The Rest of the World Can Scarcely Believe How Far the U.S. Has Fallen
At left we see an example of how the rest of the world views Trump and the United States of 2026.
A blend of pity, contempt, and ridicule.
Tagged with: How Far the U.S. Has Fallen
From the New York Times: Trump Administration Pushes Narrative of Christian Founding at Rally
At the top of the news is the Trump’s administration’s day-long prayer event featuring speakers from President Trump’s cabinet and a program that drew connections between the nation’s founding and Christianity.
However, as shown below, there is in fact no such connection.
Tagged with: Christian Founding
Anti-Renewables Propaganda
I spend a decent amount of time on social media–enough to see the 5- to 10-fold increase in posts that are essentially long-debunked myths about solar and wind that has taken place over just the past few months.
We Shouldn’t Accept Law Enforcement Abuses
If you condone abusive behavior on the part of law enforcement, you’re a terrible person.
Simple.
Tagged with: Law Enforcement Abuses
Will the Billionaire Taxes Cause the Rich to Go Elsewhere?
One of the most common arguments against taxing the rich is that they will simply leave whatever area is levying the tax.
We hear about this most often in connection with New York City, where its liberal mayor is using the taxes he’s raising to build infrastructure, feed hungry people, etc.
Here’s what’s happened in Massachusetts.
Some Investments Are Bound to Fail–But Only Time Will Tell Us Which Ones
A common tactic of Big Oil and the rest of the Trump-supporting world is to point out that some of our government’s investments in cleantech do not pan out.
Unscrupulous people, as well as tens of millions of idiots, are enraged by these failures and interpret them as evidence of incompetence and/or corruption.
On the other hand, fair-minded people understand that it’s impossible for all these investments to be winners; some are bound to fail as the advancement of technology makes unforeseeable twists and turns.
The plummeting costs of solar PV and wind over the past 10 years wiped out a great number of investors in both the private and public sectors, and solar thermal (shown here) was only one.
As an example, I used to attend the annual conferences on hydrokinetics, and I always looked forward to them. Guess what? They’re gone. They no longer exist, as a result of the fact that the LCOE (levelized cost of energy) of all forms of hydro can’t compete on large-scale projects, and thus have been relegated to small, niche applications.
Tagged with: advancement of technology makes unforeseeable twists are turns, hydro relegated to small niche applications, incompetence and/or corruption, it's impossible for all investments to be winners, LCOE levelized cost of energy, plummeting costs of solar PV and wind over the past 10 years, Solar Thermal, some of our government's investments in cleantech do not pan out, tactic of Big Oil, Trump-supporting world
Nothing Good Ever Lasts, Or Does It?
If you don’t mind crying like a little kid, I hope you’ll watch the video below featuring Iris Dement singing “Our Town”; the theme is a sad one indeed.
“Can’t you see, the sun’s sinkin’ fast, but just like they say, nothing good ever lasts” is perhaps a retelling of what our greatest minds have been telling us for ages. For example, we have “Nothing Gold Can Stay,” the work of America’s perhaps most beloved poet, Robert Frost.
The third verse:
I buried my Mama and I buried my Pa
They sleep up the street beside that pretty brick wall
I bring them flowers about every day
But I just gotta cry when I think what they’d say…
I buried both my parents, who were lifelong Republicans, but “I just gotta cry when I think what they’d say” not about the demise of our town, but our nation.
What’s happening to this country is horrible. Maybe it’s reversible, but maybe it’s not.
It’s up to us.
The Ultra-Right’s Efforts to Destroy Our Nation Will Ultimately Fail
What JD Vance says at left cuts across everything this country was founded on, and for that reason, it’s bound to fail.
Yes, our population is far more hateful, uneducated, and ignorant of the core principles that underlie the basic formation of our country than it’s ever been before.
But most of us are people of tolerance with a base-level understanding of our history, and therefore, people like Vance have gone as far forward as they possibly can.
Tagged with: base-level understanding of our history, cuts across everything this country was founded on, our population is far more and ignorant of the core principles that underlie the basic formation of our country, our population is far more hateful, our population is far more uneducated, people like JD Vance have gone as far forward as they possibly can, we're a people of tolerance
Bringing Hydrokinetics to Scotland
I can’t swear that the meme here speaks the truth, but it’s certainly possible, and more to the point, it illustrates the fact that hydrokinetics has important (although narrow) applications in the constellation of renewable energy.
There are places that a) have terrific hydro resources, and b) are incredibly difficult to power in any other way.
The islands that surround Scotland are perhaps the very best example of this on the entire planet.
Modern-Day Conservatives Hate Education
There are dozens of changes in what it means to be a conservative in America that have been made over the past decade, but perhaps the most glaring is the disdain these folks suddenly have for education.
When we baby-boomers were young, learning was universally revered. “To get a good job, get a good education,” was the mantra.
Now, in the age of Donald Trump, millions of conspiracy theorists believe that our schools promote homosexuality, socialism, and a variety of different “hoaxes” like climate change is real, and vaccines are safe and effective.
What’s driving this? Some people believe that the people who call the shots in the United States don’t want people who are capable of critical thinking.
One thing is certain: there is a huge correlation between people who didn’t go to college and Trump supporters. If you’re Donald Trump, you want as much ignorance as you can possibly generate.
Tagged with: climate change is real, conspiracy theorists believe that our schools promote homosexuality, conspiracy theorists believe that our schools promote socialism, disdain for education, don't want people who are capable of critical thinking, Donald Trump wants ignorance, huge correlation between people who didn't go to college and Trump supporters, To get a good job get a good education, vaccines are safe and effective, what it means to be a conservative in America
