From NPR:
The shooting death of a 2-year-old girl in Kentucky at the hands of her 5-year-old brother has opened up yet another debate about gun control.
While no one favors the idea of 5-year-olds using weapons without supervision, there is no consensus on the appropriate age to start hands-on training with firearms. (more…)
Rightfully, those billionaires choosing to build new businesses in recreational space travel rather than addressing the vast suffering here on Earth are taking a terrible public relations hit. Here’s a clever meme that speaks to that.
On a personal note, a true coincidence, the guy who piloted Branson’s space flight and I share a high school calculus teacher.
Dr. George Kiser, Professor Emeritus of Politics and Government in the College of Arts and Sciences at Illinois State made the comment at left.
It’s a vicious cycle, in that anti-intellectualism emboldens ignorant people, whose statements tend to dominate social media, driving us even deeper into anti-intellectualism.
If you think that certain strains of illogical beliefs are just too insane to court a wide news viewership, think again. Here we have an anchor from the ultra-right wing Newsmax expressing his viewpoint on vaccinations:
What I’ve always thought about vaccines, and I always think about just nature, and the way everything works, and I feel like a vaccination in a weird way is just generally kind of going against nature. I mean, if there’s some disease out there, maybe there’s just an ebb and flow to life where something is supposed to wipe out a certain amount of people and that’s just kind of the way evolution goes, vaccines kind of stand in the way of that. (more…)
The outside world continues to watch the spectacle of American politics with a blend of sympathy, sadness, and contempt. But in no arena is their revulsion for what’s happening here deeper than our pitiful reaction to the availability of safe and effective vaccinations.
The global community finds it hard to understand how it’s possible that a significant percentage of the U.S. population, led by its political leaders, is resisting the scientific community’s attempt to prevent a catastrophic new wave of the pandemic, this time with an even more virulent strain.
Here’s a high-impact video that takes a hard look at this issue, featuring some Republicans who are desperately trying to pull the others back from the snake pit of complete insanity. It may be hard to watch, but turning our heads the other way doesn’t solve any problems.
The world is in the process of phasing out internal combustion engines in favor of EVs, and there are indications, after years of disappointment, that the EV adoption curve is finally starting to take off.
Part of the challenge, of course, has been charging the batteries, especially on long trips, where even fast charging stations require 20 – 30 minutes to achieve a range of 200 miles.
Those new to this subject may not be familiar with the idea of battery swapping, in which the entire discharged battery is removed and replaced with a charged one. It’s been around at least 15 years, though it’s never been brought anywhere close to fruition. (more…)
The history of climate science, and in particular, an understanding of the role that greenhouse gases play in global warming, actually predates the article at left by many years. In 1896, Swedish scientist Svante Arrhenius claimed that fossil fuel combustion may eventually result in enhanced global warming. He proposed a relation between atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations and temperature. (more…)
It’s not news that the United States is a deeply divided country, egged on by politicians whose popularity feeds on hatred, and fueled by the media that profits from it.
The issue of bathrooms, i.e., which ones transgenders should use, was probably a hotter topic a year ago, but it hasn’t disappeared. The idea of a transgender female using a stall in a women’s bathroom apparently upsets some people, but aren’t these people simply looking for a fight? Is it really a big deal?
My hat’s off to whoever designed the sign here.
From this:
When it comes to dangerous misinformation about the pandemic, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) is among the most ridiculous politicians in the country. It was just last week when the editorial board of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel was pushed over the edge by Johnson’s hostility toward science, describing the Republican senator as “the most irresponsible representative of Wisconsin citizens since the infamous Sen. Joseph R. McCarthy in the 1950s,” and telling the people of Wisconsin that Johnson “is not fit to be your senator.” (more…)
This guy makes an excellent point. When we want to go blow something to pieces, there is remarkably little conversation about it. On the other hand, allocating even small amounts of money for something that helps people, or in this, actually preserves the life-supporting capacity of an entire planet, is completely out of the question.
