My next newspaper column:
Last week I wrote that Rudy Giuliani invested $2 million in the maker of Trump’s touted malaria drug. Though his credibility disappeared years ago, Rudy denies it, and no proof has been forthcoming. I should have dug further. More important were Trump’s ridding himself of oversight, and the preview Wisconsin’s primary gives us of voting in Trump’s America. For some, my carelessness detracted from that. Lesson learned.
The corona crisis is providing lessons, too. In no particular order:
1) “Government is the problem” only when it’s mismanaged. More so when it’s been gutted, defunded, and filled with lobbyists and yes-people.
2) Air is clearer, water is cleaner, animals are thriving. This puts to rest claims that addressing pollution and climate change will make no difference.
3) The aforementioned have resulted from massive curtailing of human activity; but we know how to create non-polluting energy without shutting down. It can’t happen overnight like this has, but the need and means are clear. Uncaring, Trump and Republicans stand in the way, doing everything they can to promote fossil fuel and inhibit renewables. Choosing contributions from oil producers over the health of humanity and the planet is unconscionable.
4) Tying health insurance to employment is dumb.
5) Removing healthcare access from huge numbers of Americans endangers us all.
6) An economy in which millions face bankruptcy by missing one paycheck wasn’t as robust as Republicans were proclaiming. Not to mention the crushing demand on food banks. Low-wage workers, targeted by Republican policies, are vital to our economy and deserve better.
7) Trump arranged to get his signature on the "rescue" checks. As if it’s his money, his gift. It’s the only responsibility he’s taken lately, and it’s a self-promoting lie.
8) Republicans filled the “rescue” with giveaways to their rich donors. Billions; unrestricted, unsupervised.
9) Patriotism isn’t waving flags. Among other things, it’s caring how one’s actions affect others; willingness to sacrifice in order to help, even people you don’t know. Self-described “patriots” who refuse, because “freedom,” are, in fact, the opposite. The virus has stripped away pretense.
10) Trump ignored warnings for critical weeks, making things immeasurably worse, costing lives. Recent revelations by determined, dogged journalists are undeniable. His intellectual and psychological unfitness for the job should be obvious to everyone by now. Persisting deniers are as dangerous as he is.
11) Republicans calling for “opening” the country prematurely value money more than human life. From the “pro-life” party, this is ironic.
12) In addition to his experienced pandemic response team, which Trump disbanded, President Barack Obama left a sixty-nine-page document, which foresaw and addressed, in comprehensive detail, every challenge we’re now facing: struggling hospitals, shortages, supply chains, manufacturing, the role of each government department, states vs. federal responsibilities, testing. All of it. Despite Trump’s incessant blaming and repetitive lies, this pandemic WAS foreseen. And there were plans.
13) Trump’s downplaying of testing, to hide the numbers, is immoral.
14) So desperate is he to shift blame, Trump is lying about and, in the midst of a global health crisis (and flare-ups, around the world, of polio, measles, Ebola, diphtheria) cutting funds for the WHO. It’s another example of how unfit he is for the presidency: to blame his failings on others, he’s willing to cause death around the world. Mostly in poor countries, of course. It’s beyond shameful: it’s evil.
15) Claiming “total authority,” Trump neither understands nor respects the Constitution. Declaring himself a “wartime” president, he nevertheless left procurement to the states. If “war” doesn’t require federal management, what does? Worse, he’s making it harder for governors like ours, hurling insults and hijacking equipment they’ve obtained.
16) Withholding needed supplies from governors who didn’t praise him enough, and granting them to those who did, is despicable. People are in need. Trump doesn’t care. Everything is about him.
17) Lacking federal leadership, several Republican governors are putting their people, and, therefore, all of us, at risk.
18) Suddenly all for it, Republicans who objected to deficits and stimulus packages during the Obama presidency clearly weren’t standing on principle, but on willingness to damage the country to keep President Barack Obama from succeeding.
