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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

NASCAR was essentially forced to sanction one of its drivers for mocking the torture-death of George Floyd at the hands of four members of the Minneapolis police department.

Those living outside the U.S. might find it befuddling, but here’s the truth: there is an entire “sport” here in America, if one can call it that, whose participants are worth hundreds of million dollars apiece, which fan base is heavily weighted in the direction of white supremacists.

NASCAR’s 2020 decision to prohibit displaying the Confederate flag at its events, a symbol celebrating the ~350 years of black slavery, was highly controversial and tightly contested.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

Why are our minds so full of cognitive biases, those nasty systematic deviations from rationality, “subjective realities” that supersede our capacity for reason?

Mark Twain certainly made his own contribution, as seen here.

Astronomer Carl Sagan said essentially the same thing:

“One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we’ve been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. We’re no longer interested in finding out the truth. The bamboozle has captured us. It’s simply too painful to acknowledge, even to ourselves, that we’ve been taken. Once you give a charlatan power over you, you almost never get it back.”

― Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

In a recent post I pointed out that Ben Carson will cause only a small number of Americans to: “Pledge (Their) Servant Leadership (whatever that means) to One Nation, Under God,” on the basis that “Much of our country has lost sight of our founding principles, (for example) faith as an American cornerstone.”

Perhaps the most offensive aspect to all of this is the line: (I pledge to) hold my neighbors accountable as we unite in an effort to preserve freedom in America.

Assuming my neighbors actually accept this garbage, they have no right to force me to buy into it too.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

We’ve all encountered the myth that Trump’s indictments have come from Biden’s Department of Justice, implying that the president is “weaponizing the DoJ” against his political opponent.  The meme here may go a long way to dispelling that.

Another point to be made is that, of the 86 witnesses that will be called in the trial against Trump for attempting to overthrow the U.S. government, every single one is a Republican.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

Being a disgusting pig is not a crime.

However, attempting to overthrow the United States government actually is a crime, and that’s what’s taking the former president down.

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Climate Change

Here’s something from law professor and U.S. representative Katie Porter, who’s now running for a seat in the Senate:

July was the hottest month our planet has ever seen. And still, Republicans in Congress are resisting any further action on climate change. It’s BS.

Extreme heat alone costs our economy $100 billion per year, while climate change related disasters have already cost the U.S. trillions in taxpayer dollars. Worsening heat and extreme weather events are literally taking lives.

Congress must take bold action to hold polluters accountable and invest in clean energy sources.

My (new) bill to raise rates on polluters who drill on our public lands finally took effect this year. But there’s so much more to do.

In the Senate I’ll fight to pass the Green New Deal, adequately fund the Environmental Protection Agency, and support climate legislation that doesn’t leave any community behind.

To those who have never watched Porter verbally eviscerate some poor fool who testified in front of Congress, ill-prepared for her penetrating line of questioning, it’s a sight to behold.

Best of all, she’s on the right side of the climate issue.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

Democratic Senator Sheldon Whitehouse has proposed legislation that would prohibit Fox News from writing off any portion of the $787 million defamation settlement that the company recently agreed to, in damages paid to Dominion Voting Systems.

This sounds good on the surface, as I’m no fan of Fox News.  Having said that, I’m a huge fan of fairness and justice, and this doesn’t seem right.

Fox News trades in lies and disinformation, the same way GM trades in cars, Dow trades in chemicals, and Microsoft trades in software.  In my mind, the consequences of what Fox does should be treated as a cost of doing business, just like normal businesses write off office rent, employee wages, IT, etc.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

In a word, No.

This from Ben Carson:

Pledge Your Servant Leadership to One Nation, Under God

By signing your name below, you are joining a community of servant leaders committed to preserving American freedom. (I promise to….) 

Lead by serving the causes of freedom, faith, liberty, and community.

(more…)

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Nuclear

Re: the cartoon at left, a reader notes: “This is why people are afraid of nuclear power.”

Exactly.  Virtually everyone who understands the threat of climate change and the potential danger posed by nuclear power favors the further development of the latter.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Climate Change

The cartoon here describes the essence of the conversation my mom and I have, when, for instance, anti-vaxxers show up on Fox News.  Mom asks me, “Don’t any of these commentators have credentials you respect?”

My reply is that the vast majority of epidemiologists are telling us that vaccines are safe and effective, and, to the degree that there is noncompliance, COVID-19 will be that much more lethal, and will cripple our society for that much longer.  The fact that Fox News can find one guy with an MD degree who stands opposed to this broad consensus does not change anything.

Obviously, the case is the same with climate change.  I know there are a few climate deniers with PhDs, and I don’t doubt that Fox News can find one to interview on camera.  But the vast majority of those who honestly and objectively study this subject hold valid the theory of anthropogenic global warming.

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