EVWorld‘s Bill Moore writes: There are now more electric mowers (13) on display at our local Papillion (Nebraska) Home Depot than gas models (9).
In terms of the electrification of everything, lawn mowers seem like an excellent piece of equipment to replace gasoline engines with batteries and electric motors. Everyone knows the exact size of his lawn, so there is no reason to buy something whose energy storage capacity is too big (or too small).
Occasionally, when I come across something like this quote from Carl Sagan, I ask myself how open I am to admitting to myself that I’ve been bamboozled.
Suppose it turns out that Fox News is right about Donald Trump, that he is an honest and effective servant of the American people who selflessly defended U.S. interests around the globe, who was hounded by the liberal elite, and ultimately removed when the Deep State rigged the 2020 election. (more…)
IMO, this is the definitive argument for keeping government out of the business of limiting abortion in any way (let alone banning it).
The mere presence of Pete Buttigieg on the political scene is a huge comfort to all decent Americans. Knowing that there are still people of compassion and intelligence in Washington is an enormous salve, at a time in which hate and stupidity rule the day.
This from Brian Stelter, American TV anchor and chief media correspondent for CNN, re: a quote from Jeffrey Toobin, legal analyst for CNN.
I’m not an expert on the Supreme Court, but I would say that recovering from this leak will be a piece of cake as compared to rebuilding after a) blatant corruption, e.g., Clarence Thomas’ not recusing himself from a case in which he has a personal interest (which happens to be overthrowing the United States government), and b) perjury, e.g., Cavanaugh’s, Comey’s, and Gorsuch’s swearing under oath that they recognized Roe as the law of the land.
“For another decade or so, climate change will get worse and farms like mine will die,” says a desperate farmer in West Virginia, imploring Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) to do something about it.
For one, climate change will get worse for a hell of a lot longer than another “decade or so,” but that’s not the point.
What matters is that Joe Manchin couldn’t possibly care less about the plight of the people he “serves.” He knows goddamn well that the planet is rapidly losing its capacity to support life, but he’s married to moneyed interests, and he has no more sense of ethics and mercy than a Maco shark.
You have precisely one way to defend yourself, and that’s to remove Manchin from office at the next available opportunity.
IMO, our kids should be encouraged to go to college. I’ve felt this way every since I was quite young, perhaps because it was a huge part of the ethos of growing up in the Shields family, but maybe because, even at an early age, it was clear to me that a good education had huge value, completely independent of one’s earning potential.
Now, all those years later, a new dynamic has entered the equation, at least the way I see it, and that is extreme right-wing politics, white nationalism, and all the rest of this ignorance. College-educated professionals are less likely to be Trump supporters than tradespeople. Reading about other cultures, studying history, not to mention learning basic science makes it very hard to think that God sent us Trump as a gift to make America great again, and that white people are the master race.
Having my kids growing up to be unable to see that Trump is a criminal sociopath would sadden me beyond words.
Here’s my friend, the suspicious dog, one more time. Like him, I feel that I’m being lied to frequently, e.g., when I come across articles like this one, focused on discrediting lab-based meat. (more…)
Until Ruth Bader Ginsberg died and the process of reshaping the U.S. Supreme Court to drive a far-right political agenda began, very few Americans paid any real attention to the philosophies of the individual justices. Sure, there were liberals and conservatives, but the broad presumption was that they would continue to balance themselves out.
As recently as a few months ago, virtually no one considered the possibility that this institution might be corrupt (see meme here), or that American life could be completely turned upside down by a single decision.
All that’s changed, over a very short and horrific period of time.
Like the dog here, I have to say I’m suspicious.
The U.S. Supreme Court hears what is arguably the most significant case in the last half century, and a shocking draft opinion is leaked, a month before the final decision was to be announced. The vast majority of Americans are outraged.
My, that’s quite a coincidence.
Yes, as Chief Justice Roberts insists, the draft does not represent the final decision. But suppose that it is the final decision, in which case we’ll have, in summary:
Donald Trump and the Republican-controlled Senate were able to stuff three ultra-right-wing justices onto the court. To make that happen, the nominees lied about their views on abortion (and God knows what else) in front of the U.S. Senate, then were promptly confirmed, just in time to erase a woman’s right that had been enshrined in a Supreme Court precedent since 1972.
Now, virtually all our nation’s women and most of our men are furious, and the whole process is being hailed as the single stupidest move in the entire history of American conservatism.
Stupid? Well, maybe, but is there any motive that could possibly explain such a thing? Is it conceivable that there are moneyed interests that would want to:
– Further deepen the division that exists between Democrats and Republicans, creating as much hatred and chaos as possible?
– Get the rage out of the way as far in advance of the midterms as possible?
– Use this to test the waters, potentially so as to change the final decision accordingly?
I don’t need to be reminded that all this is one big, swirling conspiracy theory from hell. I admit that I have no more evidence for it than the QAnon people have for the stolen election. It’s the type of thing I normally sneer at, to put it politely.
Yet here, this is all weird in the extreme.
Of course it’s possible. No one knows how this is going to work out.
The United States may be on course to join Iraq, Laos, and 14 of the other most regressive nations on the planet.
Trump supporters protest mask mandates on the basis that “government is taking our rights away,” but they’re thrilled that we’re headed for a scenario on which a woman will be forced to carry her fetus to term, even if that means the near-certain death of both the baby and the woman herself.
