Americans Trapped in Echo Chambers
Here’s a short TikTok video that I highly recommend, explaining how and why Americans are particularly weak in critical thinking and in challenging their beliefs.
Tagged with: Americans are particularly weak in critical thinking
Bad Times in America
True, the idea that Steve Bannon has something of value to offer, even to his own party, seems a bit strange.
It was established long ago that the MAGA base will support whatever Trump tells them to, even if it’s a matter of their own life and death. If you keep those goddamned immigrants out of my country, I’ll happily get behind the end of Medicaid and let cancer tear my spine into pieces as I pray to die if you can just get rid of the Mexicans!
The fact that the president’s policies make poor people poorer so as to further enrich his billionaire friends means absolutely zero.
This level of stupidity didn’t exist until recently.
Tagged with: Bad Times in America
The U.S. Vice President’s Interpretation of Christianity
I was on a Zoom call with a few smart friends earlier today, when one of them outlined J.D. Vance’s viewpoint on Christianity. Apparently, it’s a set of concentric rings with oneself at the center, followed one’s family in the second ring, the United States and other groups to which one belongs in the third, and the upstanding members of the human race in the fourth. Nowhere do immigrants or other needy people appear at all.
My friend went on to describe this as “bizarre,” but is there anything strange or weird about it at all? It may be sickening, but it’s commonplace among Christians–at least among American Christians of the 21st Century.
Moreover, when I hear stupidity and cruelty like this coming out of the mouth of people like Vance, I often wonder if the speaker truly believes what he’s saying, or if this is a statement crafted to appeal to the morons who form the majority of his audience.
Tagged with: Interpretation of Christianity
Trump, Tariffs, and U.S. Allies
Here’s a brief conversation between me and my colleague Gary Tulie in Buckinghamshire, England (pictured) that I hope readers find interesting. Gary has been a huge supporter of 2GreenEnergy since its launch 16 years ago, and contributed an entire chapter to my fourth book on environmental sustainability: “Bullish on Renewable Energy.”
Gary:
I think Trump is going to encounter serious problems with his tariffs. Fair enough to use sanctions and tariffs on a rogue regime to encourage them to respect human rights and international law, but impose tariffs on everyone? As the US found out last time, they first reciprocate, then do business with each other rather than the US. And in the case of Canada, the people are so angry they are actively boycotting US products and choosing not to visit the US.
Europe meanwhile is increasingly seeing the US as an unreliable ally and whilst Europe is increasing defense spending in view of the Russian threat, they are now far more likely to buy European equipment rather than typically more expensive US equipment which often is no better than the European equivalents. Tariffs in short will likely significantly reduce the US share of international business, drive trading partners to set up protocols that do not use the US dollar (making US borrowing more expensive) and simultaneously creating abrupt interruptions to US aid which admittedly needs an audit to ensure effectiveness. This weakens US soft power giving an opening for China, India, the EU etc. to become relatively more influential.
As I read recently there is a fundamental difference in mentality. US emphasises freedom to whereas Europe emphasises freedom from e.g. freedom from fear of guns, freedom from being exposed to hate speech, untested chemicals, etc.
Craig:
Makes sense. One (just one) of Trump’s ugliest characteristics is his complete lack of self-awareness and interest in listening to others.
This “freedom to/freedom from” duality has not hurt us too much until now, with Trump in the mix.
Gary:
Pretty sure some of the things that Trump has said would have got him in hot water this side of the Atlantic – slander, libel, hate speech and the like resulting in civil court cases, injunctions, and very possibly criminal cases which would have been heard promptly without fear or favour by an independent judiciary not beholden to any political party, and which is expected to display political neutrality interpreting written and case law to decide cases.
Craig:
Yes, that’s the scariest part of Trump; he seems to have been able to avoid being held accountable for outright criminal behavior, and I’m sure that wouldn’t fly in your part of the world.
Gary:
I believe he was quite shocked in I think it was The Netherlands to be asked some very searching direct questions with zero deference. Similar happened with the BBC when he tried refusing to answer a BBC reporter’s questions expecting the deference he has come to expect in the US, and all the other European journalists refused to ask any further questions.
