Trump Supporters Beware
I’m sure there are people all across the country whose parents watch Fox News, who are praying that their inheritances aren’t going into Trump’s pockets.
Arc of the Moral Universe
I totally agree with the author of the meme here, especially given the trend toward authoritarianism we see happening in so many countries around the globe, including our own.
Demagogues need a hateful and ignorant base over which to rule, and once hate and ignorance take hold, they form a dwindling spiral, each reinforcing the other.
At a certain point, they take the culture down to the point that decent, educated people are ridiculed, in this case, as “woke.”
It’s going to take some real work to turn this around.
Weapons of War
Here’s a fabulous idea for the disposition of assault weapons.
Not sure we’ll have too many takers, but I like the thought.
Tagged with: assault weapons
More on the Question: Are You Investing in Oil and Gas?
In my recent post, I lampooned oil and gas start-up TankHead for its appeal to investors on the basis that they’ll be able to grow their current production of 85-90 barrels of crude per day into competitive levels, and make all their investors rich.As I pointed out, a claim that this company, now manufacturing less than one-millionth of the world’s oil supply, will ultimately become successful, is ludicrous.
I neglected to mention that General Motors, which leads the global automobile market, made 6 million cars and trucks last year, is converting to 100% electric transportation in the next few years. How effing stupid does the prospective investor need to be?
Yes, anyone who makes investments so as to deliberately hasten the demise of our planet is a total asshole, but people who can’t follow the news and think of themselves as savvy investors are idiots.
One of Very Few Republicans on Gun Control
Many Americans remember John Kasich from the 2016 Republican primaries. He stood out from the crowd of perhaps 15 or 16 hopefuls, largely for his sane and decent nature.
Here we are, seven years later, and the Republican party has squirted even further to the right, at this point making Kasich appear to be an absolute freak. Undeterred, the former Ohio Governor responded to the latest school shooting by suggesting, and get this, that we take legal action to keep weapons of war out of the hands of the mentally ill.
From this article:
Kasich is calling for action and saying that the American people need to demand it from their elected representatives. He even has some suggestions on exactly how to do that. It’s time to stand up and protest, he says, taking the debate right to lawmakers.
Right on.
DeSantis Having It All His Way in Terms of Media Coverage
Here’s an article that makes an excellent point: the coverage of Ron DeSantis, both positive and negative, is directed almost completely to the hot-button issues that the candidate’s handlers want to focus on: wokeness, LGBTQ rights, and immigration.
No one seems to want to say that DeSantis has done very little if anything for Floridians, who live in a state very close to the bottom of the list in terms of healthcare, public education spending, and economic opportunity.
Tagged with: coverage of Ron DeSantis
Thoughts and Prayers
I’m sure there are thousands of memes circulating that point out the worthlessness of “thoughts and prayers,” imploring our elected officials to protect us, and especially our children, from having our bodies ripped to bits by weapons of war in the hands of the mentally ill.
The one at left stands out in the crowd, at least to me.
Tagged with: weapons of war
Investing in Oil and Gas?
From their website:TankHead is looking for accredited investors with an interest in creating value for potential of high return on investment.
With a diverse team of experts with over 120 years of combined experience under our belt and a focus on acquiring non-operated working interest, royalty interest, and mineral interest projects, TankHead is already producing 85 to 90 net barrels of production a day and is looking to expand with the help of investors like you.
A couple of comments:
The global daily oil consumption is over 96 million barrels per day, so TankHead’s claim, if true, is embarrassing. Why claim any current production? This is nearly the exact equivalent of entering the tennis ball manufacturing business (300 million made each year) and saying you already produce one ball every day.
Anyone who thinks that the oil and gas sector is poised for high growth, or, worse, that TankHead is going to compete effectively in it, is an idiot.
Anyone who makes investments so as to deliberately hasten the demise of our planet is a total asshole. From their video: “Oil and gas men are a different breed.” You can say that again.
How American Doctors Must Treat Disease
The point of the “survey” here, of course, is to goad ignorant people into claiming that doctors can say and do anything they like, by way of treating disease, because their free speech is protected under the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
In the United States, the practice of medicine is shepherded by the American Medical Association; it’s illegal to claim to treat a disease without an AMA license. Generally, we citizens approve of this, as it protects us from being scammed with worthless or even dangerous “cures,” and this is especially important in the Internet age, where QAnon and dozens of other anti-science groups can reach millions of gullible fools with whatever baseless claim they choose.
Having said that, doctors have a certain degree of latitude as to how they go about their work and what treatments they recommend. I happened to ask one of my doctors if she was bound by AMA regulations, to recommend only the “standard of care,” i.e., what the scientific consensus had determined to be the most efficacious approach, and she replied, “No, I can prescribe anything for which there is a solid reason and evidence that would cause me to believe it to be effective. I can’t offer voodoo, but I have some leeway.”
Now, let’s apply this to COVID-19. Considering a) the lethality of the early variants of the disease, b) the threat it poses to our entire civilization, and c) the rapid progress the scientific community is making vis-à-vis vaccination protocols and other safety measures, most doctors are particularly careful to follow the guidelines that are put in place from the world’s top epidemiological organizations.
Tagged with: American Medical Association, free speech protected under the First Amendment, QAnon and dozens of other anti-science groups, rapid progress the scientific community is making vis-à-vis vaccination protocols and other safety measures, the lethality of the early variants of COVID-19, threat COVID-19 poses to our entire civilization
What Unites Trump Supporters
What we’re looking at here is people of terrible character. Trump supporters, by definition, approve of racism, lies, and criminality.
Are they all pedophiles? Of course not. But it’s a good bet that every one of them has some enormous moral failing.
Tagged with: What Unites Trump Supporters
