like, but the relevance of these folks’ thoughts on the summits of human knowledge has taken a significant tumble since they were in their heyday.

 

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

If Republicans take control of the U.S. government and implement Project 2025, one of the casualties will be FEMA.  Americans affected by natural disasters like hurricanes will be on their own to repair their damaged property, and many of those who are underinsured will join the rest of the homeless population.

Are government programs that help the common American actually “socialism?” It depends on whom you ask.

 

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