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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

From this article:  From Nazi Germany to the Pinochet regime in Chile, global parallels with where this type of repression leads should set off alarms.

Yes, it should set off alarms. but keep in mind that almost half of American voters believe that our educational institutions are breeding grounds for “wokeness” and the “radical left.”

We need also keep in mind that one of the loudest voices behind the attack on our schools comes from Florida governor Ron DeSantis, a front-runner for the Republican nomination for the U.S. presidency in 2024.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

Of course, not everyone sees it this way.  Especially in modern times, there are plenty of people who view the world as “dog-eat-dog.”

Fortunately, they’re in the minority.  Think of all the teachers and the nurses.  Then consider that there are more than 200,000 groups on this planet whose purpose is environmental and social justice.  That’s a lot of horsepower.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

It’s so sad to lose a formerly intellectually coherent parent to Fox News.  How many millions of Americans have experienced this precise tragedy?

Yet Fox is a far more benign form of “news” disinformation than Newsmax and OAN.

A uniquely American catastrophe.

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

Hillsdale College, a supposed institution of learning, asks if the electoral college helps or hinders our voting process.

Its only effect is that it’s great in terms of shifting the impact of votes from populous states like New York and California to those like Wyoming and the Dakotas.

Voters in these latter states are ~4 times more influential than the former in determining the outcome of our presidential elections.

If you’re an ultra-right-winger and you don’t believe in “one person one vote,” this is a great instrument in bringing your wishes to fruition.

 

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

When I was a young boy, I made an assertion that I thought meant something of importance, only to have a friend respond, “Craig, you have a firm grasp on the obvious.”  I still remember how it cut like a knife.

Recently, court filings have revealed to even the dullest minds that actors and executives at Fox News are professional liars.  Perhaps at least a few of their viewers are embarrassed, as I was at the time.

Maybe, or maybe not.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability
When Barney told Andy he should just let Opie “decide for himself” how he wanted to live… Andy had these words of wisdom.
“No, I’m afraid it don’t work that way. You can’t let a young’n decide for himself. He’ll grab at the first flashy thing with shiny ribbons on it. Then, when he finds out there’s a hook in it, it’s too late. Wrong ideas come packaged with so much glitter that it’s hard to convince ‘em that other things might be better in the long run. All a parent can do is say ‘wait’ and ‘trust me’ and try to keep temptation away.”
Somehow… we have lost this basic truth. Too many people are more worried about being their child’s friend, than in being a parent.
FWIW, here’s how I negotiated this conundrum as a father with my two kids:  I would always let the kid experience the consequences of his own decisions, as long as the possible results weren’t horrific.  If the kid wanted to play in traffic, the answer was no.  If the worst was a potential scraped knee, I’d say, “If you think that’s a good idea, go for it.”
All things equal, I wanted to be liked, but my advice: Never make a parental decision at the expense of doing your duty.
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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

I frequently wonder about the right to “bear arms” as heralded in the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

What was the intention of the Founding Fathers when they chose those two words?  Would they have supported citizens’ right to own rocket-propelled grenades or nuclear weapons?

If they had known that had known that, 240 years later, the moron here wearing a red baseball cap would be wielding a flame thrower, what do you think they might have said?

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

What’s the problem with treating everyone around you well, regardless of the circumstances?

We’ve all heard someone say, “I wouldn’t wish that (some sort of pain) on my worst enemy.”

I don’t have a worst enemy; in fact, I don’t have any enemies at all.  It’s not that I’ve never been mistreated, but who lives a better life by cultivating enemies and keeping their slights against us in our minds?

I hope that the sociopathic criminals in our world meet justice, but I think it’s gauche to hope that even a Donald Trump suffers a punishment any worse than what our justice system prescribes.

But take the advice of people far wiser than I could ever hope to be.  You can’t control what other people do, but you can control how you react.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

News Flash: Libs aren’t seething, though many feel sorry for these idiots.

Another point to be made is that shirts like these were far more popular two years ago, before thousands of morons stormed the Capitol and many hundreds were arrested, tried, convicted, and sent to prison.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

It’s not news that the United States’ political scene is deeply divided, to such a degree that, regardless of what Democrats want, Republicans will work hard to make sure it doesn’t happen.

In many cases, this has the potential to make sense.  If, for instance, the Biden administration wants to spend taxpayer money on programs to help the common American, feed hungry children abroad, or mitigate climate change, we can rightfully expect the GOP to protest that a big government creates more problems than it solves–in fact, as Ronald Reagan said, government is the problem.

But Russia and Ukraine?  Republicans support an authoritarian state that invades a neighboring democracy and murders innocent civilians?

I sometimes hear the Fox News talking points parroted by my mom, who never misses Tucker Carlson.  She’ll ask, for instance, “What do I have in common with the Ukrainian people?”

Well, how about this?  You and they live in countries in which citizens elect their leaders, we’re both willing to fight against foreign aggression, and we will protect our families and neighbors against wanton arrest, imprisonment, torture, and execution.  That seems pretty noncontroversial to me.

If I were advising the Republicans, I’d tell them to sit this one out, and stick with promoting AR-15s, and banning books and abortion.

 

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