I’ll be the first to admit that K – 12 (elementary and high school) is not right for everyone, and that certainly includes people with IQs in the 190 – 215 range. Those who have been given great intellectual power are going to find, like Einstein apparently did, that school is mind-numbingly tedious and regimented.

From here, some people extrapolate that all school does is destroy creativity and crank out conformists who don’t have the horsepower (or the interest) to question authority and think for themselves.

Most people, however, look back on their school days with an understanding that this is where they learned to read and write, and to wrap their wits around math and science, as well as the humanities.

In other words, school is the institution that, without which, America would be completely dominated by people like the guy here.

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That Elon Musk is calling for end of government EV subsidies seems wrong on at least two counts:

Tesla got where it is on the back of huge help from the U.S. government, and

subsidizing a social good (or taxing a social evil) is a proven way to affect society in a positive way.

We’re all impressed with Musk’s accomplishments, but we sure wish he were more focused on decarbonizing the transportation and energy sector and less on making his next $100 billion.

We also wish he could be less blatantly abusive of his employees’ rights.

 

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The title of this post may be misleading; progressives do get involved with the issues of the day.

The problem is that there are dozens of ways to be a progressive, because there are so many causes to support: climate action, human rights, policy based on science, getting money out of politics, quality education, universal healthcare, equal justice for all, and the list goes on.

By comparison, conservatives organize easily, since they do so around a singular notion, i.e., the opposition of everything progressives want. If it benefits the common person, now or in generations to come, it’s off the list.

So simple.

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Here’s the story of how a young man won an award in design engineering for his unique process that turns kombucha waste into synthetic wood.  I have no problem with this, except for the claim that this could curb deforestation.

Collectively, Americans alone use about 100 million tons of wood annually.  That’s 10 – 15 billion cubic feet.

How much kombucha waste gets discarded each year?

To be honest, I don’t know.  But give me a break.

 

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What’s the difference between saying “My religion is kindness” and “I don’t have a religion; I’m a human being with a good heart?”

He then goes on to encourage all of humankind to be the same.

It’s a life accomplishment that’s hard to beat.

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“Sing it.”

I just did, to the phrasing of the piece, as linked here.

This was written when Christians still believed in the teachings of Christ.

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A reader notes: Perhaps I’m just out of sync with the times, but I fail to understand the connection between high powered weapons and Christmas.

Ha!  Yes, I’m afraid you are indeed out of sync with the times.  There is an entire population of Evangelical Christians whose tastes include weapons of war in the hands of little kids, opposition to science, white supremacy, and Donald Trump.

There are more than one million people who live in the district that elected Lauren Boebert to represent them in Congress.  That’s hatred and ignorance on a galactic scale.

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The author here makes an excellent point.

There are 140 different synthetic chemicals in our bodies, and there are PCBs in the arctic.

There is no more “natural world.”

 

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It’s such a relief to have that vindictive bully out of office.

At this point, however, there is no finality to the political career of Donald Trump.

All we can do is hope that sanity and justice are restored.

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Extracting the kinetic energy out of flowing water, aka hydrokinetics, can take many forms.  Take a look at the video linked here and tell me what you think.

Does inserting the device partially into the water seem like a good idea?  Is a screw a better idea than a traditional turbine?  Will this enable the planet to change the way its highways are illuminated?

Of course not.  Whatev.  If its purpose is to educate kids, that’s fine.

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