The plummeting price of solar PV delivered what appeared at the time to be a death blow to the solar thermal industry, aka concentrated solar power (CSP). Here, however, we have the Israeli government unveiling a $23 billion USD plan to increase the share of solar in the power generation to 30% by 2030, when solar power should cover more than 80% of the country’s electricity needs at peak hours. (more…)
Ari Berman is an extremely senior journalist and author, best known for his reporting on challenges to voting rights in the U.S.
From his bio: (Berman) is a former senior contributing writer for The Nation magazine and a Fellow at The Nation Institute. His book, Give Us the Ballot: The Modern Struggle for Voting Rights in America, was published in August 2015. He has written extensively about American politics, civil rights, and the intersection of money and politics. His stories have also appeared in The New York Times, Rolling Stone, and The Guardian, and he is a frequent guest and commentator on MSNBC and NPR.
It’s refreshing that Berman sees something he likes; most of his work makes a loyal American want to vomit, as his documentation of gerrymandering and voter suppression are deeply distressing.
An open letter from former Defense Secretary James Mattis:
I have watched this week’s unfolding events, angry and appalled. The words “Equal Justice Under Law” are carved in the pediment of the United States Supreme Court. This is precisely what protesters are rightly demanding. (more…)
Here’s a home elevator that its creators say is “Powered by the Most Abundant Resource in the World… AIR!”
And here’s a discussion with their support team:
Support: Thank you for your interest in our Vacuum Elevators! (more…)
I’m going to be 65 in a month, and I’m just now learning that U.S. policemen can use deadly force even if another tack could have been effective in disabling a suspect. That’s part of the reason black people are getting shot; there is no imperative to use a taser (or whatever) when it would clearly have gotten the job done.
Just incredible.
Most people are good, and do the right thing whenever possible.
The kind people of Iowa voted out nine-term Republican racist-from-hell Steve King in the GOP primary. Yes, this good news is tempered by the fact that a) he lost to another Trump supporter, and b) his opponent’s victory was largely based on King’s having lost political clout, rather than their objection to King’s white supremacy.
But hey, this is the Republican primary in a bright red state. We’ll take any progress we can get.
An old friend and I are discussing the amazing letter that George. W. Bush wrote about the deplorable state of affairs in America, that’s getting passed around on Twitter.
Here’s a 60-second television advertisement produced by the Lincoln Project, an American political action committee formed in late 2019 by several prominent Republicans and former Republicans in an effort to prevent the re-election of Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election. (more…)
It’s a lucky break that George Will graduated from my alma mater Trinity College exactly 15 years before I did; this means that our reunions coincide, and thus I occasionally get to listen to him speak. What a treat it is to sit in an audience, humbled by the amazing intelligence of the speaker. It’s a shame that I disagree with 99% of everything he believes, but it’s still a heady experience. (more…)
When I was at Georgetown University studying philosophy in the late 1970s, I found that a significant number of professors, even those in math and sciences were Jesuit priests. i.e., members of the Society of Jesus (SJ). (more…)
