Sunday, September 21, 2014
Saturday, September 20, 2014
Good Words (Renewable Energy Version)
Vivek Wadhwa's recent piece on solar energy really puts things in perspective. He notes one of my favorite thinkers and his astute prediction.
Futurist Ray Kurzweil notes that solar power has been doubling every two years for the past 30 years — as costs have been dropping. He says solar energy is only six doublings — or less than 14 years — away from meeting 100 percent of today’s energy needs. Energy usage will keep increasing, so this is a moving target. But, by Kurzweil’s estimates, inexpensive renewable sources will provide more energy than the world needs in less than 20 years. Even then, we will be using only one part in 10,000 of the sunlight that falls on the Earth.
In places such as Germany, Spain, Portugal, Australia and the Southwest United States, residential-scale solar production has already reached “grid parity” with average residential electricity prices. In other words, it costs no more in the long term to install solar panels than to buy electricity from utility companies. The prices of solar panels have fallen 75 percent in the past five years alone and will fall much further as the technologies to create them improve and scale of production increases. By 2020, solar energy will be price-competitive with energy generated from fossil fuels on an unsubsidized basis in most parts of the world. Within the next decade, it will cost a fraction of what fossil fuel-based alternatives do.
Yes, it will. And then all this silliness over the validity of climate change being a "hoax" won't matter. The free market will have simply taken care of all of it.
The rest of the piece contains some very interesting chestnuts. These two are my favorites.
There will be disruption of the entire fossil-fuel industry, starting with utility companies, which will face declining demand and then bankruptcy.
We will go from debating incentives for installing clean energies to debating subsidies for utility companies to keep their operations going.
Indeed. It will be a pleasure to see climate change skeptics, who rabidly defend fossil fuel producers, turn on them for taking government handouts. Or will they?
They are insanely stubborn people, after all:)
Futurist Ray Kurzweil notes that solar power has been doubling every two years for the past 30 years — as costs have been dropping. He says solar energy is only six doublings — or less than 14 years — away from meeting 100 percent of today’s energy needs. Energy usage will keep increasing, so this is a moving target. But, by Kurzweil’s estimates, inexpensive renewable sources will provide more energy than the world needs in less than 20 years. Even then, we will be using only one part in 10,000 of the sunlight that falls on the Earth.
In places such as Germany, Spain, Portugal, Australia and the Southwest United States, residential-scale solar production has already reached “grid parity” with average residential electricity prices. In other words, it costs no more in the long term to install solar panels than to buy electricity from utility companies. The prices of solar panels have fallen 75 percent in the past five years alone and will fall much further as the technologies to create them improve and scale of production increases. By 2020, solar energy will be price-competitive with energy generated from fossil fuels on an unsubsidized basis in most parts of the world. Within the next decade, it will cost a fraction of what fossil fuel-based alternatives do.
Yes, it will. And then all this silliness over the validity of climate change being a "hoax" won't matter. The free market will have simply taken care of all of it.
The rest of the piece contains some very interesting chestnuts. These two are my favorites.
There will be disruption of the entire fossil-fuel industry, starting with utility companies, which will face declining demand and then bankruptcy.
We will go from debating incentives for installing clean energies to debating subsidies for utility companies to keep their operations going.
Indeed. It will be a pleasure to see climate change skeptics, who rabidly defend fossil fuel producers, turn on them for taking government handouts. Or will they?
They are insanely stubborn people, after all:)
Friday, September 19, 2014
His Year In The NRA
There are a great many wonderful things about Rob Cox's latest piece on the Gun Cult that are all sure to blow bowels across the nation. It's a long read but most worth it. Here are my highlights.
And that’s when it really hit me. What the people of Newtown wanted — and indeed all Americans at that moment wanted and still want — was an honest discussion about how something as awful as Sandy Hook could happen, and how to prevent it from happening again. LaPierre made it clear the NRA was going to do everything in its power to thwart genuine debate.
It goes way past LaPierre. The entirety of the Gun Cult wants to thwart genuine debate. One need only look at my comments section for evidence of that.
The most distinctive element was a general sense of impending doom, a pervading belief that America is swiftly going down the tubes. This sentiment was particularly evident at the 5th Annual Freedom First Financial Seminar, one of the many sessions taking place off the main exhibition carnival.
This was Cox's impression of NRA attendees...what an awful way to live your life...
