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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

Here’s a thought on David Brooks’ recent essay in The Atlantic: “Chicken Littles Are Ruining America,” aka “The Zeitgeist of Doom.”

He writes: Since about 2004, the share of American 12th graders who say it is “hard to have hope for the world” has been surging, then provides many possible explanations for people’s negativity, including the notion that it’s become fashionable to be dour; young people may feel that they look silly and stupid with a smile and a “can-do” attitude.

But isn’t it possible that these folks are precisely right?  What did 2004 look like in terms of hostilities with world superpowers?  Did it seem possible that a Donald Trump would come along, reduce the United States to white nationalist, anti-intellectual rubble, then make a valiant and possibly successful attempt to overthrow American democracy?  Did it appear possible that climate change would soon be baking our planet while world leaders sat back and watched from their palaces?

Maybe it’s a good thing that our teens recognize this crap for what it is.

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics
In an effort to establish something he calls the Midwest Values PAC, former U.S. senator Al Franken presents this interesting and heart-warming story:
My dad was a lifelong Republican — until Barry Goldwater voted against the Civil Rights Act.
My family watched Cronkite every night while we ate dinner on tray tables, and in 1963, we watched as police set fire hoses, dogs, and billy clubs on civil rights protestors. In no uncertain terms, my dad said we couldn’t be for that. So when Goldwater voted against the Civil Rights Act, my dad said, “F*#$ that.”
OK, he didn’t say that — he was the gentlest, kindest guy you can imagine — but he did leave the Republican party.
I started MVP to help elect candidates who share my dad’s values: Fairness. Justice. Equal opportunity for all. The belief that our country is stronger when everyone has the opportunities and resources to succeed. Your contributions support our efforts not only to elect qualified candidates, but good people— in 2024 and beyond.
This is an effort to move some Republicans in the red, midwestern states over to the Democratic ticket, and it’s bound to be at least somewhat successful, as the GOP continues its move even further to the right, with its platforms like a national ban on abortion, and other issues for which there is practically no public support.
Godspeed.
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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

Here’s Arkansas governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders, asserting that the President of the United States is “trying to destroy” (the country).

Apparently, this type of rhetoric plays well in the American south, where the people, mostly poorly educated, eagerly accept the idea that Democrats are actively engaged in ruining our nation.

Fortunately, this type of language is not particularly effective elsewhere.

More to the point, we used to have political opponents, rather than enemies.  We hire these people to make laws that guide our lives, and sometimes these processes require compromise, or at least the recognition that the guy across the aisle is actually not a traitor to his country.

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

I love Moyers.

Let’s put so much hope and trust into our teachers, pay them as if they were the trash we are barely willing to collect.

Let’s make sure they have no capacity to discipline their pupils.

Then, as often as not, let’s, send them into our inner cities and let them deal with gun violence that’s laid so many of their peers and so many of the tens of thousands of little pupils into early graves.

And then let’s blame them when our kids can’t read or write.

We deserve every cent of the cost to our society.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

In addition to what former Labor Secretary Robert Reich writes here, as I understand it, the real scandal is that DeJoy has a direct incentive to degrade the level of quality provided by the U.S. Post Office: his eight-figure investment in a competitive mail delivery service.

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Science

What’s remarkable about these words from Pope Francis isn’t that they accurately express an important truth; anyone with any sense and integrity recognized the fallacy of trickle-down economics decades ago.

What’s worth noting is they came from the leader of the Catholic Church, an institution that hadn’t done much for humankind over its 1600-year history until Francis came along.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

To follow up on earlier posts in which I suggested that there are enormous segments of the U.S. electorate that find Trump an abomination, there clearly are those with a natural affinity for the former president.

At left is a guy whose truck is far larger than some of the apartments I occupied as a young man.  I submit that anyone attracted to these vehicles probably has what it takes to pull the “Trump” lever.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

If you live in Connecticut, you know how much U.S. Senator Chris Murphy has contributed to keeping us safe from gun violence.

It’s true that there are some pretty scummy people in congress, but it’s also true that we have some true champions.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

In an earlier post I mention the disdain that U.S. military veterans have for Trump.

As suggested here, there are other groups that have also figured out that the former president represents them very poorly–in this case, organized labor. Unions are back on the rise, and Trump has done absolutely nothing to help these people.

On top of all this, we have a great array of groups who have a natural antipathy toward Trump: women, LGBTQs, people of color, environmentalists, college graduates, etc.

Yes, our country has its share of hateful morons, but they are nowhere near a majority.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Climate Change

As one might expect, a great deal has changed about the way we warn about the danger of wildfires.  First is the word “wildfires” itself, which, up until the last couple of decades, were called “forest fires.”

Second is the Smokey the Bear icon, and his famous phrase, “Only you can prevent forest fires.” Smokey is no longer used in today’s PSAs on the subject.

Above, we see that some clever person has morphed this to address what is virtually certain to happen on the planet if we’re unable or unwilling to mitigate climate change.

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