From The New York Times:
For more than a week, a plain-spoken former federal prosecutor named Sidney Powell made the rounds on right-wing talk radio and cable news, facing little pushback as she laid out a conspiracy theory that Venezuela, Cuba and other “communist” interests had used a secret algorithm to hack into voting machines and steal millions of votes from President Trump.
If there is any certainty about what will happen in the White House over the next two months, it’s the destruction of any remaining protections for our environment and park lands.
Here, we learn that Trump has withdrawn a major public lands bill, revealing what many of us knew from the beginning: his talk of being a conservationist was simply pre-election greenwashing.
The order affects the decades old Land and Water Conservation Fund, whose $900 million annual budget uses offshore fossil fuel revenues to establish and protect parks, wildlife refuges, forests and wildlife habitat. Now, state governors and local jurisdictions can veto federal land acquisitions made through LWCF.
Most people reading what Carl Sagan wrote here will blame our educational system, claiming, not completely without merit, that it stultifies the mind with rote learning required for good test scores, and that it cranks out conformists incapable of critical thinking. Many will go even further, and suggest that this is deliberate, i.e., that government and corporate chieftains specifically do not want people capable of thinking for themselves.
Another huge consideration, however, is that science is not valued in American society. Long before the anti-science people came along, it was obvious to all that our culture approves of wealth, sports prowess, and physical beauty, but has very little admiration for anything else.
Ask one of these high school seniors to name a wealthy person, a baseball player, a musician, and a gorgeous actor. Then ask him to name a living scientist.
The ability to throw a small, hard, leather-coated sphere 60 feet with great velocity and accuracy earns one millions of dollars and the hero-worship of a nation. Discovering a new exoplanet 4 lightyears from here that has all the characteristics of Earth and therefore could support intelligent life makes one a nerd.
This isn’t really a tradition. The only time it became a live issue was Obama’s declining to go after GW Bush and Dick Cheney for war crimes in Iraq. e.g., pursuing an aggressive war, torture, etc. (more…)
Here’s an excellent, albeit terribly pessimistic article presenting the case that American democracy may be terminal at this point.
Though this may sound like a strange conclusion to draw, we need to admit that all the main points are true. Trump continues his shameless abuse of his power, desperately trying to jam the electoral system and its courts with baseless accusations, sham lawsuits, and pressuring elected officials to violate the oaths they took to uphold the U.S. Constitution. (more…)
Blistering editorial from the National Review, from which comes this excerpt: “It’s also important for Republican senators to speak out against this effort and make it clear that they won’t stand for it when it comes time for Congress to consider electors. Finally, it’d be best of all if the president reconsidered going down this route. He’s turning a narrow election defeat into a bid for infamy.” (more…)
2GreenEnergy “headquarters” is in a rural part of Santa Barbara County, about 30 miles inland from the city itself, which is located on California’s central coast.
Insofar as this area is sparsely populated, we have what one might expect in terms of domesticated cows, horses, sheep, pigs, and, of course, family pets. Living among us are the abundant squirrels, gophers and rabbits, which function as snack food for the birds of prey like owls and hawks. Surrounding all this is a considerable wild animal ecosystem: rattlesnakes, coyotes, raccoons, mountain lions, bobcats, deer, foxes, and an occasional bear. (more…)
Reader A submitted the assertion to the left, and Reader B commented, “Yes it was. It just wasn’t set up for that person to be supported by sycophantic power hungry assholes to let him have his way. That’s where the problem lies.” (more…)
Glad you feel that way, Mitt. But if you find it hard to imagine now, just wait a couple of weeks, and this particular effort to subvert the election will look tame in comparison.
Trump’s going to play this as aggressively as possible, until it’s clear that his next action will result in his being hauled off in handcuffs. Then it’s off to the fatherland.
Yes, the land of vodskies, stroganoff, and borscht. The nation that gave us Tchaikovsky, the Ballet Russe, and Dostoevsky. The land of money laundering and corruption that makes the U.S. appear honest by comparison.
Here’s a small turbine that can be immersed into a stream or mounted on land to catch the wind, whose promoters claim is good for powering remote devices.
No one says this is impossible, but at $269, isn’t it extremely impractical, given that alternatives include a $23 piece of solar PV or a $40 hand crank generator?
I note that they’re taking “pre-orders,” meaning that the product hasn’t even been built yet. Hmmmm.
