Synthetic Fuels
I advise coming up to speed on high school math and science before making this investment.
Of course, these people prey upon ignorance, and there’s plenty of that to go around these days.
Tagged with: synthetic fuels
Mature American Citizens
At left is Sebastian Gorka, media host and commentator currently affiliated with NewsMax TV, and former government official who served briefly in the Trump administration as a Deputy Assistant to the President. Here, he’s speaking to The Association of “Mature American Citizens,” i.e., Trump supporters:The Association of Mature American Citizens is a movement committed to preserving the values that built this great nation. Joining AMAC is more than a membership; it’s a commitment to uphold the America we love. The time for action is now… For a five-year membership, it’s only $35 for a limited time.
Best guess as to what you get for your $35: you’ll be one of a few million other hateful idiots contributing to help Trump stay out of prison.
If that’s important to you, please go for it, but keep in mind the beneficiaries of your inheritance may not agree with your reasoning.
The Electoral College
In the United States, the presidential election is decided by what is known as the electoral college, which is:
the group of presidential electors required by the Constitution to form every four years for the sole purpose of voting for the president and vice president. Each state appoints electors under the methods described by its legislature, equal in number to its congressional delegation (representatives and senators) totaling 535 electors.
This has precisely one effect: providing voters in states with small populations a considerable advantage in terms of political power over those in states with large populations. For example, in Wyoming, one electoral vote derives from each group of 193,000 citizens. In California, that number is 741,000, meaning that Wyoming voters are 3.8 times more powerful than Californians in determining the outcome of these elections.
What makes this important are the factors that go into making small states small and big states big. What we see when we examine this is that big states tend to have higher levels of education, productivity, and affluence. Thus, the electoral college skews U.S. voting in favor of the relatively uneducated, poor, and uninformed.
Does that sound like a good idea to anyone who honestly wants this nation governed and directed by intelligence? Shown in the chart below at the annual revenues, in billions of dollars, of the Golden States largest corporations. There is a reason that Apple, Google, Facebook, etc. are headquartered in California and not in Wyoming; these decisions were not made by rolling dice or flipping coins.
There is a push to abolish the electoral college, and, needless to say, I support it.
Tagged with: abolish the electoral college
Whom We Elect to Lead Us
When I was a little boy, I used to ask my parents questions that would help me understand the basics of living in America. I remember what they told me about electing the president of the United States, and the qualities most people looked for in the person who would ultimately come to occupy the highest office in the land.
Though I can’t remember anything more specific about the conversation, I definitely recall that “honesty” and “high moral character” were at the top of the list, and I went through my life believing this to be the case.
You can imagine my surprise and dismay when, half a century later, Donald Trump arrived on the political scene. I called my mother, and asked how it was possible that this man has any traction whatsoever with American voters.
She was almost as shocked as I was.
Tagged with: Donal Trump moral character
A First Glance at Plato
First, we can either reject this idea (at left) or accept it as truth. Since it comes from a fairly decent pedigree, Plato, let’s assume that it has some merit.
From there, we need to wonder what he meant by “others.” Our family members? Our countrymen? Those of our own skin color? Those following our particular political or religious system of beliefs?
It seems most likely that he was referring to all humankind, and that’s why ideas like “America First” seem so foreign to so many of us.
Tagged with: Plato
Culture and Barbarity
The question raised here is a good one.
There are those who foretell the so-called “sixth extinction,” citing the high probability of nuclear war and environmental collapse.
Of course, world fascism wouldn’t cause an extinction per se, but it would render life on this planet hellish indeed.
The best we can do is to a) expel Donald Trump from our political lives, b) support Ukraine against the illegal Russian invasion, c) invest in decarbonization of our energy and transportation sectors, and d) negotiate for international nuclear disarmament treaties.
Why All the “Us-Versus-Them?”
As suggested in the photo at left, there seems to be a great deal of animosity on the part of gas-powered car/truck owners (vs. EV drivers), just like there is of meat-eaters (vs. vegans). Isn’t this a monumental waste of time?
The truth is that some people have compassion for animals, and some folks are concerned about environmental sustainability. If you don’t fit into either category, that’s completely fine, but it seems weird to be so aggressive.
Voter Turnout 2024
There is no doubt that U.S. Democrats have issues with voter registration and turnout. Yet one has to think that this issue is shrinking in importance as the years go by.
Four years later, we are wrestling with the end of U.S. democracy, possibly handing over of our government to a criminal sociopath.
That doesn’t sound like a who-cares, let’s stay home moment in time.
Change within the National Rifle Association–And It’s Not for the Better
News:Former NRA CEO Wayne LaPierre has been found liable for $5.4 million in a civil corruption case. The jury recommended that LaPierre be held for $5.4 million in damages.
NRA and its senior management were sued in 2020, claiming they misappropriated millions of dollars to fund personal benefits.
It was just a couple of generations ago that the mission of the NRA was promoting gun safety. That purpose sure has morphed over time, hasn’t it?
Now it’s about extorting money from Congress, the corrupt enrichment of its leaders, and, most importantly, making it impossible for Americans to protect their loved ones from mass shootings.
We are trying so hard to find something about our nation of which to be proud but it sure is a struggle sometimes.
Tagged with: NRA gun safety
Presidential Immunity
The idea that the laws of the United States apply to everyone except the president is ludicrous, but it took the meme here to bring this fully into focus.
