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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

As I mentioned in a post yesterday, American politics has reached a point where one of its two major parties, the Republicans, seems to have become aware that it offers nothing of value whatsoever to its base.

Its platform consists of a number of extremist positions, which are repugnant to most Americans: banning abortion, unlimited gun rights, cutting Social Security and Medicare, environmental devastation, the rejection of science, withdrawing support for Ukraine, and, most of all, kowtowing to a sociopathic criminal former president, has turned out to be entirely unappealing to most voters.

A year ago, one could have said that its policy of stopping whatever the Democrats want was held in high regard, but that also ceased to register at the polls.

How is it possible that it has taken so long for all this to emerge on the political landscape?  I have no clue.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Electric Vehicles

Needless to say, I’m not too impressed by the author of the meme here.

Unless you completely reject science, you understand that our consumption of fossil fuels is causing global warming, ocean acidification, the loss of biodiversity, and a variety of different diseases affecting the human race and the animal kingdom at large.

And, unless you don’t pay any attention to the world economy, you know that every major automaker on the planet is somewhere in the process of phasing out internal combustion engines in favor of electric powertrains.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

Perhaps what happened in Kentucky’s gubernatorial election yesterday (see left) is evidence that the American people have seen enough.  Enough of the criminal insanity, the gun mania, the rejection of science, the suppression of women, and the religious fundamentalism.

This could be that point of inflection that all sane people have been hoping for.   

I don’t know any more about U.S. politics than the next guy, but it sure looks like we’ll see voter turnouts in 2024 that shatter all records,  and renounce the entirety of GOP extremism.

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

Well, that’s quite a statement from country music artist Tim McGraw.

The problem you face, sir, is that most of your audience, at least insofar as they’re aware of your stance here, is that they consider you a Satanist.

From 2GreenEnergy, however, we thank you for your honesty and your decency as a human being.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Electric Vehicles

Gerald Maynard, who submitted the meme at left, apparently has a “thing” for spreading disinformation. Not exactly a virtue, I would submit.

The average retail electricity price in the U.S. is $0.11/kWh, so a full charge of Tesla’s largest battery pack (100 kWhs) is $11.

My advice to you, Gerald, is this: as you go through life, try to become a more honest person.  You won’t regret it.

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

Perhaps “idiots” is the wrong word.  The actual driver behind our electing the people shown at left is that many of us are desperate to be told that what we believe is true, even though if it’s plainly incorrect.

Take the assertion that the 2020 presidential election was stolen.  Even Fox News went on camera and told its viewers that this was categorically false, that there was no evidence to support the claim, that they made it up, and they apologize for doing so.

Is that good enough for the people who vote for Marjorie Taylor Greene?  Of course not.  If you want to win a House seat from that part of rural Georgia, and you’re not willing to say the election was stolen, then you’re going to lose. It’s that simple.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Business

Re: The meme here, to use a term from economics, I would say that the “marginal utility” of a living wage is quite high, but it trails off after that. It’s kind of like your first sandwich when you’re hungry or your first coat when you’re cold.

FWIW, I believe that societies that are organized around the principle of a living wage, i.e., what one finds in the rest of the developed world, are better in every way than what we have here in the U.S.

Their people are happier, healthier, more productive, better educated, less violent, kinder, and less prone to substance abuse. Moreover, they don’t vote for criminal sociopaths to lead their country; that’s a special bonus.

If you ask people from Sweden, for instance, if they resent paying higher taxes than what we Americans pay, most of them will laugh at you.  I do this routinely, and I’ve never heard anyone say, “Oh, no, poverty, ignorance, and mass shootings are our national objectives.”

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Science
I mentioned my friend Glenn Doty, both a Christian and a chemist/physicist, in a recent post about the future of Christianity, in which I argued that religion is largely impervious to attacks from science, insofar as a significant percentage of our population is ignorant of, and in many cases, opposed to the application of science in our problem-solving.
Glenn responds:
I think that you are conflating all evil/stupidity with religion-inspired evil/stupidity.
However, if you look at the trend line for Christianity, it effectively falls off a cliff with Millennials and Zoomers. Access to information made the kind of stuff that I just rolled my eyes and gritted my teeth through absolutely insufferable to many of the younger generations.
But then came the American fascist (MAGA) movement, and the church did not oppose it, which means the church has no purpose and no legitimate faith. That forced me to reject the church in order to preserve my faith.
Between the young rejecting the church because it clings to easily disproven nonsense, and the faithful rejecting the church because the church rejected Christianity, I think there are some pretty turbulent times ahead for modern religion.
Your story is illustrative of what I like to call “The Biblical Jesus versus the Republican Jesus.” You are one of many thoughtful and kind people I’m proud to know who simply follow the teachings of Christ and carry with them none of the trappings of ultra-right-wing politics.
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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

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I have a few reactions to this meme that I hope readers will find meaningful:

Work, in the right context, is actually closer to play.  I’m reminded of what Dustin Hoffman said, “I’m a horrible vacationer.  I look at a beach sunset and imagine how I would represent it to a film audience.”

Here’s what I told my kids when they were young, though I don’t suggest that it’s an original idea: “You’re going to be spending a large percentage of your waking hours doing something that’s called ‘work.’  So find something you love, and get damned good at it.”

And here is what one of my philosophy professors told me as a young man: “I have a life that I enjoy 52 weeks a year.  It never occurred to me to have a life I dislike so that I can take a two-week vacation from it.”

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

With Trump’s crimes all over the media, a bible-thumper as House Speaker, jackasses like Lauren Boebert and Marjorie Taylor Greene, and the concerted effort to ban abortion, one would think there would be massive defections from the Republican Party.

Astonishingly, that doesn’t seem to be the case.

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