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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Uncategorized

18th Century Scottish philosopher David Hume spoke to us on how our minds interact with the world around us to form our base of knowledge, saying, “We always disbelieve the greater miracle.”  In other words, when two of our perceptions appear to contradict one another, we automatically accept whichever seems to be more likely.

In the case at left, there is no doubt that someone is lying, or, at least, is 100% incorrect in what they are asserting to be true.  In this case, it’s either the driver of an SUV bearing various flags and a Trump sticker, or the world bioscientific community.

Hmmm.  That’s a toughie.

 

by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

It’s said that when one joins a cult, the first thing one learns is that everyone else is lying, and the only source of truth is the cult leader himself.

Let’s extend that into the world of Trump/MAGA.  These people are told, and appear to honestly believe, that anyone who is against Trump is a member of the “radical left” that “hates America.”

Think of all the progressives you know who want to see Trump removed from U.S. political life.  Do you know a single person who actually hates America?

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

Actually, many people don’t even defend what benefits them.

The typical Trump supporter is a great example.  Sure, if you’re a billionaire, you love those enormous tax cuts.

But suppose you’re in the working class.  Trump doesn’t support unions, he’s not helping you with your drug costs or your kids’ education.  He’s working to reduce your Social Security and Medicare benefits.

You’re supporting a man who’s doing everything he can to make your life as miserable as possible.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

The author of the meme here makes a fabulous point, but one sure doesn’t hear this from many people.

For instance, how is it possible that Trump has any support after being indicted in multiple jurisdictions for attempting to overthrow the U.S. government?

Where are the Republicans who should be saying, “I can’t stay behind this any further?”

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

I think what the Republicans are going to find out is that most women actually do care about their reproductive rights, and that there is nothing “abnormal” about this.

Of course, female Trump supporters also believe that only the former president can stop the “invasion” of “vermin” at the southern border, stop “runaway inflation,” prevent the “radical left from turning our country into socialist Venezuela,” etc.

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Electric Vehicles

If you were tasked with identifying a trend in human civilization that extended from the Dark Ages into the 21st Century, you might choose the development and implementation of science.  Solutions in everything from medicine to mechanization to information technology have made our lives longer, healthier, and more productive. One could have drawn a straight line, or perhaps an exponential curve, through our progress over the past 1500 years.

Until the advent of Donald Trump, that is.  Now an entire political party is defining itself as anti-science in a number of arenas–certainly insofar as the climate is concerned.

Having said that, it now appears that Trump, formerly distinctly anti-EV,  has softened his position here.  Why? Perhaps because Elon Musk has agreed to fund the former president’s campaign to the tune of $45 million per month.

Isn’t this illegal, given election finance laws?  No.  This is what’s called a “super-PAC”; it’s how billionaires bypass our legal system.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Sustainability

As suggested here, a disappointingly large percentage of Americans fail to understand that each U.S. citizen receives a huge array of benefits from our federal and state governments (see list below).

This confusion gives rise to the false notion that the “radical left” is rapidly turning the country into Venezuela, or whatever the popular malarkey may be.  I wish Trump supporters could hear how ignorant they seem when garbage like this comes out of their mouths.

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Infrastructure (roads, highways, bridges, tunnels, airports, etc.), police, fire fighting, criminal justice, national defense, public education, labor laws, auto and food safety standards, air traffic control, TSA, libraries, emergency medical care, environmental regulation, social security, Medicare, the National Archives, national parks, bank regulations and deposit insurance, copyright and patent laws, federal dams to provide electrical power, flood control, the Weather Service, the Federal Housing Authority, consulates and embassies, FEMA, veterans affairs, public water systems, monitoring of all international cargo, NASA, border protection, and the National Institutes of Health.

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Politics

Here’s another gem from cartoonist Dan Piraro, and, as usual, he offers a piece of biting insight into the American culture.

Less than three months before the election, we have a candidate whose platform includes overthrowing the U.S. democracy.

If this sounds like insanity, it is exactly that.  This lunacy wouldn’t have gotten anywhere before Trump came along and began speaking the language of the most ignorant and hateful among us.

 

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Renewables - Science

Although there is no doubt that religion has been the tool of the con man (and the tyrant) since the early days of humankind, I doubt that Mark Twain meant this as a serious statement.

It seems far more likely that when Homo sapiens came along somewhere around 100,000 years ago, with his enormous, recently developed brain, he began to pose important questions like: How did all this stuff get here?  What causes day and night and the dozens of other features of our world that are now referred to collectively as astronomy?  Why do bad things happen to good people, and vice-versa?  What causes illness?  What happens to us after we die?

The idea of an all-powerful God, or perhaps a number of them, seemed at the time to be the best possible explanation.  But about 2500 years ago there arose a stirring in our species that perhaps we might begin to figure this stuff out by studying it and applying reason to it.

Aristotle told his pupils to design and use experiments, and the scientific method was born.  Ever since, we’ve been chipping away at the vastness of our ignorance of natural phenomena.

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by craigshieldsPosted on Posted in Fossil Fuels

The handsome pilot here with the winning smile writes on social media: Hi all! I joined to be part of a great group of people!

Sorry, but I won’t be joining the Friends of ExxonMobil Corporation, simply because there is no truth whatsoever to the claim that this is a “great group of people.”  It’s a front-group for a team of psychotic criminals that is knowingly destroying our planet, while profiting handsomely from their actions.

 

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