19) Wisconsin showed why Trump fears mail-in ballots; and that when enough people understand the seriousness of what’s at stake, Republican voter-suppression can be overcome. For America, this might be the most important lesson of all.
[Image source]
DT's recent eulogy for his real estate friend was an incredibly haunting display of the horrible. He turned that into how even the dead praise him.
ReplyDeleteIf I could suggest anything to my Party's strategists, it would be to have that clip return and return at strategic times. And with all of the recent death happening, there are many opportunities.
(how did you manage to stop at 19?)
Ran out of my word allotment.
ReplyDeleteAn anecdote from today... FWIW ...we shopped at QFC this morning and at Business Costco. The percentage of mask wearers has increased noticeably. QFC workers were wearing masks or standing behind shields, but the bagger at checkout wore no mask. We would have thought that QFC would require protection of all workers. Strange.
ReplyDeleteIn the parking lot and having just emptied our cart, I saw an old man walking towards the store who was about to pass by us. He looked much older than me, but then I've been told many times that I don't look my age, so he might have been younger but definitely looked old, I said, “Here's a cart for you if you want it, but it hasn't been sanitized.” He took it and as he walked on he said without looking back, “I don't believe in those things.” He wasn't wearing a MAGA hat but with that remark my biased imagination placed one on his head.
A Trump supporter, without doubt. Maybe one I've heard from. They're all the same.
ReplyDeleteMakes me think ungenerous thoughts.
An interesting and telling video I just saw on YouTube ...
ReplyDeleteSHOCK: Fox Host ADMITS Conservatives Are Hypocrites
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pgL8nrLH0A
David Pakman makes a lot of the same points I've been making about Trump for years. He even mentions Animal Farm!
"Novel"(I'll wait for the movie thankyou)Virus escaped from a Red-Chinese Lab, shortly after confiscatory tariffs(AKA "taxes")instituted, nothing to see hear folks!
ReplyDeleteand "Patient Zero"(shouldn't it be "Patient One") in your state, arrived from Wuhan, Yay Free Trade!
but when else would you get a chance to watch Game 6 of the 73' World Series, Mets Vs A's, "Say Hey" Kid's swan song, "You gotta Believe!", Mets come back from edge of elimination in game 6, can't wait for game 7!!!!!!!
Frank "don't tell me who won/wins"
Yep... agree 100%. As an avowed Radical Progressive Liberal DemocRat, I actually count several family and friends who are complete RWNJ Trumpanzees, including my Step-Mother whom I love dearly. Faced with incontrovertible evidence that POTUS 45 is literally a horrible human being who deserves to be perp-walked outta the WH today, they simply ignore the facts and are wholly supportive of everything he says and does. It's both maddening and humbling to know that supposedly intelligent and rational people could be so completely off-base in this regard, and it'll be a case history in mass delusion and societal hypocrisy for decades to come.
ReplyDeleteOn another note, your mea culpa on Rudy is relevant but not necessary... 'those people' are still the worst among us.
Thank you, Doctor!
Regarding the WHO and cutting of support, which I don't believe will happen because those funds are appropriated by Congress, but it makes the doofus feel like a big "winner" to say that stuff. Anyway, the NYT has an op-ed about the next phase of this, which will be more polio, measles, and other outbreaks because the folks making those vaccination programs work are now spending all their time on the pandemic. In a few months or next year we will see a big increase in those devastating illnesses.
ReplyDeleteAt the risk of sounding like a broken record, we are in so much trouble. Turns out government is pretty darned important. Competent leaders are important.
Yet another interesting YouTube channel ...
ReplyDeleteBeau of the Fifth Column talks about reopening the economy:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hhf9ktqzxgY&t=327s
Don't let his accent put you off. He makes a lot of telling points about why a quick re-open might cause problems rather than solve them. More than that, in this video he makes his points without naming names or even political parties. But if you pay even a little attention, it's pretty clear who he's criticizing.
Beau's shirt says a mouthful in just a few words, too.