The NRA’s political agenda is pretty simple: It works to perpetuate gun culture in America, and ensure that access to guns is unfettered. And unlike, say, tobacco or automobiles, the constitution gives the NRA an authoritative, to some religious, scripture to which it can continually refer when opposing regulation of the products its corporate supporters sell to its $25-a-head members.
Yep.
Since joining, I have received countless calls to political action. On the day before a background-check bill failed to pass the Senate in April 2013, LaPierre emailed me that “anti-gun ringleaders in Congress and the national media are waging all-out war on our gun rights” and are “fighting to BAN tens of millions of commonly owned firearms… fighting to register and license gun owners…fighting to create a federal registry of ammo buyers…and fighting to destroy your right to defend yourself, your home and your loved ones.”
They's a comin!!!!
The best part?
A salesman with a country twang wanted me to renew my NRA membership on special terms. But before making the offer, he wanted me to answer a simple multiple-choice question: “What do you think is the single greatest threat to your Second Amendment freedoms?” Was it, he asked, Barack Obama? Was it the United Nations and its Arms Trade Treaty? Or was it the “gun grabbers” Michael Bloomberg, Chuck Schumer, and Dianne Feinstein?
I told him I didn’t think the black guy in the White House, foreigners, or the Jews in Congress were the problem. Rather, I told him, I worry about my fellow Americans who routinely abrogate their rights by not recognizing the responsibilities that come with owning firearms. Every time I see the headlines about a toddler who kills his little sister with Dad’s loaded, unsecured pistol, I worry for my rights. I told him that when I see the horrors inflicted by yet another psychopathic young man who should never have legal access to the kinds of guns our veterans have become accustomed to on the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan, I worry about my freedoms.
I think this will be my response the next time I get into it with a gun cult member.
And that’s when it really hit me. What the people of Newtown wanted — and indeed all Americans at that moment wanted and still want — was an honest discussion about how something as awful as Sandy Hook could happen, and how to prevent it from happening again. LaPierre made it clear the NRA was going to do everything in its power to thwart genuine debate.
It goes way past LaPierre. The entirety of the Gun Cult wants to thwart genuine debate. One need only look at my comments section for evidence of that.
The most distinctive element was a general sense of impending doom, a pervading belief that America is swiftly going down the tubes. This sentiment was particularly evident at the 5th Annual Freedom First Financial Seminar, one of the many sessions taking place off the main exhibition carnival.
This was Cox's impression of NRA attendees...what an awful way to live your life...
The NRA’s political agenda is pretty simple: It works to perpetuate gun culture in America, and ensure that access to guns is unfettered. And unlike, say, tobacco or automobiles, the constitution gives the NRA an authoritative, to some religious, scripture to which it can continually refer when opposing regulation of the products its corporate supporters sell to its $25-a-head members.
Yep.
Since joining, I have received countless calls to political action. On the day before a background-check bill failed to pass the Senate in April 2013, LaPierre emailed me that “anti-gun ringleaders in Congress and the national media are waging all-out war on our gun rights” and are “fighting to BAN tens of millions of commonly owned firearms… fighting to register and license gun owners…fighting to create a federal registry of ammo buyers…and fighting to destroy your right to defend yourself, your home and your loved ones.”
They's a comin!!!!
The best part?
A salesman with a country twang wanted me to renew my NRA membership on special terms. But before making the offer, he wanted me to answer a simple multiple-choice question: “What do you think is the single greatest threat to your Second Amendment freedoms?” Was it, he asked, Barack Obama? Was it the United Nations and its Arms Trade Treaty? Or was it the “gun grabbers” Michael Bloomberg, Chuck Schumer, and Dianne Feinstein?
I told him I didn’t think the black guy in the White House, foreigners, or the Jews in Congress were the problem. Rather, I told him, I worry about my fellow Americans who routinely abrogate their rights by not recognizing the responsibilities that come with owning firearms. Every time I see the headlines about a toddler who kills his little sister with Dad’s loaded, unsecured pistol, I worry for my rights. I told him that when I see the horrors inflicted by yet another psychopathic young man who should never have legal access to the kinds of guns our veterans have become accustomed to on the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan, I worry about my freedoms.
I think this will be my response the next time I get into it with a gun cult member.
Thursday, September 18, 2014
Wednesday, September 17, 2014
Energy, the Dominion of Mankind and the Free Market
As an adjunct to Mark's post, The New York Times has a detailed look at renewable energy in general and Germany in particular. But if you look more closely at the numbers, it becomes clear that "green" energy still comes with an environmental cost. Of course, it can't be any other way: there are billions of humans using trillions of kilowatt-hours of electricity: that's gonna leave a mark. On the other hand, hydroelectric, solar and wind power already cost less than coal and gas.
