Quick conversation between Glenn Doty and me re: the meme here:Craig: Me? I could go for days.
Preposterous Concept for Solar Lighting
Here’s a concept that suggests powering a lamp with a cylindrical piece of solar PV energy. If I were to take it into any fourth grade classroom in America and ask the kids for comments, I would hear three things:
1) Half of this points away from the sun! That’s stupid!
2) This thing is tiny. Solar panels need to be big enough to absorb lots of energy from the sun.
3) You need lights at night when the sun’s not shining. That means batteries, and they’re expensive.
Now, second graders aren’t going to be able to do that, so this narrows the demographics if the concept’s promoter is looking for investors.
Trump and Crime
Quick conversation between Glenn Doty and me re: the meme here:Glenn: Yeah… I just share the memes, but if I were actually to list only the greatest of crimes that I believe to be impeachment worthy… the list would easily exceed 100 items at this point. Many of those items are actual crimes deserving of jail time or actual breaches of conventions or treaties that deserve to be tried at the Hague.
Craig: Yep. I predict Trump and family moves to Mother Russia to escape an array of criminal charges that will require an 18-wheeler to deliver.
Tagged with: Trump and Crime
Bi-Facial Solar PV
Reader Ron Reasoner, ridiculing the idea shown here, writes, “A 30% increase in production raises a PV solar panels output from 15% efficiency to 19.5% efficiency. All that for double the price plus added installation costs.”
It’s actually worse than that. The idea that light reflected off any surface could cause anywhere near a 30% increase in efficiency is preposterous.
Tagged with: Bi-Facial Solar PV
Life’s Often Astonishing
A fellow who is five years my senior at the Quaker-based independent school William Penn Charter in Philadelphia (pictured) went on to graduate from Princeton University. Because Quakers are pacifists and Princeton is such a venerable institution, when I reconnected with him on Facebook recently I had expected that he’d be sharing articles on world diplomacy, environmental stewardship, the inherent equality of all humankind, or perhaps the wisdom of Confucius. (more…)
Tagged with: environmental stewardship
An Alien Invasion? Aren’t We More Worried About the Invasion We Have Right Now By One of Our Own Kind?
The threat of an alien invasion has rightfully entertained the attention of all Earth people since the late 19th Century. And there have been certain times in the interim that it was the greatest putative threat against our population. Perhaps the mid-20th Century? Orson Wells?
Few people feel that way nowadays. Our sociopathic president, our escalation of the nuclear arms race, the prospect of world fascism, the concept of a planet so warm that it’s rife with superstorms, droughts, wildfires, loss of land mass, and famines–all these things seem so much more likely to take us down.
Aliens. Really?
Dying of Whiteness
Pictured here, Jonathan Metzl is a doctor and professor at Vanderbilt University. In his book Dying of Whiteness, he examines how it’s possible that the life expectancy for white males has fallen for three consecutive years–the first such instance since World War I and the 1918 flu pandemic. (more…)
Tagged with: Dying of Whiteness
On Memorial Day We Look Back at Horrific Times in America, and the Presidents Who Were There for Us
I hope you’ll take a few minutes of your day and check out this fine piece that presents what each president since Jimmy Carter said and did for the country in tragic times.
Powerful stuff.
Tagged with: Horrific Times in America
A Government that Works for All the People
My mom and I engaged in yet another enjoyable and mutually respectful political discussion the other evening. As usual, neither one of us succeeded in changing the other’s belief system one iota, but that’s not the point; it’s always fun nonetheless. During our talk, Mom asserted that Democrats perceive that the only way for them to come into and stay in power is to get as many needy people into the country as possible, promise them free stuff, and thus attract their votes. (more…)
Trump Blasted from New, Strange Sources
Someone wrote: Ann Coulter went on an early Sunday morning Twitter tear, calling President Donald Trump “the most disloyal actual retard that has ever set foot in the Oval Office.”….never in my wildest dreams did I think I would agree with her….ever…but look.
Such a good point. In the last five years I’ve found myself rooting for James Comey, Robert Mueller, Rex Tillerson, and a few U.S. Army Generals. Sure didn’t see that coming.
Back to Ann Coulter, this is both hilarious and extremely encouraging. How often does one encounter those two joys at the same time?
Tagged with: Trump Blasted