ReplyDeleteAnother failure of humanity by our "president". Our state has released some state prisoners to reduce crowding and save lives, but will anyone take action to prevent tragedy in this case? This one is in our back yard. 4 minutes long.
ReplyDelete‘Don’t Let Us Die in Here’
Video by The Atlantic
A group of immigrant women used the video-call system at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center to send The Atlantic a message. They're detained at the 1,500-bed Northwest Detention Center, in Washington State, while ICE pursues their deportations.
http://www.theatlantic.com/video/index/610186/coronavirus-ice/
This geezer has been obsessing over the statistics and nothing is more telling than comparing the infection rate in S. Korea to that of our own. As I write this the rate for S. Korea is 26 per 100K of population. The rate for the US is 214. Our infections just went past 700K earlier today. Had we jumped on the pandemic as S.Korea did with early testing, contact tracing, etc. and experienced S.Korea's rate of infection, 615,000 fewer of us would have experienced this dread disease. Using the same logic there would be 30,000 fewer deaths. Trump hates the per capita statistics. I think I know why.
ReplyDelete> Trump hates the per capita statistics. I think I know why.
ReplyDeletePart of the reason is that he doesn't grasp the distinction and significance of per capita statistics as opposed to raw numbers, and it's practically a given that his audience will be more knowledgeable than he is. That means that whenever he tries to spin the stats to support his narrative, he invariably gets caught and made out to be a fool. More than that, a fool who is too foolish to know when he's playing out of his league. I hope it sticks in his craw like the poisonous gizzard stones did for the sick dinosaurs in Jurassic Park.
If there's ever a revised or updated edition of How to Lie with Statistics, there is more than enough material to devote an entire chapter to Trump.
He doesn't lie WITH statistics. He lies without them.
ReplyDeleteOh, there's no doubt that Trump lies either with or without statistics. It's just that when statistics enter the mix, his incompetence is put on spectacular and appalling display. And under the current circumstances, the consequences of statistical misinformation are graver than usual.
ReplyDeleteOne of the things on display for the current occupier is the abject failure of 'his own' NYC to handle the virus. This is accentuated through statistics, but it also shows in great clarity problems with statistics, like an incredibly silly assumption that other places in the world develop the numbers with the same processes that are done in NYC.
ReplyDeleteFor instance, what sense does it make to "accuse China" when the likelihood of them knowing what is happening is so much less than in NYC? Are they testing? At all? Do their sick go through hospitals as ours do? (I think not).
The various Covid-tracker websites are fascinating, and all sorts of crazed takeaways can be developed from them, but there are certain issues related to population density that they don't show.
For instance: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_city_districts_by_population_density
Notice that five on the list are New York City! Then, notice where the largest by far Covid areas are in our country! Wonder on why Chicago isn't as bad (though it's still bad), and why Los Angeles isn't even a whisper of what is happening in NYC! Consider, too, that in the heart of those areas they walk among those population hoards to get their groceries, whereas elsewhere we drive everywhere.
Two more useful graphics I've found for study of the phenomenon are:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_metropolitan_statistical_areas
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boroughs_of_New_York_City
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Los_Angeles_County
And, for the Kodger from another unsatisfied one, South Korea is not on the list! A surprise for me, since I would expect Seoul to be prominent! Here's its info:
https://worldpopulationreview.com/countries/south-korea-population/
[note for certain readers: in no way is what I've posted supportive of the "top one's" non-leadership and abandonment to the states so they can be blamed.]
Things can be so different, and it will require much for that to happen again.
We should get started. With or without statistics.
btw, any wine makers out there? Is understanding "wild yeast" useful with Covid?
I want one of them Pelosi Freezers.
ReplyDeleteFrank "social distancing for 50+ years"
Well, Shake Shack gave their 10 million back once they found out the "small business relief" money was gone. The big commercial entities went through an expedited process set up exclusively for them, was in line first with all the needed paperwork. in short, the multimillion dollar companies drained the fund before anyone else had a chance to file.