The following table gives more detail for power generation:
The thing to note is that Brazil and Canada lead the world in renewable power generation, and they do it with hydroelectric.
On the ideological front, conservatives love to hate renewables because they think it means caving in to namby-pamby Bambi lovers. They seem to think that using renewable energy somehow surrenders our God-given dominion over the earth.
But environmentalists hate hydroelectric power. It covers up huge areas of land, interferes with spawning fish and causes any number of other environmental problems. Huge dams can burst and kill thousands of people.
Ditto with wind power. Some environmentalists don't like wind turbines because some birds are killed flying into the blades. This is something that the fossil fuel industry loves to play up, even though the number of birds killed by wind turbines is infinitesimal compared to the billions of birds killed each year by pet cats, flying into glass buildings and oil spills.
Ditto with solar power. Some environmentalists don't like solar power because it uses so much land, and endangers some tortoise in the middle of the Mojave desert. They also don't like solar thermal power plants because the reflected sunlight scorches birds in midair.
So, conservatives need not worry that mankind will cease to assert our dominion over the earth just because we stop burning coal, oil and gas: with hydro, wind and solar we use will still make our mark on the world and run roughshod over other species. We just won't be pumping as much CO2 into the atmosphere and warming up the planet to the detriment of humanity.
On the economic front, Germany is finding is that solar power and wind power are already cheaper than coal and gas, due to improvements in technology, economies of scale and a Chinese push for cleaner energy (because of the intolerable air pollution in China).
Electric utility executives all over the world are watching nervously as technologies they once dismissed as irrelevant begin to threaten their long-established business plans. Fights are erupting across the United States over the future rules for renewable power. Many poor countries, once intent on building coal-fired power plants to bring electricity to their people, are discussing whether they might leapfrog the fossil age and build clean grids from the outset.The problem is that power companies make most of their profit during times of peak demand, when they can charge much more for power. Peak demand is usually during the day, when it's hottest. That coincides with peak energy generation from solar power.
A reckoning is at hand, and nowhere is that clearer than in Germany. Even as the country sets records nearly every month for renewable power production, the changes have devastated its utility companies, whose profits from power generation have collapsed.
In Germany, cheap solar power is already undercutting fossil fuel power generation during the most profitable time of day.
The free market is making coal and gas plants obsolete. Up till now most power utilities have been monopolies that have in turn been captives of the fossil fuel energy monopoly. But now, as the price of renewables has tumbled and governments have opened up power generation so that anyone can feed power into the grid, the utility and fossil fuel monopolies are endangered. Consumers benefit by not getting screwed for running the dishwasher at the wrong time.
In the long run, how can energy from coal, oil and gas compete? You have to pay fossil fuel energy monopolies a lot of money to dig through billions of tons of rock to extract billions of tons of oil, coal and gas, often in countries that are openly hostile to the Free World, and then ship that fuel thousands of miles at great expense and risk. Hydro, wind and solar plants get their fuel for free, right where they are. And when battery technology is improved to allow greater storage and fast charging, oil will no longer be an economical fuel for transportation.
Free markets and the dominion of mankind over the earth: for conservatives, what's not to love about renewable energy?
Cleaning Up Our Act
Turning towards good news once again, this recent piece from the Christian Science Monitor shows how the world is quickly embracing renewable energy.
Last year, new global capacity of hydroelectricity, wind, solar, and other renewable power grew by more than in any year before, according to a new report by the Paris-based International Energy Agency, continuing a run of record-breaking additions that stretches back to the beginning of this century. Renewable electricity now accounts for about 22 percent of power generation worldwide, up from 18.4 percent in 2005. The rise is largely due to the emergence of the onshore wind industry and the spread of solar photovoltaic technology. By decade’s end, the IEA projects that more than a quarter of the world’s electricity will come from sources that are carbon-free and naturally replenishable.
Here is where we are at right now with energy usage in the world
Looks like we have some catching up to do!
