If you were a political strategist, is this what you would recommend to the President of the United States, running in the battleground state of Pennsylvania? Swearing to take vengeance on all its 13 million people?

Personally, I’d be more inclined to promise, however insincerely, to put people back to work, protect them from the pandemic, build/repair infrastructure, reduce taxes, somehow arrange for them to have more frequent and satisfying sex….anything but revenge, swearing to inflict suffering one every Pennsylvanian in retaliation for some insult I received from the state’s governor.

Yet I need to qualify my remarks: these are just my own personal instincts.  In truth, this could be an excellent strategy; perhaps masochism is a characteristic lots of people back in the Keystone State share in common.  Maybe my failure to see this is why I’m only an author/consulting in environmental sustainability and not pulling down the big bucks in the Washington lobbying scene.

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Those trying to arrive at the truth behind what Trump is claiming re: COVID-19 will learn a great deal from the video here.  Please take a few minutes and check out what a former CDC intelligence officer says about a half dozen of Trump’s talking points.

That we’re being led by a pathological liar was frightening even before our lives were at stake.  At this point, there are no intensifiers in the language that can be used to explain the level of danger we face.

 

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Trump will lose because there are simply too many American voters who understand the truth of what Olivia Troye, Vice President Pence’s lead staffer on COVID-19 said here.

Just too many.

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If you’re in need of inspiration as to the true nature of the American body politic, I welcome you to watch this video featuring a Black Lives Matter protest, and see what happens in about one minute.

It’s easy to believe the United States is in a hopeless situation, but it’s just as easy to keep fighting, and keep moments like this one top of mind.

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By any measure, the United States is struggling with COVID-19, at least in part due to the fact that this has become a political matter–one in which the president believes that “playing it down” will improve his chances for re-election.  And, since he couldn’t care less about the welfare of the American people, our nation’s efforts to control the spread of the virus are in disarray.

As I hit “publish,” the major indices of the stock market are down 3% on more bad news.

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Given all the political dissonance in today’s culture, not to mention cognitive dissonance, I thought I’d throw a change-up, and offer a different look at the subject.

Here’s a short video featuring American conductor, pianist and composer Michael Tilson Thomas.

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Here’s news of a large, 400MW solar project in the center part of Australia.  Great to see sheep as part of the equation; who doesn’t love this docile and picturesque animal?

But one wonders about the legitimacy of all this, as virtually no one lives within 500 miles of southwest Queensland, and, for obvious reasons, it’s good to have the generation very close to the load.

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Does the meme here seem possible?  After all, the candles will heat the clay pot, which will radiate heat into the room.

Let’s examine this for a second.  First, note that neither the clay pot nor the bricks add power; all you really have here is four candles, at 80 Watts apiece, or 320 Watts.  Moreover, some of that power is delivered as light, rather than heat.

Imagine warming up a cold room with a hair drier, which is 1500 Watts.

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I have a confession to make.  Sure, I want Trump removed as soon as possible, so as to minimize the damage to our planet, to our social structures, and to the billions of people who are suffering as a result of his presence.  But a teensy-weensy bit of me wants to see what happens when Trump is no longer president, and refuses to transfer power peacefully. (more…)

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Speaking in COVID-spiking Wisconsin last week, Trump told the crowd, “Wisconsin, I have a plan for you that will crush the virus flat.”

The place went bananas.  His adoring fans, grinning at one another: “”Isn’t it great?? The president has a plan for us!” (more…)

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