ReplyDeleteDrumpf is now calling for a "liberation" of states with covid-19 restrictions. Armed uprisings in the Democrat lead states in particular. Drumpf has framed everything around non negotiable gun rights and voter suppression.
Can anyone explain this phenomenon? Why would you trust a person to lead our great country when his life is consumed by lies and provable deception. He doesn't try to hide them, in fact he believes it helps his popularity with his "cult". How will this end and when?
ReplyDeleteI've communicated with many for whom it's a single issue, usually religious-based answer: abortion, or hastening the Rapture by moving Israel's capital to Jerusalem. It's beyond mystifying, as Trump is the most obvious fake Christian alive, who's broken every one of Jesus' teachings.
ReplyDeleteOther than that, I have no idea. You have to be able to overlook, ignore, or, even approve of a lot of horrifyingly egregious behavior to rationalize support, based on those, or any issues.
The Atlantic is previewing an article from their June issue that does a good job of explaining Trump, Trump's hard-core cult, and his GOP supporters. I found it alarming and depressing.
ReplyDelete"We Are Living in a Failed State"
The coronavirus didn’t break America. It revealed what was already broken.
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/06/underlying-conditions/610261/
> The coronavirus didn’t break America. It revealed what was already broken.
ReplyDeleteOne could say the same about the 2016 election.
Proof we are complete idiots...
ReplyDeleteThis is what a real leader looks and sounds like. This is what an average, decent human being in politics looks like and sounds like.
Why can't we find someone like this chick??? A human.
BTW..Steve's trip to New Zealand is a fun watch. I actually shared it with our esteemed blogger back when it first hit youtube. The lovely and talented all around good dude, Sid.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYsZv9JXmio
"One could say the same about the 2016 election."
ReplyDeleteThe article includes the 2016 election as evidence.
The George Packer article to which you linked, Doctor S, says it all, and about as clearly and inarguably as it can be said. Which is to say Trumpists will neither consider it nor even bother, were they to hear of it, which they won't.
ReplyDeleteYeah, the Trumpissts are a lost cause. No critical thinking required. I think that it's no accident that the size of the Trump cult is on the order of 30-35 percent or so of the population, in the same general ballpark as those who believe various conspiracy theories and easily disproved falsehoods. They just can't be helped.
ReplyDeleteYou might find this interesting. I just finished this China article today by H.R. McMaster, the former National Security Advisor. It's not about Trump, but yet it makes it very clear just how disastrous the Trump presidency has been for our national security with respect to China. Our fool thinks that he has a special relationship! He thinks that he's influencing China!
"How China Sees the World"
And how we should see China
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/05/mcmaster-china-strategy/609088/
Washington will easily nominate Biden. That helps me sleep a little better.
ReplyDeleteWhatever anyone thinks...$500 billion more is being funneled to "small businesses" because the 2.1 Trillion wasn't enough. We still get our $1,200 but only when they run out of lame excuses not to. Trying to obstruct getting that lousy 1200 bucks from day one.
ReplyDeleteThis is about closing borders and stealing cash straight out of the treasury to the most fortunate first. Then the rest of us get the crumbs.
OH! and vote by mail is liberal treachery gone criminal.
45%+ thinks that's a perfect means to an end. More court judges as stooges. More power to protect their white bred world for more than a generation to come.
Make no mistake. If Drumpf wins we are done.
Personal integrity is the best weapon in the direction of someone who doesn't offer that. I think Jack correctly framed this months ago at The Herald, during the debates.
ReplyDeleteThere is no doubt that if Obama ran against Trump, he would beat him, but, since he can't then Joe is the next best thing.
We'll see if he can dig himself out of a very deep hole in pandering the woman VP to a general public that is fed up with being lied to and treated as fools.
He's not going to out-game the current occupier, it's not in him. What IS in him is to re-frame this election, again, in a restoring of credibility and respect of the leader of our great nation.
