How a Plan to Save the Power System Disappeared
A federal lab found a way to modernize the grid, reduce reliance on coal, and save consumers billions. Then Trump appointees blocked it. The Atlantic Story by Peter Fairley
Future of Work
Republicans are hypocrites. They happily ‘de-funded’ the police we actually need
The Guardian, again, hits the nail on the head with this spot on essay “Republicans are hypocrites. They happily ‘de-funded’ the police we actually need” by David Sirota: After two weeks of police violence and protests, Republican politicians have been pretending to have a fainting spell over the phrase “defund the police.” “There won’t be … [Read more…]
Jane Goodall: humanity is finished if it fails to adapt after Covid-19
In the Guardian today, June 3, 2020, is an essay on the remarks from Jane Goodall about farming practices and food habits. “If we do not do things differently, we are finished,” she said. “We can’t go on very much longer like this.” She called for people to be lifted out of poverty, pointing to … [Read more…]
The NEWS you may not have read …
In the Columbia Journalism Review is an essay The bad news quietly buried during the pandemic by Zoë Beery: With the world’s attention glued to the coronavirus pandemic, news about anything else has been slipping farther and farther down the proverbial front page. But that doesn’t mean nothing’s been going on. Whether by design or … [Read more…]
Big Oil Finally Runs Out of Gas
Over at the New York Review of Books Daily, Bill McKibbon writes about the how big oil is losing its “big”. Read it here, from May 12, 2020. A study published this week in the journal Nature by economists at the Beijing Institute of Technology calculated that while investments to reduce greenhouse gases in line … [Read more…]
The investor class is excited
From the comments on this NYT essay on The Disastrous Employment Numbers, May 8, 2020: sedanchair Seattle 9h ago @nero Because thanks to Trump, they can simply steal our money and get away with it on a scale unprecedented even in previous bailouts. As with every scam Trump ever participated in, there’s no need for … [Read more…]
Hot Spots for Students
On their web site, Mark Quattrocchi explains the why of their donations of internet hot spots to rural and unconnected students in Sonoma County. This effort is also written up in the Press Democrat on May 2, 2020. We all need a feel good moment every once in a while.
Surf Log
For those who want to get away to the beach and watch the surf, a 28 minute video of the surf at Salmon Creek Beach tossing a log about is just the ticket. It can be accessed here and has no other purpose than to allow us to escape and enjoy the forces of the … [Read more…]
We Are Living in a Failed State
Sobering summary of our current state from The Atlantic’s George Packer: When the virus came here, it found a country with serious underlying conditions, and it exploited them ruthlessly. Chronic ills—a corrupt political class, a sclerotic bureaucracy, a heartless economy, a divided and distracted public—had gone untreated for years. We had learned to live, uncomfortably, … [Read more…]
Just a dream
At about 04:30 AM this morning, I woke while dreaming that I was watching Joe Biden’s inauguration speech on TV. Biden was speaking of the need for a green new-deal and infrastructure initiative to put America back to where it should be and increase employment. It was the most pleasant dream I’ve had in many … [Read more…]