Yes, the right-wing narrative on Anthony Fauci does seem a bit odd, but these folks are not backing down.
Fox News points out that Fauci has made a great deal of money over the years he’s been an advisor on COVID-19. Is it true? Even if it is, does that make him a criminal? Regardless, they and their followers demand to see him in prison.
The cartoon here reminds me of a similar one, in which a senior corporate executive is looking out a conference room window and sees flames everywhere. He tells the others at the meeting, “We have to monetize this. And soon.”
Here’s another reminder of the fact that not all the effects of global warming are harmful, and longer growing seasons in higher latitudes is among them.
If you’ve ever wondered how the physicists who have been studying how to extract the most energy out of the wind for the last three hundred years, whose work has been greatly accelerated in the last few decades, these people claim to have a shocking answer.
Of course, you have to believe that all previous and present-day scientists are total fools.
This artist’s rendering at left suggests a device that its proponents say will, one day, capture CO2 from the Earth’s atmosphere, and mitigate the growing threat of climate change. But let’s think about this for a moment.
The concentration of CO2 in our atmosphere is fairly consistent from the planet’s surface up to about 60 miles in elevation.
Given that the radius of the Earth is ~4000 miles, and that the volume of a sphere is 4/3 πr3, this means the volume of this section of our atmosphere is 4/3 π 40603 – 4/3 π 40003 = 11.7 trillion cubic miles.
How many of these devices will be required to make a significant dent in the overall CO2 concentration, given that they need to process almost 12 trillion cubic miles of our atmosphere? What’s the cost per each one? How will they be powered, given that our grid-mix is largely fossil fuels? Won’t this only make matters worse?
This is a sad joke, but even sadder, it’s not the only one out there.
I’m sorry to report that “the Donald Trump of Argentina” Javier Milei has won his country’s presidential election.
Milei has all the earmarks of the world’s rising numbers of extreme right-wing leaders. He believes that climate change is a hoax perpetrated by Marxists and that gun laws increase crime levels.
From CNN: Milei, a social conservative with ties to the American right, opposes abortion rights and has called climate change a “lie of socialism.” He has promised to slash government spending by closing Argentina’s ministries of culture, education, and diversity, and by eliminating public subsidies.
The first person to call to congratulate him? Donald Trump himself.
I’m suspicious. Yes, I know that our educational system is failing, and that young people are less altruistic than they were a generation ago, but it’s still hard to believe that Americans 18 – 29 years old would vote for anyone whose platform is a mixture of climate denial, racism, and misogyny. On top of that, you have the 30K+ documented lies and the 91 felony charges.
Re: the meme here, Donna Schlesak writes: I’ve never wished anyone dead and I’m opposed to the death penalty, but I can’t say I’d be sorry. Imagine if Hitler died years before he did. So many millions wouldn’t have lost their lives if he had. My family will be celebrating when this dictator wanna be is gone. And yes, I’m wishing that someone would take one for the team.
I hear people say this constantly. My response, as I’ve mentioned before, is that the only way to purge this nation of the scourge of Trumpism is to let the justice system take its course.
Even then, when Trump is tried and convicted, there will still be people who believe that he was unfairly persecuted by the Deep State, the Hollywood elites, the radical Marxists, and God knows who else.
Yet, suppose he dies before this process can unfold; he will be considered a martyr by his base.
These people’s message to potential investors: “There is no reason to drill when you can capture CO2 directly from the air.”
The concentration of CO2 in the Earth’s atmosphere is ~400 ppm, or ~0.04%. This is either a scam or a terrible idea that is supported by people with no scientific training.