Joe doesn't even have to line up any cannons to fire those volleys, credibility and respect. He doesn't need to pander to anything for the winning of a single vote, indeed, he needs to recognize those shots at him can't reach him.
We're in the midst of the biggest fraud ever put upon the world. Hucksters are using the printing capability of the Fed to buy entire industries and voters. It's been going for a few decades now, but all things come to culmination, which we must be in now. Can anyone imagine things to be weirder than they are?
And, culminations result in consequences, which, believe it or not, haven't even started. It's headed to much worse than not being able to go to your favorite restaurant. China, and a few other countries, have already experienced rampant inflation. We're headed there with what's happening now. We have a difference, however, in that we can feed ourselves and our neighbors. It's time to fill storehouses for the world. Joe would do well to spend time with the farmers instead of the banks. In that, he would be timely distinction from who he served for 8 years.
I believe my WTF!!!!! meter is now permanently pegged at 11...
ReplyDeletehttps://www.heraldnet.com/news/snohomish-county-sheriff-questions-governors-stay-home-order/
"We the people" elected a doozy in that guy.
ReplyDeleteI think there are those that overestimate Bidens chances. By underestimating young voters willingness to vote for Biden.
ReplyDeleteYoung voters will vote straight ticket Democrat/Liberal/Left/Blue. But leave the POTUS slot open and not vote for anyone.
Biden will have to move further left to get any votes in numbers that matter. If he doesn't move significantly left, it's game over. Drumpf has an open door.
Mail in voting is the key to quick and a significantly more left agenda.
The gerrymandered districts belie the true progressive nature of Americans in 2020. Mail in ballots will reveal that fact.
ReplyDeleteThis is what younger voters are listening to.
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/watch/with-another-rent-bill-looming-coronavirus-economics-become-more-dire-82377285906?cid=eml_mra_20200422
And this...
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/watch/ocasio-cortez-congress-abdicating-responsibility-while-people-die-82377797861?cid=eml_mra_20200422
Now think about the Democratic candidates and ask yourself and others..."Is this the best we can do?"
It's a shitload better than what Trump has done, is doing, will do. If young people don't get that, and if they really don't care about pollution, or climate change, or poor people, or healthcare, or living in a democracy, then they -- and we -- are fked.
ReplyDeleteIs there any local or state reporting on this? Seems rather on point right now.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/04/15/coronavirus-rural-america-covid-19-186031
Still love ya STO but I've gotta push back a bit. Our choice right now is strictly binary.
ReplyDeleteThis was my reply to a poster at WaPo, who was also asking what meaningful choice was there between the two (his words are in quotes)
"The proto-fascist, klepto-criminal who doubles as a compulsive liar" is driving the USA Titanic full speed ahead after already having struck several icebergs. There are only enough lifeboats for those who could afford more than steerage class. The only hope for those poor souls is to keep the damn thing afloat at all costs.
On the other hand, the "goofy, tongue-tied septuagenarian" still has enough common sense, integrity and humility to follow the guidance of professionals and experts who actually do know what to do.
Yeah, that's the choice...
"It's a shitload better than what Trump has done, is doing, will do."
ReplyDeleteI agree and I'd go further to say Drumpf is a clear and present danger. I've always said that.
Think back into the 60's and 70's. We surely thought that older generations had it all wrong. Things changed rapidly during that time as a result. I mean people were being assasinated right and left. "Get in line" wasn't in the boomer generations vocabulary. Being marginalised was what we pushed back with. To be heard and recognised. Instead you get Kent State ect.
Today it's all white collar corruption. Eating has become a class issue.
Telling younger voters to get in line because it's better than the alternative was Hillary's claim to fame. The most qualified person in history imo. She lost to Drumpf. Like any voting group, ya gotta be everyone's POTUS and certainly everyone's democrat. It doesn't mean in lockstep. It just means everyone has a meaningful part of the platform. If Biden is unwilling to negotiate then we are in deep doo dooo
As you probably know, Joe's "tongue-tie" is actually residual from a severe stuttering problem he had as a child, with which he still struggles some.
