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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

In their predictable fashion, Republicans are trying to pretend that the Insurrection never happened, or that it was peaceful and uneventful.

If that’s how these dishonest cowards want to play this going into their primaries, there’s nothing anyone can do to stop them.

But if they think they can lie their way to victory in the general election, they’re badly mistaken.  The majority of the country cares very deeply about justice, rule of law, and the preservation of American democracy.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

At left is a photo of a Ukrainian restaurant in the Lower East Side of New York City, taken in 1953.

It’s a reminder that when terrible situations come to an end, the human race has a long and well respected tradition of celebrating.

The world will be partying like rock stars when Putin leaves.

 

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

This quote from Orwell wasn’t a bad find on the day that Tucker Carlson told his audience that January 6th was a “peaceful protest.”

Note to Fox viewers (as if they’re reading this):  1003 people have been arrested, 350 individuals have been sentenced, 192 to incarceration.

That’s 192 violent rioters who attacked the Capitol, injured police, etc., sitting behind bars.  The right to peacefully assemble is enshrined in the Constitution.  Bashing law enforcement with flag poles is not.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

The meme here is from a group called “Positive Energy,” and, of course, it could be referring to anything.

In this house, however, it can mean only one thing.  As my wife asks frequently, “Any indictments yet?”

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

According to this article, “Every branch of the military is struggling to make its 2022 recruiting goals.”

I’m sure this is a complicated matter in which there are several contributing factors.  Here are a few points of speculation on my part:

• Perhaps a minor issue but one worth mentioning: American culture is far more focused on money as the definitive measure of success than it’s ever been before.  The pay, especially for enlisted personnel, is poor.  You’ll make more at Walmart, who just raised its base employees’ pay from $12 to $14.

• The U.S. military understands that its ultimate commander is the U.S. president, and most military personnel were appalled by Trump’s behavior between 2017 and 2021.  This was more pronounced in the upper echelon, where our most vocal generals and admirals would have done anything legal to remove Trump from his position.

The Military Times repeatedly published the results of surveys that showed how roundly despised Trump is by our armed forces.  This was brought into the fore by his regarding them as “suckers and losers,” and his overriding the internal judicial system to pardon a war criminal. An old friend, an extremely well educated man who recently retired as a Marine Corps colonel in the judge advocate system, said this “slap in the face” to everyone who has served, is serving, or will ever serve in the military, was one of the most indefensible abuses of power ever seen from a U.S. president.

• The GOP wants to stop supporting Ukraine against a clearly illegal invasion from a neighboring autocratic regime.  Many young people coming from rural America where perhaps traditional values mean more than they do elsewhere, are thinking: These people have no moral standards. At best, they are cowards.  I was raised to be a person of honor.  I didn’t graduate at the top of my class, and I’m not going to medical or law school, but no one can tell me that I’m not an ethical human being, and that I should join ranks with criminals who are rooting for a war criminal to take over a democracy, while arresting, torturing, and executing innocent people. 

• They may also think about practical matters.  If Putin prevails in Ukraine, he’ll be in the Baltics and/or Poland before I make corporal.  He’ll have a head of steam, and I’ll die fighting a war that my country, if it weren’t run by corrupt traitors, would have cut off long before it started.”

Would-be recruits understand that almost half the nation, i.e., the Republican party, is as likely as not to win the presidency in 2024.  We could even have Trump again, in which case, many of them would just as soon be a part of the Mafia or the KGB. They’d certainly rather be framing houses or tending bar than working for peanuts for a re-instated traitor to undermine what’s left of world democracy.

Our military has served us well for almost 250 years.  Maybe it’s time to start honoring, and stop abusing, these loyal young Americans, who live by the values for which our nation formerly stood.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

I was one of many hundreds of people in our little town in Central California who protested the murder of George Floyd in May of 2020.  In fact, there were Black Lives Matter supporters all around the world who spoke as one, to the effect that civilized society will not tolerate extra-judicial killing by those who are provided guns and given the responsibility to keep people safe.

One might think the killing of unarmed black people is so totally indefensible that the American people would unite and demand that this cease, but no, today’s Republicans are banning all school books that would inform our young people blacks are often treated more aggressively than white people in comparable situations.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

It would be easy to read this comment from Marcus Aurelius and conclude that it applies to QAnoners and other Trump supporters.  In fairness, however, I don’t think the average Trumper knowingly “continues in self-deception and ignorance.”

Rather, I believe that these people are simply of below average intelligence whose brains are wired to make them more likely to interpret the world around them as frightening and hostile.  This causes them to seek out and latch onto “news” sources that are nothing more than a stream of lies designed to keep their hateful audience members tuned in.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

Here’s one of a dozen or so reasons that Mike Pence will not become President of the United States, i.e., he aided and abetted countless felonies.

This in addition to his being a religious fanatic with a personality like that of a large bag of fertilizer.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Nuclear

As explained here, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission will allow Diablo Canyon to continue operations for at least another year, on the basis that it is required for grid stability.

Sadly, many environmentalists carry erroneous views on the safety of nuclear power and fail to understand its importance in decarbonizing our energy and transportation sectors.

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

There are so many bizarre elements of American society that it’s hard to know where to start. But to pick one from hundreds:

If you send your kid to Catholic school, expecting that she will be respected with Christian values like tolerance, love, and gentleness, you’re a fool.  Children in parochial schools routinely have the living s*** beaten out of them; that’s part of the policy.

Again, if you think “Sister Ethel,” as shown here, has a drop of mercy or kindness running through her dried-up soon-to-be-lifeless corpse, you’re an idiot.

 

 

 

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