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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

Most people cannot bring themselves to hunt animals for sport, though it’s idiotic to blame those who eat what they kill.

In any case, the guy here represents my personal sensibilities on the matter.

Love the cat.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

Sinclair Lewis isn’t the only mid-century American writer who saw this coming.

H.L. Mencken said, “When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.”

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

Discussing the fear that the U.S. may not have survived the coup attempt, a reader notes:   Yes it did. But I would love to see some laws changed to make it a lot harder if there is a next time.

I hear this a lot.  While I’m not a lawyer, I’m familiar with various bits and pieces of the U.S. Criminal Code that appear to work very well here, even without any changes or additions: sedition, conspiracy against the United States, seditious conspiracy, election tampering, witness intimidation, incitement of violence, manslaughter, and treason.

Could further laws make this even more airtight?  Perhaps.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

As suggested in this masterful drawing, it appears that time has run out on Trump.

In particular, the number of people who believe the 2020 presidential election was stolen is diminishing, albeit slowly.  There are a great number of drivers here, including the work of the Select Committee, but it’s really a convergence of many vectors, like the punitive action being taken against Trump’s legal team consisting of Rudy Guiliani, Syndey Powell, Jeffrey Clark, et. al.

So, what’s left after the truth is fully revealed and accepted by virtually all Americans?  Trump lied. He lost, he knew it, and he constructed an elaborate set of mechanisms to overturn the election.

Whether or not he goes to prison, he’s a traitor nonetheless.

We’re a country that is home to too many meanspirited gullible idiots, but we have our limits.  Politically, Trump’s gone.

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

As usual, when Trump says something (like this quote on “Democrats’ persecuting him), it comes down to one thing: What are his people stupid enough to believe?

The Select Committee investigating the insurrection was constituted as it is especially because Republicans chose to boycott it, in the belief that doing so would destroy its legitimacy.  They didn’t expect, it seems, that two Republicans, Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, would play such shocking visible roles in sorting out the truth regarding a coup attempt, and that most of the witnesses the committee called would be Republicans as well.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

Here’s 36-year-old Sanna Marin, the Prime Minister of Finland.

To me, it’s a photo that says that progressive nations, i.e., those that place a high value on the well-being of all the people, recognize that government doesn’t need to be led by an old man.

by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Electric Vehicles

Always good to see major nations tackling environmental issues, and few do it any more aggressively than Germany.

Once the infrastructure is in place, why not use it to the fullest degree possible?

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

Protesters outside Capitol-Francis Chung/E&E News

A week or so ago, I wrote, “At this point, we must believe that the United States appears to have survived this attack.”  Not everyone agreed, however.  Some responses:

 • The attack is ongoing and whether it survives is very much up in the air.
 • Not really, Craig. The coup is still in progress. Every time he says the election was stolen he is advancing the coup.
 • Yes it did. But I would love to see some laws changed to make it a lot harder if there is a next time.
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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

Just getting back from Hawaii, visiting my aging mom.

She asked me to run her by Home Depot to pick up a few succulents and some potting soil, which I didn’t mind doing even though I personally don’t spend a dime there because of their enormous support for Trump.

Here’s something I learned about Home Depot as a representative of a large class of corporate employers, and the socioeconomics of our times. Since the pandemic, they have lost 100 employees–in that one store alone, on Kauai, Hawaii.

Now they’re hiring, but the only job offerings are part-time, perhaps 20 hours per week, enabling them so they can avoid paying any worker benefits. They don’t want one fulltime employee who will enjoy a secure position; they want two part time workers both of whom they can oppress with pending starvation.

These employees will be working 20 hours per week X 4 weeks/month X perhaps $15 per hour = $1200 per month minus taxes, where monthly rents for a room in a shared house are maybe $1000.

Enter the world of disinformation where the narrative here is “No one wants to work anymore.” We’ve all heard it.

One needs to congratulate the corporate world for its unbridled success in PR here. They’re starving their employees, while making it appear that the problem is the worker’s laziness. Kudos.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Climate Change

What will California look like when a massive glacier melts?

Well, it depends on which one, doesn’t it?

In truth, the melting of each of our glaciers is a dynamic affair, one we’re learning more about each year.

Nothing about this subject looks comforting, but there is certainly no predictable formula to describe the line from this point in time until that at which most of the coastal cities are under water.

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