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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

Ancient Athenian comic playwright Aristophanes made a good point here, and it would be easy to ascribe this as an explanation of the support of Donald Trump.

Giving the matter a little thought, however, we see that Americans’ IQs haven’t fallen over the last 10 years.   The answer must be found elsewhere.

My theory is that hate and stupidity have the capacity to lie dormant over vast expanses of time, only to be awakened by some external circumstance. Here we have 70 million people who were very quiet, until Trump arrived and gave them permission to express their feelings of white supremacy, xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny, the rejection of science, etc.

Can we put the evil genie back in the bottle?  We’re about to find out.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business
The Union of Concerned Scientists writes: Will hydrogen be a climate solution? Not if fossil fuel interests get their way. With billions of taxpayer dollars set to flow, the Biden administration must set rigorous hydrogen standards to defend against a perpetuation of fossil fuel industry harms.
I notice that famed energy analyst Jigar Shah made a similar remark from his post in the DoE.
Frankly, I’m surprised by this.  I continue to believe that the “electrification of everything” in energy and transportation is the way to go, and that hydrogen is essentially a distraction.
The generation of hydrogen is inefficient, fuel cells are expensive, storage is difficult, and the delivery infrastructure is virtually nonexistent.
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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

The meme here reminds me of all the people who say, of the Democrats’ platform, “It’s not enough to say you’re not Trump and offer no further benefits.” To which I’ve always replied, “I’m not so sure of that.”

In the case of Biden, if you’re paying attention and taking in impartial reporting, you know that he really is accomplishing a great deal on behalf of the American people.  But even if that weren’t the case, he isn’t a criminal sociopath who openly admits that he plans to subvert our democracy if reelected.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Electric Vehicles

Here’s a conversation with some readers:

Reader A: Musk’s behavior and comments are among the reasons I will not ever buy a Tesla.
Reader B: I have heard a lot of people say this, and I know people who canceled orders as a result of Musk’s behavior. But some who commented on the original article declared these mere anecdotes. My point was, he is impacting the company. They prefer to believe he isn’t, but that’s living in a fantasy world where every Musk decision is really a sort of genius we just can’t understand.
Reader C: The day he said “I forgot you’re still alive” to Bernie Sanders I knew I would never give him a cent.
Me: First, let’s look at the headline, and try to understand what it means relative to Tesla’s financial viability.  Their market cap isn’t plunging; their market share is, which may be expected as the entire host of traditional auto OEMs convert their fleets to electric.
To the point you folks are making, there are many people who simply won’t support such a hateful person, and I’m one of them. It would not surprise me to watch “X,” Tesla, etc. take huge hits over the coming years.
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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

From National Public Radio:

The federal election interference case against former President Donald Trump is coming into sharper focus, as prosecutors assert he is responsible for the violence at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and offer new clues about how they intend to prove it.

The case set for trial in Washington, D.C., in March accuses Trump of leading a conspiracy to obstruct the certification of the 2020 election and deprive millions of voters from having their ballots count. More than 140 law enforcement officers suffered injuries after a mob stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, disrupting the peaceful transfer of power. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

As all politicians know, language is a powerful thing, and there is no law that says that the meaning of words can’t be twisted so as to favor a certain person, party, etc.

Aristotle wrote his book “On Rhetoric” on the art of persuasion, somewhere during the 4th century BCE.  We’ve been at this for a long time.

When the phrase “fake news” was coined soon after Trump was elected in 2016, it originally applied to the torrent of lies that were spewing forth from the president.  Unfortunately, Trump was able to subvert this to mean the precise opposite, i.e., everything that was coming from the mainstream media.

As expressed in the meme here, Republicans have redefined the word “radical” to apply to everyone with even moderately progressive ideas: common-sense gun laws, a woman’s right to an abortion, quality public education, etc.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

Of the many things that make another Trump presidency most dangerous is the fact that he’s completely open about his intention to use the justice system to assemble an authoritarian nation in which rules with an iron fist.

Where most people around the world are terrified of this scenario, some welcome it, and demand that it be put into place.

I wonder where I am on the list of “vermin” to be “rooted out.”

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

The ultra-conservative Heritage Foundation “wants you to join the fight for free and fair elections by completing our National Survey on Election Fraud.”

Personally, I’m unconcerned, for a great number of reasons, including:

• Each of 60+ courts that heard claims surrounding the 2020 election found no evidence of significant voter fraud.

• Fox News publicly apologized for lying to its viewers for spreading the “Big Lie,” that the election was rigged.

• In a text to his chief of staff Mark Meadows, Trump acknowledged that he lost the election.

• Two different grand juries were presented sufficient evidence to recommend indictments against Trump on charges that he attempted to overturn the results of a free and fair election.

Of course, we have to expect that this will never end.  Fifty years from now, decades after Trump is convicted on these charges and has been released from prison, there will still be hate groups on the lunatic fringe like the Heritage Foundation continuing to make baseless claims about the 2020 election.

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics
The meme here is from David Cay Johnson, Co-founder Emeritus at DCReport.org and works at Distinquished Visiting Lecturer at Syracuse University College of Law.  Past: Daily Beast and Newsweek.
About it he writes: Different hats, same message of hate, violence, and stealing freedom.
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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

Here’s what Katie Porter would like to get done as a U.S. senator, which would, if enacted, bring the United States in line with the rest of the developed countries on Earth.

Is this realistic?

Well, let’s look at the first item: ending corporate influence in Washington.  This requires Congress to completely abandon the method by which they get filthy rich.

Would that have worked at any time in the past?  That’s debatable.

Is it a possibility in today’s environment of limitless corruption?  It’s a toughie, to be sure.

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