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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

The meme here reminds me of a conversation I had with a park ranger in the Sierra Nevada mountains in Eastern California, when I went into her office to get a permit for our party to hike and camp.  I noticed a diorama showing that some of the trees in the area bear evidence that the Earth is older than 6000 years.

I asked, “Don’t deeply religious people challenge you on its veracity?”  She replied, “Happens often.  I try to change the subject as quickly as possible.”

It’s sad that such an evolved species of animal can’t use its “big brains” any better than this.

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

I understand Mr. Wortman’s point here, but I disagree.  Trump doesn’t have to be guilty.

What does need to exist is probable cause that meaningful evidence of a crime was located at Mar-a-Lago before Monday’s raid.

The presumption of innocence is central to our Constitution and to our democracy as a whole.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Climate Change

The drought in Europe is having devastating effects on everything from wildlife to tourism to supply chain logistics, as products that are traditionally delivered by riverboat are stranded far from their destinations.

France hasn’t seen a drought like this in 500 years.

From Wikipedia:

Two thirds of (France) is at crisis alert.[5] It has reportedly been caused by the historic heatwaves that have hit the country.[6] July was reportedly the driest month in France for 60 years.[7] By August, 100 villages have ran out of drinking water.[8] Water use has been restricted in nearly all metropolitan departments of France.[9] The Prime Minister of France Élisabeth Borne has called it “the country’s worst drought in history”.[10] On 5 August, she announced the creation of an inter-ministerial crisis unit.[11]

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

I interviewed the spokesman for the CATO Institute for my third book, Renewable Energy — Following the Money, and I have to say that it was a profound experience.  Here’s a group whose only reason for being is its attempt to prevent the U.S. government from helping Americans lead better, healthier, and longer lives.

As one can expect, the lines of argumentation were so ludicrous it was hard for me to believe I just heard those words uttered by a grown man.

My favorite: climate change won’t inflict any real damage for at least another 50 years, so there is no reason to take action until then.

My response: “Suppose you’re a smoker, and your doctor showed you your chest X-ray, pointing to a tumor on one of your lungs. Then he says, ‘This cancer won’t kill you for at least five years, so it would be a good idea to quit smoking five years from now.’ I don’t find your reasoning any better than this.”

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

… comes this video of sportsmanship and true decency.

We have every reason to be utterly disappointed in the character of the people we live among.  But maybe we have an even better reason to love and respect one another.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

There are many reasons that decent and reasonably intelligent people don’t watch Fox News, and one of them is shown at left.  No one with the IQ of a stalk of celery would even consider accepting “news” that consists of what some garden-variety Trump supporter thinks is “probably” happening, or has a particular “hunch” about.

This is why there is no Fox News in Canada, i.e., they have a law that anything called “news” has to be factual.

Here in the States, we simply couldn’t care less.  Morons are buying it, and Fox News is selling it.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

Years from now, when the entire legal mess surrounding the coup attempt is behind us, we’ll look back and realize something quite warming and satisfactory about a few top-level government officials: they were incorruptible.

The meme here reminds me of Trump’s initial conversation with James Comey in which he asked the then-FBI Director, “Do I have your loyalty?” to which Comey replied, “You have my honesty.”

The honor of people like current FBI Director Christopher Wray is the only thing standing between this country and Venezuela or the Philippines.  Let’s not forget that.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

We see all the handwringing surrounding the FBI on Trump’s home at Mar-a-Lago.  Proponents of justice and honor hope this is the beginning of the end for the treasonous former president, and the MAGA folks are screaming about the political weaponization of the DoJ.

As shown at left, however, Joseph Mark Glazner sees this as an opportunity for a bit of humor.  My hat’s off.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

Anyone could have predicted that the Fox News / MAGA crowd would have lost its mind about the FBI’s executing a search warrant on the former president’s home in Florida.  But here’s a question: doesn’t it matter what the evidence is?

All any of us knows is: a) an FBI investigation gathered evidence that showed probable cause that a crime had been committed and that further evidence was likely going to be found at Trump’s home, b) the agents involved showed it to a federal prosecutor who agreed, c) the agents generated an affidavit, and swore under penalty of perjury that it was truthful, d) they presented it to a federal judge who agreed and authorized the search.

Note that this entire process is enshrined in law that has been upheld in the U.S. Supreme Court, and that it has nothing whatsoever to do with Democrats, radical liberals, Antifa, Black Lives Matter, or the Hari Krishna.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

American novelist, poet, essayist, environmental activist, and cultural critic Wendell Berry is often quoted nowadays for his unflagging optimism and his fierce confidence in the true goodness of humankind.

IMO, we can’t get enough of this.

 

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