Last year, new global capacity of hydroelectricity, wind, solar, and other renewable power grew by more than in any year before, according to a new report by the Paris-based International Energy Agency, continuing a run of record-breaking additions that stretches back to the beginning of this century. Renewable electricity now accounts for about 22 percent of power generation worldwide, up from 18.4 percent in 2005. The rise is largely due to the emergence of the onshore wind industry and the spread of solar photovoltaic technology. By decade’s end, the IEA projects that more than a quarter of the world’s electricity will come from sources that are carbon-free and naturally replenishable.
Here is where we are at right now with energy usage in the world
Looks like we have some catching up to do!
Tuesday, September 16, 2014
“We’re going to be bankrupt in two or three years if we keep going his way.”
The state of Kansas has become an excellent example of exactly what happens when you run a government with they type of policies championed by right wing bloggers.
In his 40 years living in Kansas, Konrad Hastings cannot remember voting for a Democrat. He is the type who agonizes over big purchases, trying to save as much money as possible. He is against stricter gun laws, opposes abortion in most cases and prefers less government involvement in his life.
But when he casts his ballot for governor in November, he plans to shun the leader of this state’s conservative movement, the Republican incumbent, Sam Brownback, and vote for the Democratic challenger. “He’s leading Kansas down,” said Mr. Hastings, 68, who said he voted for Mr. Brownback four years ago, when he easily won his first term. “We’re going to be bankrupt in two or three years if we keep going his way.”
Apparently, other Republicans feel the same way because Brownback is down in the polls in a deep red state like Kansas. Just to put this in perspective...Barack Obama lost Kansas by more than 20 points in the 2012 election. And look who else is in trouble because of his policies. The one thing that both Kansas and Wisconsin have in common?
A right wing blogger view of government and economies.
Ironic that their predictions of doom and gloom are actually self-created:)
Speaking of the fall elections, where is that Republican wave I kept hearing about? Kay Hagan is pulling away from Thom Tillis in North Carolina. Bruce Braley (not a good candidate) has continued to stay ahead of Jodi Ernst. The GOP challengers in Alaska and Arkansas are barely staying ahead of their opponents. This does not look at all like what we saw in September of 2010.
Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that the GOP approval rating is half of the president's approval rating.
In his 40 years living in Kansas, Konrad Hastings cannot remember voting for a Democrat. He is the type who agonizes over big purchases, trying to save as much money as possible. He is against stricter gun laws, opposes abortion in most cases and prefers less government involvement in his life.
But when he casts his ballot for governor in November, he plans to shun the leader of this state’s conservative movement, the Republican incumbent, Sam Brownback, and vote for the Democratic challenger. “He’s leading Kansas down,” said Mr. Hastings, 68, who said he voted for Mr. Brownback four years ago, when he easily won his first term. “We’re going to be bankrupt in two or three years if we keep going his way.”
Apparently, other Republicans feel the same way because Brownback is down in the polls in a deep red state like Kansas. Just to put this in perspective...Barack Obama lost Kansas by more than 20 points in the 2012 election. And look who else is in trouble because of his policies. The one thing that both Kansas and Wisconsin have in common?
A right wing blogger view of government and economies.
Ironic that their predictions of doom and gloom are actually self-created:)
Speaking of the fall elections, where is that Republican wave I kept hearing about? Kay Hagan is pulling away from Thom Tillis in North Carolina. Bruce Braley (not a good candidate) has continued to stay ahead of Jodi Ernst. The GOP challengers in Alaska and Arkansas are barely staying ahead of their opponents. This does not look at all like what we saw in September of 2010.
Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that the GOP approval rating is half of the president's approval rating.
Monday, September 15, 2014
Sunday, September 14, 2014
The Changing Times
It's been a bad week for the NFL. The elevator video of Ray Rice punching his wife Janay and knocking her out was terrible. Adrian Peterson taking a wood switch to his step son and leaving welts and cuts is simply awful. I've enjoyed watching AP play for my beloved Vikings over the years but these recent revelations are simply too much. Both he and Ray Rice should never play in the NFL again.
Although each situation is markedly different, there is an overriding issue that bind them together in commonality. To illustrate this similarity, I have to begin by noting how thoroughly sick I am of the media and their race to prove which one of them is a bigger defender of abused women. I'm a very proud liberal and Democrat but I am completely disgusted by outlets like ThinkProgress, HuffPo, and MSNBC for their hyper over reaction to the Ray Rice story. Here's the deal, folks.
No one is going to dispute that Ray Rice is awful. He should be charged with assault, not a petty misdemeanor. But guess what? Janay Rice is also awful. She spit on him and charged him. That does not give him the right to do what he did but it most certainly means she's not a passive victim from an ABC afterschool special about spousal abuse as the media is making her out to be. That's what makes the Ray Rice story different from the AP story. AP's step son was a passive victim who simply got into an argument over a video game with this brother.
