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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

We don’t have access to the precise discussion between Kristi Noem and the editor she hired to prepare the South Dakota governor’s new book for publication.  Yet it’s hard to imagine this happening too differently from the following:

Editor:  Apparently, you shot a dog you couldn’t train for a certain specific purpose, instead of finding it a new home.

Noem: Correct.

Editor:  To make such an entry in your book is to say that you’re not ashamed, perhaps even proud, of what you did.

Noem: Again, correct.

Editor:  But many readers are going to infer that you’re a cold and empty human being, with no real compassion for other living beings.  Are you sure you want to project yourself like that?

Noem:  Absolutely.  I suppose that, if this were some woke, sissy state, you’d have a point.  But this is South Dakota, a state that went for Trump by a margin of almost two to one.  These people have all the sentimentality of a freshly-sharpened chain saw.

Editor:  But you’re a member of the Republican party, and the choices you make reflect on the entire GOP.

Noem: You apparently haven’t noticed that this is precisely what the party stands for at this point.  We ban books, revoke women’s rights, align ourselves with world dictators, make groundless claims about a stolen election, make rich people richer and poor people poorer, and do everything possible to promote the consumption of fossil fuels.  Our voters adore us.

Editor:  Fair point.

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

“Biden has weaponized the Justice Department against Trump” is a Fox News talking point that most Republicans accept without actually thinking about it.

Here, Robert Reich points out how glaringly incorrect it is.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

A few facts:

• Trump lost the 2020 election, and, though there was no evidence of significant voter fraud, he continues to claim the election was rigged.

• He urged his supporters to storm the Capitol on January 6th to disrupt the confirmation of the election results, and then watched the insurrection on television for more than three hours before heeding the advice of his closest advisors and calling off the mayhem.

• Since then, more than 800 of the insurrectionists have been tried and sentenced.

• Trump says he’ll pardon these people if he’s re-elected in 2024.

• Here, he’s saying that violence post the 2024 election is an option “depending on the fairness of the election.”

• Trump got 71 million votes in 2020.  If only 0.1% of them are armed and prepared to take to the streets in the event that Trump loses, that’s 71,000 morons with assault rifles, ready to do whatever Trump asks of them.

Given this, is there anyone who thinks there’s the slightest chance that this country will avoid widespread violence if Trump loses the election?

Now, here’s a possible scenario: Trump loses but tells his people that, although the 2020 election was rigged, this one was completely fair and honest.  Does that seem likely?  To anyone? 

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

As Reich points out here, we live in horrible times in terms of abandoning rule of law.

Anyone who’s wondering what early 20th Century Germany and Italy were like leading up to the onset of fascism need only look around at the present-day United States.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

The meme here speaks precisely to how absurd this issue of presidential immunity is.

I could ask any kid in the local high school what the American Revolution was about, and get correct answers like:

“We didn’t want a king.  We wanted to elect someone who is accountable to the law and to the people.”

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

When you consider Trump’s position on matters like those at left, you have to ask yourself: What percentage of Americans are turned on by hate and stupidity like this?

If anyone else wanted to become the first U.S. dictator, he would do it …..slowly…..and….quietly.  Not Trump.

Maybe the generalissimo understands that only about 25% of American voters support fascist platforms like these but hopes that many more will cast their ballots for him because he’s not Biden. Who knows?

This is a monumental fail.  Thank God.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Science

Re: the meme here, a reader notes:

Modern science is religion. If you know what the scientific method entails and how the method is used, you will be able to call out the scammers. Since the 30s science has died. It is sad, what people call science now days. Science is a word that automatically adds credibility, while completely staying away from real science.

Thanks for this.  I’ll try to remember to pass this along to my friends in the biologic and physical sciences, who represent a tiny fraction of the many millions of those who are working feverishly around the globe to make our lives longer, healthier, better informed, and more productive.

Sorry for the sarcasm, but I get this constantly, given that I interview climate scientists and report on their work.  It never ceases to amaze me how people with no training in a subject are so harshly critical of our most distinguished intellects. This is what Arthur C. Clarke referred to as the American “cult of ignorance.”

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

I very seldom write posts about matters of pop philosophy like this one; I can only say that there was something here that spoke to me.

I’ve been too quick to point out the stupidity of other people in my life, but what have I accomplished?

I’ve been criticized for my mediocre talents at the piano, but, now that I’ve quit, did anyone win that war?

Maybe it’s best to celebrate the goodness in others, and keep one’s criticism to oneself.

 

by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

Two comments on the meme here:

a) It’s next to impossible to know whether or not 1970s rocker Alice Cooper actually said this.  Today, it’s common for the MAGA crowd to fabricate stories about celebrities who are known to be kind and thoughtful people who, for instance, “refuse to work with Disney because the organization is ‘woke.'”  Idiots believe this, and we live among them. It’s pathetic, but true.

b) Fortunately for us all, we Americans enjoy the protection of most (but not all) forms of speech under the First Amendment to our constitution. Yes, there are people who, erroneously, believe that Trump’s inciting the January 6th insurrection or lying about the honor of the judges presiding over his prosecution of the 88 felonies he is alleged to have committed are similarly protected.

But here, we have popular people who simply want to express their views.  These people include billionaires, star athletes, actors, and musicians.  If you have a problem with that, you really have no idea what First Amendment means.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

Two old friends are having a discussion about Benjamin Netanyahu and his level of intelligence; one says he’s “stupid,” and the other disagrees.

Now, I don’t follow Israeli politics as closely as either of these two, but here’s my take on the matter: Insofar as he’s a demagogue, and an extremely effective one at that, we need to grant that he possesses intelligence along a certain dimension that is sufficient to enable him to figure out, with fabulous precision, how to address his audience and control their behavior at the polls.

It’s unclear if he’s capable of solving differential equations, speaking half a dozen languages, or following the advancements in particle physics, but that’s completely irrelevant.  The only matter at play here is his love of power, and his capacity to manipulate “common” people, using rhetoric to stir up the passions of the masses so as to push him into power and keep him there.

Here in the U.S., we frequently have the same conversation about Trump.  Those outside his base see him as unintelligent, a conclusion we draw from his childish use of the language, and his total lack of interest in information that would have helped him do his job (Where is Israel? Should COVID patients ingest bleach?)  But again, this is irrelevant, in the same way that characteristics like charisma and height are irrelevant to the success of chess players.
In addition, Trump is clearly a criminal sociopath.  Now, most people don’t think of people like Netanyahu (or Hungary’s Orban or Turkey’s Erdogan) as kind and decent people, but they don’t seem as deeply disturbed as Trump.
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