ReplyDeleteA dear childhood friend had a stuttering issue. He worked hard to overcome it and learned to speak with only a slight occasional hesitation. He went on to have very successful career as a high school science teacher and administrator.
ReplyDeleteIf credibility and qualification for the job are factors in the race for president, Biden has lapped the current occupier at lest twice on the way to the finish line. Biden will be a dependable and honorable leader. He has been a true public servant throughout his career. His motives are not for personal glory or wealth. He is an honest if imperfect follower in his faith life.
ReplyDeleteHe will surround his office with like-minded advisors and cabinet members. We WILL overcome that day.
Consider the bright side, only 6-1/2 months left until the world breaths a collective and, perhaps, unified big and deep sigh. Then, 2-1/2 months of clinical strangeness.
ReplyDeleteIt's not that far away.
There will be dancing, and singing in the streets I think. But no cheek-to-cheek.
Good article, Skyriver.
ReplyDeleteI just read another Atlantic article (I know, I'm boring some of you) that should be required reading for anyone choosing to not take precautions against Covid-19. All of those protesters should have it read to them. I'm sure that they see that many survive the virus, so some must think what's the big deal?
The risk is not just the virus. After reading this article, I for damn sure am going to continue to do everything I can and more to stay out of an ICU!
Perhaps Sid can comment on this. It's a real life horror story.
"What Life Is Like After Being Taken Off a Ventilator"
A near-death experience in the ICU could have lasting effects on the brain—from PTSD to cognitive impairment on par with mild dementia.
http://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2020/04/life-after-the-icu/610384/
And today, too, reports from NYC hospitals the ventilators are only 12% successful at preserving life (msn article).
ReplyDeleteIt's a good article, Dr. Str. The implication, though, that the issues relate to the ventilator per se (it sort of implies it), is wrong, I think. People on ventilators are usually sick as hell; in fact, many of the people described in the article weren't Covid victims, but, rather, victims of even worse stuff.
ReplyDeleteWhen my brother was put on a ventilator a few months ago after being run down by a NYC taxi, I told his wife the "good news" was that he'd not remember anything about being in the ICU. He didn't and, except for the rehab for his bilateral hip fractures, I'd say he has no ill effects of the treatment per se. But, yes, people who are sick enough to be on ventilators, may have, because of many factors, lingering aftereffects. Sometimes permanent.
Ventialtors can, indeed, cause problems because of creating high pressure and high oxygen levels in the lungs. They can cause perforation of the lung (pneumothorax.) So, like pretty much any treatment for any condition, they have risks of their own. But people who need 'em would die without 'em.
I find the 12% number surprising. I've seen generally higher numbers. Anecdotally, of the four people I know of, personally, who've been on ventilators due to Covid-19, , two died and two made it and are doing well. Admittedly, not a meaningful sampling.
I was flabbergasted at the 12% number, but not to the point of checking it out, since those things and decisions are in the realm of doctors who know what they're doing.
ReplyDeleteWe are subject to so much news and not-news these days, there's almost no point in repeating anything anymore. But I did, which may or may not be to my shame.
Thanks for providing some perspective on ventilator outcomes, Sid. I am sorry to hear that people with whom you had a personal connection succumbed to the virus.
ReplyDeleteAnd, not to divert from the ventilator discussion, but we are now seeing what could happen if people respected the earth, and chose on their own not to drive. These effects have been flabbergasting in themselves, and, since it's the air in that discussion, too, can we be encouraged by our ability as a unified people to affect the climate change equation through our own individual actions?
ReplyDeleteSince it was earth day yesterday I cast my thoughts on those things that might be accomplished further by or Governor. For instance, given the obedience of the masses to his instructions, I'd like to see him outlaw personal one use plastic bottled water, just as he has done with plastic shopping bags. It was similarly flabbergasting to see how in the threat of shortages, people hoarded those things, which most certainly put those supply industries into overdrive to fill the demand. I wonder what the Covid-19 picture looks like in water-bottling plants? Might they compare to the current media-darling of stopping meat suppliers?