As soon Janay's payday was threatened, she showed her true colors. Both Ray Rice and his wife are emotionally unintelligent people who need years of intensive therapy to be better members of our society. So does Adrian Peterson. So do millions of other couples or parents who think it's OK to solve their problems through violence. This is a problem within the NFL but it's really our society as a whole that has failed to address this issue properly.
If the media wants to perform an actual public service here, they should stop trying to get an "A" in Women's Studies 101 and start promoting good mental and emotional health for all US citizens. Encourage people to go to therapy for their problems and become more emotionally intelligent. EVERYONE needs therapy and the day domestic violence ends is the day the stigma about mental and emotional health is gone with people talking about it as openly as they talk about going to the dentist.
At an even higher level, our revulsion to Ray Rice and Adrian Peterson represents just how much society has changed over the past fifty years. I recall a debate on TSM a couple of years back in which one of biggest fans (DJ) advocated corporal punishment. His support of this shows just how out of step his mentality is with our current society. What we are seeing with these stories is a shift away from that "golden age of America" that conservatives childishly pine for on a daily basis.
There was no fucking golden age of America. Blacks were treated like shit, gay people were arrested, men beat their wives and got away with it because women were considered inferior, and dads whopped their kids leaving welts and cuts. It was a very emotionally unintelligent culture and we are seeing the remnants of that being swept away.
Although each situation is markedly different, there is an overriding issue that bind them together in commonality. To illustrate this similarity, I have to begin by noting how thoroughly sick I am of the media and their race to prove which one of them is a bigger defender of abused women. I'm a very proud liberal and Democrat but I am completely disgusted by outlets like ThinkProgress, HuffPo, and MSNBC for their hyper over reaction to the Ray Rice story. Here's the deal, folks.
No one is going to dispute that Ray Rice is awful. He should be charged with assault, not a petty misdemeanor. But guess what? Janay Rice is also awful. She spit on him and charged him. That does not give him the right to do what he did but it most certainly means she's not a passive victim from an ABC afterschool special about spousal abuse as the media is making her out to be. That's what makes the Ray Rice story different from the AP story. AP's step son was a passive victim who simply got into an argument over a video game with this brother.
As soon Janay's payday was threatened, she showed her true colors. Both Ray Rice and his wife are emotionally unintelligent people who need years of intensive therapy to be better members of our society. So does Adrian Peterson. So do millions of other couples or parents who think it's OK to solve their problems through violence. This is a problem within the NFL but it's really our society as a whole that has failed to address this issue properly.
If the media wants to perform an actual public service here, they should stop trying to get an "A" in Women's Studies 101 and start promoting good mental and emotional health for all US citizens. Encourage people to go to therapy for their problems and become more emotionally intelligent. EVERYONE needs therapy and the day domestic violence ends is the day the stigma about mental and emotional health is gone with people talking about it as openly as they talk about going to the dentist.
At an even higher level, our revulsion to Ray Rice and Adrian Peterson represents just how much society has changed over the past fifty years. I recall a debate on TSM a couple of years back in which one of biggest fans (DJ) advocated corporal punishment. His support of this shows just how out of step his mentality is with our current society. What we are seeing with these stories is a shift away from that "golden age of America" that conservatives childishly pine for on a daily basis.
There was no fucking golden age of America. Blacks were treated like shit, gay people were arrested, men beat their wives and got away with it because women were considered inferior, and dads whopped their kids leaving welts and cuts. It was a very emotionally unintelligent culture and we are seeing the remnants of that being swept away.
Saturday, September 13, 2014
Maher Announces Winner of Flip A District Contest
Bill Maher announced the winner of his "Flip A District" contest and it's none other than Minnesota's own John Kline! The Republican Representative from the 2nd congressional district. RCP currently rates this district as "likely GOP" but Kline's opponent, Democrat Mike Obermueller, is going to get a big boost from this national attention.
