The Lighter Side of the Trump Presidency
The Trump presidency has been a farce in dozens of different ways, though I applaud the author here; this may have taken the cake.
Tagged with: Trump presidency has been a farce
Yes, We’re “Dumping Trump,” But the Pain of These Years Will Be With Us For a Very Long Time
We all need to admit that the great rift that has been created in American society–and then wedged wide open–is not going away anytime soon. There was a time when there was, at worst, an uneasy but acceptable level of tension between the people who read the New Yorker (see illustration) and the white working class.
Along comes Trump, who correctly assesses that almost half the country is quietly seething in the anger of stagnant wages and jobs going overseas, the fear of immigrants absorbing resources and committing crimes against U.S. citizens, the frustration of a bloated government bureaucracy enriching itself and its corrupt donors, a resentment of scientists’ telling them how to live their lives, and, for many, a deep but then-covert hatred of people with brown skin. (more…)
Tagged with: a bloating government bureaucracy enriching itself and the its corrupt donors, alternative facts, anger of stagnant wages and jobs going overseas, deep hatred of people with brown skin, Dumping Trump, fear of immigrants absorbing resources and committing crimes against U.S. citizens, resentment of scientists' telling them how to live their lives
Nature’s Manifold Beauty
The photo here depicts an abandoned fishing village near Shanghai.
Its beauty is based partly on the unusual atmospheric conditions, as the sunlight filters through the mist and reflects off the lush green foliage.
But to me, it also serves as a reminder that nature will begin to repair this planet the very moment we stop destroying it.
A Few Words on Breakthrough Energy Ventures
Clean-tech venture capital fund, Bill Gates-backed Breakthrough Energy Ventures, has raised $1 billion for a second round of investments after backing 45 startups with its first billion. This has prompted the discussion below, in Bloomberg Green, which I annotate with a few comments of my own. (more…)
Tagged with: a civilization that isn't slowly choking itself to death, algae "racetracks", Bill Gates-backed Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Bloomberg Green, Clean-tech venture capital fund, geothermal drill bits, grid-ties, inverters, second wave of clean-tech investments, solar panels, water turbines, wind turbine blades and nacelles
More on Remorseless Capitol Stormer
Yesterday I noted that this Capitol stormer’s story has all kinds of interesting legal, philosophical, and political implications. I then suggested readers check out this three-minute video: (more…)
Climate Change Offers Occasional Benefits, E.g., New Places To Fish
Sunny day flooding, aka tidal or nuisance flooding, i.e., floods that occur with no new precipitation, are increasingly frequent in low-lying areas. The phenomenon is caused by sea-level rise (driven by higher ocean temperatures that cause ocean volumes to rise, and by the melting of glaciers in the polar regions), and increasing wind velocities (driven in part by higher atmospheric temperatures), and normally take place during exceptionally high tide events, such as full and new moons.
As shown here, however, climate change sometimes has a lighter side.
Ivanka Trump’s Political Future
Here’s an article on Ivanka’s possible future in politics that readers may find interesting.
Obviously, her political future is a function of Americans’ taste for vacuous people in government, with no understanding of the public sector or foreign policy, whose only success in public office was the result of nepotism, whose only credential is being the daughter of a now-disgraced ex-president.
Onto this we need to add that she faces possible criminal charges for fraud, as discussed here and here.
One may say that, obviously, Americans have zero appetite for anyone even vaguely resembling that. That’s what I would have said too. Prior to 2016.
The Great Shift in American Values
Good point here. The United States has shifted so far to the right that the values that were held almost universally when I was a boy are now considered left-wing.
Making sure people don’t starve is a good example, but so is environmentalism. In the 1960’s, virtually everyone favored government-led efforts aimed at reducing pollution and taking care of the world around us more generally. Now this is variously regarded as anti-capitalist, tax and spend, over-regulation, globalist–all wrapped around a weird and unholy reverence for that controversial thing called “science.”
Ewww. Can those people be trusted?
Capitol Stormer: I Feel No Remorse
This woman, a real estate agent in Northern Texas, has a story to tell that has all kinds of interesting legal, philosophical, and political implications. A three-minute video from local news: (more…)
Tagged with: Capitol Stormer
A Few Random, Perhaps Interesting Ideas
I was flattered to be asked to participate in another Zoom call (this our eighth) with about 12 members of my high school class of 1973. A few take-aways I thought I’d share.
For the first time since the end of World War II, the U.S. national debt exceeds its GDP (~$22 trillion vs. ~$20 trillion). Those who would have otherwise expected progress on social issues under the incoming administration should realize that the U.S. is in a very unenviable financial position at this point. Of course, we spend more than three-quarters of a trillion dollars on our military each year, and progressives have been calling for cutbacks there for generations, though without any success whatsoever. A life-long physics professor added, “Do we remember when we were promised the ‘peace dividend?'” (more…)
Tagged with: 77% of Republicans believe Trump actually won the election, Carbon Fee and Dividend, lethal insurrections, long-term environmental damage, Parler was the site of huge swarms of of people planning armed and sedition attacks, pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, private enterprises throw off externalities, prognosis for recovering some of its former sanity mutual respect and peaceful coexistence, proper role of government in a modern democracy, social media's attempts to take down apps like Parler are the equivalent of Orwell's "Ministry of Truth" in 1984, U.S. national debt exceeds its GDP (~$22 trillion vs. ~$20 trillion), we spend more than three-quarters of a trillion dollars on our military each year
