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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

“Ignorance leads to fear, fear leads to hate, hate leads to violence.  That is the equation.”

Access to high quality public education is absolutely critical to our ability, as Americans, to reverse the course of all the horrific behavior that we see all around us.

(Those of us trying to learn Spanish note that the verb llevar is used here, which I’ve translated as “to lead to.”  It can also mean carry, take, wear,  have, occupy, bring, consume, conduct, guide, behave, bear a burden, assume, spend, drive, and include.  Like I say, English has more words than it needs; Spanish has too few.)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

My mom occasionally mentions that the blog here has a tendency to be repetitive, and there’s no arguing that.  After all, there are only a few main impediments to humankind’s living longer, healthier, more just, more satisfying lives on a greener planet, and it is to those subjects that I confine myself.

The one that sits on top of all the others, the keystone to the arch as it were, is money in politics.

David Cobb, known as a “people’s lawyer” for his fierce legal pursuit of corporate polluters and lobbied elected officials, says this: no matter what cheeses you off most about our current situation: rapidly deteriorating education, a two-tiered justice system, the mass murder of our school kids, the fossil fuel industry’s using our atmosphere as its own private sewer, or homeless veterans dying of treatable diseases, it all comes down to one thing: bribery.

Lawmakers are taking campaign contributions from entities that profit from ruining innocent people’s lives.

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Wind Energy

Here’s an interesting video that compares small wind (<50 KW) with solar for the typical homeowner.

The fellow concludes that small wind “isn’t there yet,” though there are some promising potential solutions coming onto the market soon; he actually predicts a positive growth rate for small wind in the U.S. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

There is no doubt that 99+% of the people of Arkansas are totally fine with what their governor has said here, and that their kids are learning to be “children of God.”

Of course, this violates the provision of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution that prevents the government from making laws that regulate an establishment of religion, and thus such governance, if it were to occur outside the Deep South, it would be obliterated in the courts.

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

It’s good to see that the U.S. legislative world hasn’t forgotten about overturning, preferably via a Constitutional Amendment, the Supreme Court decision FEC v. Citizens United, that granted corporations free speech protection to donate as much as they want to our political campaigns, essentially undermining the will of the American people.

It’s been almost 13 years to the day since this decision came down, and it would be interesting to know what if anything in the political and economic climate has changed that may make things easier or harder on those supporting such an amendment.

The rich have most certainly gotten richer, and everyone else is struggling just to stay alive, so that probably doesn’t bode well. Neither does the fact that we have a GOP House majority that has a huge appetite for pleasing the super-wealthy and for inflicting cruelty to the common American.

Still, it’s heartening to see a few progressive congresspeople moving this forward.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

FWIW, I’m happy that Garland appointed a special prosecutor in the Biden/documents case.  This is what AGs do when there is both a) reason to believe a crime has been committed, and b) there could be the apparency of a conflict of interest within the Justice Department.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Biofuels
2GreenEnergy super-supporter Cameron Atwood asked for my take on this article in Scientific American on the environmental  issues associated with biofuels.
Craig: I’m bearish on biofuels for many reasons.  The main problem, and it seems insurmountable, is that plants didn’t evolve to have more chemical energy content than they need to grow and reproduce.
The caption under the pic here (credit: Nuseed) reads: “Carinata is a crop that produces an energy-rich oil and can help to sequester carbon.” Seriously?  It grows for a season then gets combusted in our gas tanks a few months later?

(more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

The correct answer here depends on how stupid you are, and how little you know about how the people in the rest of the developed world actually live.  They pay marginally higher taxes, but they lead better, healthier, and far happier lives than we do here.

Most of those targeted by this “survey” are clueless of these facts, which is what makes Hillsdale “College” a total sham.

If I come back, somehow reincarnated as a selfish and hateful ass****, I’ll probably establish and run the next such “college,” or perhaps become a billionaire televangelist. Both are easy ways to fleece morons.

As Trump said, “I love the uneducated.”  He is, to date, the world’s greatest criminal conman, but he’s still playing golf, as his lackeys, one after the next, line up for long sentences in prisons.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

To all females reviewing the meme here, recognize this:  Yes, you would die.

Of course, the loss of your life would forward a cause.

But is it your cause?

Lawmakers, largely white male Christians, insist that the life of a woman’s fetus is more valuable than that of the woman herself.

If that’s a cause you support, by all means, make sure to vote so as to continue electing people to congress who think of women as nothing more than delivery vehicles for babies.

I’ll never come anywhere close to understanding the level of stupidity required, but that’s just me.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Science

Whenever I come across these emergency power supplies sold to “patriots” I always wonder why products like these are targeted to Trump supporters. After all, don’t progressives need power backup in the case of outages? Upon further inspection, the answer becomes clear.

If you’re living in a tent and wish to charge your cell phone or power your electric razor, you’re in luck.  300 Watts will get this done.

Most people, however, are going to recognize instantly that 300 Watts is about 25% of what’s required to power your toaster, if you’re willing to cut off your heating, refrigeration, computers, televisions, etc.

 

 

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