Pathological Believers
This British gentleman has nailed the core problem we face in the U.S.
I’m reminded of the occasional conversations I have with Fox News acolytes, where I’m compelled to ask, “And you believe that?”
Tagged with: pathological liars
Where We’re Going as a Species
At this point in the “development” (some would say “retrogression”) of human society, it appears that the hopes expressed here by the late Archbishop Desmond Tutu are not taking root.
That’s because:
1) Our species evolved to be tribal, i.e., to be at least wary of, but more often hostile to, those who don’t look and think like us. For every Desmond Tutu on Earth, there are hundreds of people with very little capacity to look outside of the racist values with which they grew up.
and
2) Corporate profits are harder to be made when people treat each other as brothers and are thus more likely to share resources with one another. Money makes the world go ’round, and the notion of “one human value” doesn’t work for capitalism.
Destroying American Education–The Last Nail
I don’t know who this guy is or what his area of expertise may be. It’s certainly not education.
Getting rid of Algebra 2 will mean the end of all college students who major in chemistry, physics, and, of course, mathematics. In turn, it means no more pre-meds, and, a few years later, no more doctors produced in the United States.
Of course, when you walk through a medical office and read the surnames of the doctors practicing there, it’s clear that, through our eviscerating American education over the past few decades, we’re 90% of the way along this terrible process.
Also: no engineering means no new infrastructure, cars, and IT. All advancements in technology will come from Europe and Asia.
We can teach our kids about financial fundamentals like credit cards and buying a house, but they will be so desperately poor that none of these skills will have any meaning.
Tagged with: Destroying American Education
Optimism in Action
It’s quite possible that we actually are at the onset of a “collective awakening.”
Maybe we’ve seen enough. Enough hatred. Enough stupidity.
Maybe we see the handwriting on the wall for women’s rights, for environmental decay.
Maybe Americans don’t want a leader who came within a gnat’s fanny of overthrowing the government and setting democracy asunder.
Maybe enough is enough.
Celebrating the Lives of the Good Guys
Bob Weir was only 16 years old when he cofounded The Grateful Dead with Jerry Garcia.
A full 60 years later, he’s known for having spent more time on stage than any other musician, and for his commitment to environmental and social activism.
Tagged with: environmental and social activism
The Age of the Earth
It would be interesting to know what percentage of our neighbors take the Book of Genesis literally and believe that the Earth is 6000 years old.
I suppose it depends on what we mean by “neighbors” and/or where we live, and therefore, who our neighbors actually are. If you’re in rural Mississippi, the answer will be far different than if you’re in Manhattan or San Francisco.
In any case, I grant that beliefs like this, i.e., those that require a wholesale dismissal of science, are frightening indeed. If you want to know how it’s possible that so many Americans are anti-vaxxers, climate deniers, and Trump supporters, this gives you a pretty good insight.
The Expansion of White Supremacy in the U.S. South
There are dozens of reasons to stay away from Texas, but this may sit at the very top of the list.
We’ve come to expect acts of white nationalist terrorism committed by rank-and-file hateful morons. But now we see these atrocities coming from the governor of the state.
That’s too much. Even for Texas.
Tagged with: white supremacy
ExxonMobil Tests Their Techno-Ruse “Direct Air Capture”
In a previous post, I presented this short and extremely general video, in which a representative of ExxonMobil explains Direct Air Capture (DAC), a set of technologies that remove CO2 from the atmosphere.
I mentioned that the concept is doomed to failure, and everyone, including Exxon, knows this.
Their latest installment in promoting this bull**** claims they’re “testing the design in Texas.”
What could these tests possibly conclude? That the design actually does filter out CO2? I’ll grant that, even without the testing. In fact, there are several teams of people around the globe working on this. Only Exxon is spending a fortune promoting it, though, since they are the ones with the huge PR problem associated with baking the planet.
The problem here, and it’s insurmountable, is that this technology has a huge carbon footprint of its own, and that scaling it to deal with the Earth’s atmosphere is a joke.
Tagged with: Exxon Knew
Putting Biden’s Accomplishments into Perspective
What we’ve learned here is that almost half of Americans voters couldn’t care less about the Biden administration’s accomplishments vis-a-vis the environment.
Of course, most of Trump’s base will never hear about these victories, or, if they do, will think of them as victories for the big government, radical left socialists who hate our country.
It’s pathetic, but this is what we’re dealing with.
Like It or Not, Ignorance Has Ceased to Matter
Before Donald Trump entered our nation’s political scene, this level of ignorance of American/world history (shown at left) would have disqualified a candidate from the White House just as assuredly as his own personal death. Before this time, to be the butt of jokes from junior high-schoolers would not have played well, even in the MAGA parts of the nation.
Now, of course, huge portions of voters don’t know that the events of 1775, 1812 and the 20th Century didn’t happen all at once.
Let’s accept that all our votes count the same. When it comes to our elections, intelligent and knowledgeable people have no advantage over the illiterate.
This country may get through this stupidity. Or, more probably, it will not.
