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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

Re: the meme here, a reader asks: How do you convince Republicans that their children are being disenfranchised because their party wants to starve public education out for the sake of privatization?

You don’t.  Two responses:

Wealthy Republicans understand that educated people tend not to vote Republican, especially in the deplorable condition in which it finds itself today, with all the lies, crime, and stupidity. For them, others’ ignorance translates directly into political success.

In general, the truly dug-in Trump base doesn’t put much value on education.  A recent data analysis of the returns showed how the more college-educated white people there are in a given area, the better Biden did vs. Trump in 2020.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

I’m trying to find something about this that I agree with, but I’m failing.

Rage accomplishes nothing but diminishing the quality of your life, and those around you. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

What a fabulous point writer Sigrid Ellis makes here.

We love to be heroes, but we care very little about building a sustainable and compassionate world.

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

Adam Kinzinger is a rare bird.

Yet I would argue that the Republicans, at least since Eisenhower, have had no real interest in “helping the American people,” unless by that you mean “helping well-off white Christian Americans.”

In any case, Kinzinger’s position here is so radically different than the core of his party that calling him a “Republican” is a misnomer.  His group needs a different name, perhaps “Retro-Republican.”

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

This sounds good on paper, but keep in mind three things:

1) There is a reason that manufacturing jobs have moved out of the U.S., and that’s money.  Things like electronics and solar panels are not made here because they would be nowhere near cost-competitive. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

How possible is this, given that we live in a country where half the country believes the Big Lie and rejects science?

Let’s recognize that the country was never truly homogeneous, but is there a path towards some workable level of living together amicably?

If there is, it begins with truth and justice surrounding the 2020 election.  If the big boys can be held accountable, a great number of Trump’s present-day supporters will fold their tents and move on.  The Republican party can nominate a garden-variety conservative who isn’t a sociopath, and perhaps the nation can go forward into a future that isn’t based on pure, hateful bull****.

 

Thanks to Bob Gorrell for the fantastic piece of art. 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

The idea that the U.S. Supreme Court justices are apolitical is a joke. Clarence Thomas’ wife Virginia is a vocal right-wing activist, who cheered on the January 6th insurrectionists, while claiming that America is in existential danger because of the “deep state” and the “fascist left,” which includes “transsexual fascists,” per the New Yorker.

Perhaps worse, “Behind closed doors, she’s working with many groups directly involved in controversial cases before the Court,” as reported here.

If a judge has somehow been assigned to hear a criminal case against one of his children, he recuses himself.  Now, I understand that Thomas is a horrible person, and is not going to put limitations on his own power, but can’t we do something about this blatant corruption at the highest level of government?

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Science

The 1981 flick “My Dinner with Andre” represented a departure from traditional filmmaking across several different dimensions.  No plot, no character development, no cinematography, no tension, and certainly no denouement.  At the same time, it’s thoroughly worthwhile. (more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

Re: Michael Flynn, a reader notes: A devolution. Went from “hero to zero.” From protector to villain. From soldier to criminal.

Indeed.  He pulled a “Giuliani.”

For the life of me, I can’t understand why people who have lived lives of honor, who are celebrated as heroes because of their valor, turn into liars and common criminals.  What’s the benefit?

You were loved and now you’re detested. And that’s if you can find a way to stay out of prison.

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

A reader sent me this piece, a statement by a police chief:

It’s not the police who need to be retrained, it’s the public. We have grown into a mouthy, mobile phone wielding, vulgar, uncivil society with no personal responsibility and the attitude of ‘it’s the other person’s fault, you owe me’. A society where children grow up with no boundaries or knowledge or concern for civil society and personal responsibility.

He clearly has a point about our disrespectful and non-compliant citizenry. People, and especially our young, don’t have the manners that we oldsters had when we were growing up.  But to blame citizens’ behavior and to take no responsibility for things like the spate of deaths of unarmed black people is just atrocious. It’s completely obvious that the police need to be trained in de-escalating situations, using no more force than required, and not treating black people more harshly than whites.

If you wear a badge and reject that, you really need to find another line of work.

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