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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Science

This is funny, until you think about it.

Yes, we can remove the academics from school and replace them with practical or vocational studies like farming, carpentry, or, in this case, tax prep.

But then we accelerate the dwindling spiral on which we’re already embarked, and wind up with semiliterate kids with no understanding of math and science, further handing our future over to China, and all the other nations who actually care about educating their young people.

If you’re a Trump supporter, destroying education has the side benefit of cranking out voters who don’t care about pathological liars in the White House, women’s rights, environmental responsibility, cruelty, wealth inequality, common sense gun laws, voter suppression, or any of the aspects of the present-day GOP platform.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

The reader who sent me this meme supports the banning of high-capacity rifle magazines, which, if it stands, will most certainly mean that fewer of our children and other loved ones will be blown to bits.

The problem, of course, is that this piece of legislation in the State of Washington will be challenged in various courts, and one of them will eventually overturn it.  The U.S. Supreme Court, in the extremely unlikely event that it gets that far, will refuse to hear it.

I love this reader’s enthusiasm, and I hope she will not be let down, but that’s all but inevitable. It’s one of what could be collectively called “our great American tragedies.”

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

I don’t think anyone with any sense or decency wants to “ban Fox News.” Here are some things that really must be done, however.

Fox should not be allowed to promote itself as a “news” source and, at the same time, defend itself against lawsuits on the basis that “no one with even a feeble level of intelligence accepts that its programming is truthful.” This is the basis on which Fox has consistently prevailed in court against litigants who accuse it of libel.

This idea is not my own; the Canadian government doesn’t permit Fox to broadcast, but only because the network refuses to replace the word “news” with something honest, perhaps “opinions” or “entertainment.”

Having said all this, the FCC actually should revoke Fox’s license to broadcast if it’s shown that it deliberately spread COVID disinformation that resulted in hundreds of thousands of deaths.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

I love this woman’s observation.

We hope that all the phenomena that signal the rise of fascism, book banning among them, will all be rejected by the American public.

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

I don’t think we impute too much integrity into U.S. politicians, most of whose M.O. consists of taking large donations from moneyed interests, and then repaying the donors with laws that provide them unfair benefits, at the expense of the American people.

Yet who saw this coming? A complete breakdown of all integrity.  Widespread support for a pathological liar, conman, and wanna-be fascist dictator.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

Dolphins behave similarly; they form fast-moving cylinders in which they trap the fish they will eat.

What are the take-aways from this piece about the ants?

Very little intelligence, at least as we conceive it, is required to optimize well-being for everyone.

We are born with an instinct to take care of one another.

Our civilization has “evolved” to the point that the most core elements of our being have been stamped out.  The result: the systematic destruction of our only home.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Electric Vehicles

We often see claims that a certain EV is equipped with solar panels and thus never needs to be charged from external sources. Yet when we do the math we can see instantly that such a car would be extremely limited in power and range.

Here’s one that actually works according to its inventor’s assertion. Cute idea.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Science

Those wishing to know why present-day Americans are so vehement in their rejection of science, consider this piece from Bertrand Russell:

“It is science that has destroyed the belief in witchcraft, magic and sorcery. It is science that has made the old creeds and the old superstitions impossible for intelligent men to accept. It is science that has made it laughable to suppose the earth the center of the universe and man the supreme purpose of the creation. It is science that is showing the falsehood of the old dualisms of soul and body, mind and matter, which have their origin in religion. It is science that is beginning to make us understand ourselves, and to enable us, up to a point, to see ourselves from without as curious mechanisms. It is science that has taught us the way to substitute tentative truth for cocksure error.”

The answer to the question lies in the last sentence. Our educational system is failing, and uneducated people love to be “cocksure.”

Cults, perhaps the most notorious for their rejection of science, don’t want doubters; they demand that their followers be certain.  In fact, some of them sell certainty as one of the benefits of membership.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

Fifteen years ago, if you had wanted to bet me that I’d be a huge fan of a child of Dick Cheney in the year 2022, you would have a thousand dollars against a nickel.

Wow, this is hot stuff, and, regardless of how all this turns out, she’ll be regarded as among the bravest patriots in U.S. history.

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Science
Re: the question at left, Reader A replies:
Maybe as an elective but not part of the main curriculum. Too few people use it.
Reader B responds:
Not true! MANY people use cursive writing! I know I still do. It is a functional communicative art that is also as individualistic as one’s fingerprint! It should not be delegated to a substandard communication device ever!
IMO, the thing to keep in mind is that classroom time is limited.  If you want to teach cursive, that means you’re not teaching something else. I’d prefer that a seven-year-old (?) get a little better at reading and writing, maybe a bit further along in math or in the appreciation of nature.
Also, as Reader A said, it’s falling into disuse. Is anyone learning to take dictation using shorthand?  I hope not.
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