Craig:
Wow. What a catastrophe for the US.
Tagged with: Trump tariffs
Building-Integrated Photovoltaics
I just had a conversation with a building contractor who specializes in eco-friendly residential improvements–in a part of the world where such a specialty is a big deal: Santa Barbara, California.
This was a great opportunity to ask questions about certain home construction technologies that seemed to have great promise 10 or 15 years ago, but for some reason never took off. Among these is building-integrated photovoltaics, or BIPV. As shown in the photo above, it isn’t on the roof; it is the roof.
The fellow gave me two reason for the slow adoption (failure?) of BIPV:
1) It’s very brittle, which makes roof repairs very difficult without cracking other panels, and
2) The carbon footprint associated with making BIPV is still very high.
Interesting stuff.
Tagged with: building-integrated photovoltaics
When Honest People Resign, Who’s Left?
We come across this a lot, i.e., the mass resignation of honest people in government positions when they are faced with extraordinary levels of corruption and other untenable positions. As the senator from Connecticut points out, this is a double-edged sword. We applaud their integrity, but we need to deal with the fact that the only people remaining are the bad apples.
This happens constantly in the parts of government that deal with energy and the environment. Many dozens of our top scientists in the Department of Energy and the EPA have resigned their positions since Donald Trump came on the scene, and right-wing politics have made it impossible for them to carry on with their duties. Whom does this leave? Climate deniers and others who reject (or don’t understand) basic science.
Unelected Officials
There isn’t a heck of a lot of integrity left in the way modern-day Republicans and their “news” sources conduct themselves. It seems like just a few weeks ago, the key objective was to “drain the swamp” of the Deep State, i.e., unelected bureaucrats who frustrate the will of the voters.
Then along comes Elon Musk.
Educators and Trump
The author of the meme here makes a good point.
My only response is that the number of teachers who voted for Trump must be extremely low. Because I tutor at my local public high school and I have the opportunity to speak with teachers on this subject. During Trump’s first term, one told me:
You can’t be an educator and a Trump supporter at the same time. And it’s not because of politics per se; we all understand that there are some conservative teachers. But even they won’t vote for someone who’s clearly trying to destroy public education and keep our kids as ignorant as possible. Look at the extremes to which his Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos, is going to phase out public schools in favor of private education and religious institutions for the affluent.
“Gravity Batteries”
Below is a claim about a type of energy storage that exists in great abundance today in the form of pumped hydro. We take off-peak electrical energy and use it to lift a mass against the force of gravity, converting the electrical energy to potential energy. Then, when we want to use that energy, we release the mass and allow it to come downhill, converting (most of) the potential energy back into electricity.Of course, the “mass” doesn’t have to be water; it can be anything fairly heavy, e.g., train cars laden with concrete blocks. See my posts on “advanced rail energy storage.”
These people claim that abandoned mines can be used instead of naturally occurring hills, and there is no scientific reason that they’re wrong.
Here is their claim with a few comments below:
Game-Changer for Energy Storage
Did you know abandoned mines can be repurposed into massive energy storage systems?
How It Works:
Excess energy lifts heavy weights when demand is low.
When energy is needed, the weights drop, spinning turbines to generate electricity.
Why Mines?
Existing Infrastructure – No need for new construction. Deep & Powerful – The deeper the mine, the more energy it can store. Eco-Friendly – No lithium, no pollution, just pure physics.The Future of Renewable Energy
Gravity batteries could revolutionize energy storage by making green power more reliable and stabilizing the grid.
Again, there is nothing that makes this theoretically impossible, and in fact, more than 90% of energy storage on this planet today utilizes this principle. The problem is that this combination of Newton (ca. 1660) and Faraday (ca. 1830) is as efficient and cost-effective as it will ever be, where battery technology is improving each year.
If there were a window of opportunity for “gravity batteries,” it has long since closed.
Trump’s Power to Censor the Press
At the risk of sounding cynical, get used to it.
At this point, there is no mechanism for limiting Trump’s power in matters like these. Yes, this is a clearcut violation of the First Amendment, but it’s part of an onslaught of violations; it’s impossible to litigate every single one, especially since half of American voters think this behavior is just fine.