My hope is that voters in MN-02 will take a look at Kline's voting record (detailed most eloquently by Maher in the clip from the link) and turn out to vote. If that happens, Obermueller has a chance of winning. Perhaps Maher could do a live show from MN-02 as well. It will be interesting to see if the polls shift over the course of the next few weeks:)
My hope is that voters in MN-02 will take a look at Kline's voting record (detailed most eloquently by Maher in the clip from the link) and turn out to vote. If that happens, Obermueller has a chance of winning. Perhaps Maher could do a live show from MN-02 as well. It will be interesting to see if the polls shift over the course of the next few weeks:)
George Zimmerman...again
‘Do you know who I am?’ George Zimmerman threatens to kill driver in road rage incident: Florida cops
“I looked over - George Zimmerman was the driver - and they were threatening to kick my ass and to shoot me,” Apperson told a dispatcher. “I said, what are you going to do, shoot me? I’m not messing with you.”
The truck followed Apperson “in an aggressive manner” into the lot and Zimmerman threatened to shoot Apperson “dead,” he told police. Zimmerman “peeled off” after Apperson went inside the store to call police.
I wonder if there is still anyone out there who still supports this guy.
“I looked over - George Zimmerman was the driver - and they were threatening to kick my ass and to shoot me,” Apperson told a dispatcher. “I said, what are you going to do, shoot me? I’m not messing with you.”
The truck followed Apperson “in an aggressive manner” into the lot and Zimmerman threatened to shoot Apperson “dead,” he told police. Zimmerman “peeled off” after Apperson went inside the store to call police.
I wonder if there is still anyone out there who still supports this guy.
Friday, September 12, 2014
Good Words
From a question on Quora about guns...
Like much of public debate and politics in the US, a small fringe element, with support from a willing press, tries to control the narrative by making extreme statements. Sometimes this gets picked up worldwide and it 1) is a successful coup by the fringe group to drive the direction of the dialog and 2) it leaves the remainder of the world with a distorted perception of American society. Most Americans, like 99.9999999%, have no desire for teachers to be armed.
The idea of a kindergarten teacher "packing iron" to save her students makes little sense except to someone who has never had children and has lived under a rock for twenty years. There are "certain things in everyday life that have gone terribly wrong" in the US, this is not one of them. Declining "civil" discourse, increasingly invasive government and corporate data collection, and wealth disparity are signs of things going terribly wrong. The gun control debate is a sideline issue used to divert people's attention from the real issues that are impacting their lives.
Excellent point and it makes me wonder...perhaps the whole gun debate is a distraction that pushes liberals away from accomplishing the bigger things.
Like much of public debate and politics in the US, a small fringe element, with support from a willing press, tries to control the narrative by making extreme statements. Sometimes this gets picked up worldwide and it 1) is a successful coup by the fringe group to drive the direction of the dialog and 2) it leaves the remainder of the world with a distorted perception of American society. Most Americans, like 99.9999999%, have no desire for teachers to be armed.
The idea of a kindergarten teacher "packing iron" to save her students makes little sense except to someone who has never had children and has lived under a rock for twenty years. There are "certain things in everyday life that have gone terribly wrong" in the US, this is not one of them. Declining "civil" discourse, increasingly invasive government and corporate data collection, and wealth disparity are signs of things going terribly wrong. The gun control debate is a sideline issue used to divert people's attention from the real issues that are impacting their lives.
Excellent point and it makes me wonder...perhaps the whole gun debate is a distraction that pushes liberals away from accomplishing the bigger things.
She Stood Her Ground!
A teacher in Utah was wounded when the gun she was carrying discharged while she was in the staff bathroom. It's legal for teachers in Utah to carry guns in schools and they don't have to let their administration know about it. Here's my favorite part from the story.
Police initially thought the gun had discharged directly into her leg but now believe she was injured when the bullet struck a toilet and caused it to explode, sending bullet and porcelain fragments into her lower leg.
So, Toilet 1, Gun Cult paranoid who thinks she needs a gun at a school in fucking Utah 0.
Ah well, she may have lost but at least she stood her ground!
Police initially thought the gun had discharged directly into her leg but now believe she was injured when the bullet struck a toilet and caused it to explode, sending bullet and porcelain fragments into her lower leg.
So, Toilet 1, Gun Cult paranoid who thinks she needs a gun at a school in fucking Utah 0.
Ah well, she may have lost but at least she stood her ground!
Thursday, September 11, 2014
Good News Round Up
Most of the news that is heavily reported these days is bad news. There are number of reasons for this but the main one is that bad news sells better. I think this is complete bullshit and, quite frankly, a cop out by the media. They could decided tomorrow to focus on all of the progress in the world (like the Christian Science Monitor did) and people just might feel better about the future. In fact, they could evolve away from anger, hate, and fear into much more reasonable beings. I haven't talked about good news on here in a while but starting today, it's going to become a more regular feature here at Markadelphia.