(it's Thursday, hope I'm OK with these comments)
That was partly addressed in points #2 and 3 in this post. It's been pretty dramatic. OTOH, I was listening to Seattle Arts and Lectures last night, talk by Elizabeth Kolbert who writes extensively on climate change. Pointing out that whereas this hiatus is slowing emissions temporarily, it's not revesting anything. Like slowing the rate of filling your bathtub. Still going up.
ReplyDeleteAnd the current status, no matter what, is "baked in" for the next 50 years; ie, whatever we do know won't have significant effects for decades, because the effects of current levels take years to reach maximum.
One of my college questions I got wrong and have remembered for 5 decades now was in Oceanography (I had private instruction with Prof. Fleming(!) in underwater photography. He was a chain smoker extraordinaire, may have needed a ventilator himself in his last days, though he lasted much longer than I might have expected. He was a nice man!)
ReplyDeletehttps://www.britannica.com/biography/Richard-H-Fleming
http://scilib.ucsd.edu/sio/biogr/RichardFlemingBiogr.pdf
Anyway, the question was when does the ocean stop getting hotter, and I foolishly answered the red herring choice at noon when the sun is at its highest. The answer was actually at 3pm in the context of the question, when the air was still hotter than the ocean, etc. But, the greatest increase is still at noon! (i.e. noon still matters)
I'd contend we are "in noon" now, and have the ability to affect that well beyond what we are currently thinking. Our consumption rate can decrease so dramatically as to affect the world, and I think it to be our biggest gain potential in the battle.
I'm concerned with the approach that thinks "new technology" will solve things so that we can maintain our hoardness (what can we even call it?). It is a bad approach in that people are relying on it, and solve it through making things more expensive.
We're in the midst of a change of many viewpoints, and it would be a good thing for people to make that connection to what will ultimately allow all of us to breathe easier, and not need personal ventilators in the not-so-far future.
Looking forward to your next article.
I agree about "new technology," if by that you mean attempts to mitigate like filling the stratosphere with reflective particles. Like you said, so we can keep doing what we're doing.
ReplyDeleteBut the sort of technology that provides non-polluting energy is high on the list of things that WILL save us, IMO. Wind, solar, waves, geothermal; better batteries...
Listening to her presentation now, thanks for the tip.
ReplyDeleteOne thing it shows right away for people who use laptops for Skype/Zoom is to position the laptop higher such that the camera points level or down. Mr. Verhovek knows this, though he's likely using a monitor-mounted camera (superior image quality).
Also, always, backgrounds matter! With Ms. Kolbert, a blank wall. For Mr Verhovek I love the books with the big-enough titles, The Beatles, and The Prophet (he just used the word "existential"), and, of course for a journalist, Webster's. :-)
I'm not being picky or OCD in this, people need to be aware of those things. I've been assisting people with Zoom recently, and the improvement in conversation is dramatic!
btw, I'm presuming you were referring to the "A Q&A with Elizabeth Kolbert" presentation?
[have you ever considered going to Greenland yourself? It's a lot easier than you might think, you fly into Kangerlussuaq Airport on an Airbus A330, Air Greenland!]
It's my confidence that "new technology" will continue to be pursued for the profit motive, etc. that guides my thinking that consumption should be gov't addressed. The problem with NT(s) are they are marshaled by the Bill-ionaires, with incestuous research through the colleges (I know a little about this, as much as any one person might happen across in University research). It'$ being doled out at a determined rate (I feel like a flea on an elephant in writing that)
ReplyDeleteIf I could be gubernator-for-a-day, one with special privileges of course, I'd put a deposit on the water bottles first, leading to outlawing them outright and I'd build the recycling processing capability here in WA state (plastic regrind facilities, simplistically). They could even call me "socialist" as much as they like in this.
There's too much more to write for this space, thanks for the dialog.