About 40% of the nation smiled approvingly when Melania Trump explained how Americans rely on her husband’s honesty at the GOP National Convention last night.
We live in a country where the fact-checkers who count the president’s lies since he assumed office place the figure at well over 21K, and about 4 in 10 nod in agreement when they’re told that his truthfulness is one of the country’s most important assets.
That’s just asinine.
Here’s a concept that purports to be a viable way of growing crops in a device that floats in salt water. As shown in this video, water naturally passes through a filter that traps the salt.
Sorry, that’s not going to happen. The desalination of water requires a lot of energy. Salt dissolves very easily in water, forming strong chemical bonds, and those bonds are difficult to break. Energy and the technology to desalinate water are both expensive, and this means that desalinating water can be pretty costly.
It also means that this concept is ahhhhhh..no.
Here’s a fabulous little video for anyone who might be feeling a bit blue about the current state of treason occurring in the United States.
It’s humorous, but keep in mind that content can’t be funny if it’s not rooted in truth.
Advice to liars: choose a subject matter that has at least some level of controversy. What this boob said here is like saying that Germany is west of France (or that wind turbines cause cancer).
To young readers: It didn’t used to be like this. Politicians have been lying for 2500 years, but until 2016, they were smart enough to confine their lies to items that weren’t obviously and provably incorrect. See chart below, and add in the fact that 24.7 million people have lost their jobs due to the (mishandling of the) pandemic.
I tuned in for a few minutes of the GOP National Convention these last few nights, and I noticed one thing above all else: histrionics. Not only are these people liars from hell, they’re incredibly loud about it.
Hope you’ll enjoy this.
“Americans understand that our security is enhanced when the United States is trusted and respected in the world.” – Susan Rice (see resume summary below)
OK, but is the United States actually respected less than it has been in the past?
Sadly but unsurprisingly, yes, and by an enormous margin.
Here’s a report from the Pew Research Center from December of 2018 called “International relations experts and U.S. public agree: America is less respected globally.” Its findings are summarized in the graphic here:
Now, here’s the kicker: None of this matters in terms of the November election, as the rank and file Trump supporter a) has no access to this information, and b) wouldn’t care one iota anyway. That their leader is claiming that he’s Making America Great Again is all they need to hear to seal their loyalty.
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U.N. Ambassador and foreign policy adviser Susan Rice studied at Stanford University and the University of Oxford in Oxfordshire with a focus on international affairs. She worked with President Bill Clinton as part of the National Security Council and oversaw African affairs, later working at the Brookings Institution. In 2009, Rice joined President Barack Obama’s Cabinet, receiving Senate confirmation to be the U.N. ambassador. Later, she served as the national security adviser for the second term of the Obama administration.
Question: Only one of the following five statements is correct. Which one is wrong?
a) Global warming is decreasing scientists capacity to predict the strength and direction of hurricanes.
b) Global warming is increasing the frequency of hurricanes.
c) Global warming is increasing the severity of hurricanes.
d) Global warming is increasing the amount of rain and flooding associated with hurricanes.
e) The increased energy in the warming oceans is fueling hurricanes’ capacity to gain strength over a shorter period of time than a few decades ago.
Answer (along with calculations): Can be found at Clean Energy Answers.
Relevance: As discussed here, the devastation from hurricanes and other storms will increase as the Earth’s temperature continues to rise.
Those who said that Fox News couldn’t go any lower ate some serious crow last night when Tucker Carlson offered justification for the first degree murder of two protesters in Kenosha, WI.
Here’s a piece on the release of 750 million genetically modified mosquitoes, about which South Carolina-based senior energy analyst Glenn Doty writes:
The Luddites can go tear their sack-cloth and scream in their caves all they want. This is great news… and it cannot come to South Carolina fast enough. A successful massive trial in Florida only makes it more likely that SC will adopt the GMO mosquito control more quickly. (more…)
Shortly after Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico in 2017, speculation began as to whether or not a newly rebuild grid could be powered with renewable energy. This from Greentech Media:
The Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority will be required to acquire thousands of megawatts of renewables and storage in the coming years, according to a Monday order from the island’s energy regulators that also rejected many natural-gas additions included in the utility’s integrated resource plan. (more…)