First up, we have this story about the Earth's ozone layer.
The ozone layer that shields the earth from cancer-causing ultraviolet rays is showing early signs of thickening after years of depletion, a UN study says. The ozone hole that appears annually over Antarctica has also stopped growing bigger every year. The report says it will take a decade before the hole starts to shrink. Scientists say the recovery is entirely due to political determination to phase out the man-made CFC gases destroying ozone. The study was published by researchers from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). "International action on the ozone layer is a major environmental success story... This should encourage us to display the same level of urgency and unity to tackle the even greater challenge of tackling climate change," said WMO Secretary-General Michel Jarraud.
Very good news on a problem that has been around all of my life.
Next we have this report on US child wellness and education which concluded there have been gradual and incremental improvements in the lives of American children. Child-wellness indicators in four main areas – economic well-being, education, health, and family and community – reflected an overall increase in the well-being of America’s youths.
Areas of improvement included the drop in teen births per 1,000 (from 40 to 29) and a decrease in the number of children without health insurance (from 10 percent to 7 percent). All four education trouble spots addressed in the study – children not attending preschool, fourth-graders not proficient in reading, fourth-graders not proficient in math, and high school students not graduating on time – dipped at least slightly, between 2 and 8 percent. All health issues improved as well, with fewer low-birth-weight babies, fewer child and teen deaths, and fewer teenagers abusing drugs and alcohol. The CDC also confirms some of these improvements.
Very cool!
Finally, we have news from the United Nations that Rwanda and Ethiopia have the fastest growing economies in Africa. This is especially amazing when you consider that, historically, the names of each of these countries meant violence, death, famine, and literally, a boiling pit of sewage! Each country has provided better access to health care, diversified their economies, and reduced child mortality by nearly 30%.
Look for good news like this every week at Markadelphia!
First up, we have this story about the Earth's ozone layer.
The ozone layer that shields the earth from cancer-causing ultraviolet rays is showing early signs of thickening after years of depletion, a UN study says. The ozone hole that appears annually over Antarctica has also stopped growing bigger every year. The report says it will take a decade before the hole starts to shrink. Scientists say the recovery is entirely due to political determination to phase out the man-made CFC gases destroying ozone. The study was published by researchers from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). "International action on the ozone layer is a major environmental success story... This should encourage us to display the same level of urgency and unity to tackle the even greater challenge of tackling climate change," said WMO Secretary-General Michel Jarraud.
Very good news on a problem that has been around all of my life.
Next we have this report on US child wellness and education which concluded there have been gradual and incremental improvements in the lives of American children. Child-wellness indicators in four main areas – economic well-being, education, health, and family and community – reflected an overall increase in the well-being of America’s youths.
Areas of improvement included the drop in teen births per 1,000 (from 40 to 29) and a decrease in the number of children without health insurance (from 10 percent to 7 percent). All four education trouble spots addressed in the study – children not attending preschool, fourth-graders not proficient in reading, fourth-graders not proficient in math, and high school students not graduating on time – dipped at least slightly, between 2 and 8 percent. All health issues improved as well, with fewer low-birth-weight babies, fewer child and teen deaths, and fewer teenagers abusing drugs and alcohol. The CDC also confirms some of these improvements.
Very cool!
Finally, we have news from the United Nations that Rwanda and Ethiopia have the fastest growing economies in Africa. This is especially amazing when you consider that, historically, the names of each of these countries meant violence, death, famine, and literally, a boiling pit of sewage! Each country has provided better access to health care, diversified their economies, and reduced child mortality by nearly 30%.
Look for good news like this every week at Markadelphia!
Wednesday, September 10, 2014
ISIS or ISIL?
As the country prepares to take on the Islamic State extremists currently located in Syria and Iraq, we still have a lingering quandary that needs to be solved. What the hell are they called?
The Washington Post has a piece explaining why our government and the UN calls them ISIL or the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.
In Arabic, the group is known as Al-Dawla Al-Islamiya fi al-Iraq wa al-Sham, or the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham. The term “al-Sham” refers to a region stretching from southern Turkey through Syria to Egypt (also including Lebanon, Israel, the Palestinian territories and Jordan). The group’s stated goal is to restore an Islamic state, or caliphate, in this entire area. The standard English term for this broad territory is “the Levant.” Therefore, AP’s translation of the group’s name is the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL.
To be certain, this is something only social studies teachers like me geek out to but I think it's important nonetheless because they geography explains why ISIL is who they are. This is where they believe the next Islamic state should be located. Of course, as the rest of the article notes, even this acronym is up for debate.
The president will address the nation tonight at 9pm Eastern regarding ISIL.
The Washington Post has a piece explaining why our government and the UN calls them ISIL or the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.
In Arabic, the group is known as Al-Dawla Al-Islamiya fi al-Iraq wa al-Sham, or the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham. The term “al-Sham” refers to a region stretching from southern Turkey through Syria to Egypt (also including Lebanon, Israel, the Palestinian territories and Jordan). The group’s stated goal is to restore an Islamic state, or caliphate, in this entire area. The standard English term for this broad territory is “the Levant.” Therefore, AP’s translation of the group’s name is the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL.
To be certain, this is something only social studies teachers like me geek out to but I think it's important nonetheless because they geography explains why ISIL is who they are. This is where they believe the next Islamic state should be located. Of course, as the rest of the article notes, even this acronym is up for debate.
The president will address the nation tonight at 9pm Eastern regarding ISIL.
Tuesday, September 09, 2014
Founding Fathers A Go Go
There have been some pretty strange assertions over the past couple of years about our founding fathers. Politifact has a piece up which collects some of them and rates them for their accuracy. Here is a classic:
"By the word religion in the First Amendment, the founders meant Christianity." Bryan Fischer, Tuesday, December 10th, 2013.
Uh, no they did not.
I will always be amazed at the fervor on display by conservatives in regards to the founding fathers. They feel as though they have some sort of deep and special connection with them. More troubling is their invention (quite literally out of their ass) of what the founding fathers really believed.
Do they think that people aren't capable of picking up a book and verifying their assertions?
"By the word religion in the First Amendment, the founders meant Christianity." Bryan Fischer, Tuesday, December 10th, 2013.
Uh, no they did not.
I will always be amazed at the fervor on display by conservatives in regards to the founding fathers. They feel as though they have some sort of deep and special connection with them. More troubling is their invention (quite literally out of their ass) of what the founding fathers really believed.
Do they think that people aren't capable of picking up a book and verifying their assertions?
Monday, September 08, 2014
Obama Outperforms Reagan
Well, this will most certainly lead to conservative heads exploding, the predictable 8 year old boy tempter tantrum and the overly emotional belief that people are entitled to their own facts.
Obama Outperforms Reagan On Jobs, Growth And Investing
Holy shee-it! Forbes, a bastion of conservative thought, went and done did it. They sacrileged Saint Gip and completely torpedoed the irrational belief that President Obama's policies were bad for the economy. My message to conservatives today.
Stop playing make believe and thank the president.
It's because of him (and the spirit of Franklin Delano Roosevelt) that you still have money.
Obama Outperforms Reagan On Jobs, Growth And Investing
Holy shee-it! Forbes, a bastion of conservative thought, went and done did it. They sacrileged Saint Gip and completely torpedoed the irrational belief that President Obama's policies were bad for the economy. My message to conservatives today.
Stop playing make believe and thank the president.
It's because of him (and the spirit of Franklin Delano Roosevelt) that you still have money.
Big History
A recent piece in the New York Times led me David Christian's Big History project and I have to admit I am completely fascinated by it. Professor Christian divides history-ALL history-into sections he calls Thresholds and shows how all scholastic subjects relate to the history of the world. Here is an example..
It's a different way to teach history and Bill Gates has gotten the class in several schools. It also adheres to the Common Core standards which will remove some hassles if teachers want to get it in their schools.
I think it's way past time that we change the way we teach history in our schools. Big History is an excellent first step!
It's a different way to teach history and Bill Gates has gotten the class in several schools. It also adheres to the Common Core standards which will remove some hassles if teachers want to get it in their schools.
I think it's way past time that we change the way we teach history in our schools. Big History is an excellent first step!
Sunday, September 07, 2014
Saturday, September 06, 2014
The Architects of Supply Side Economics Recant
I came across both of these videos recently and thought it would be nice of have one post of both of the chief architects of Reaganecomics not only admitting they were completely wrong but also accurately assessing conservatives today and how completely batshit they are.
Mr. Stockman, Mr Bartlett...you have the floor...
Mr. Stockman, Mr Bartlett...you have the floor...
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