If I were Robert Mueller, I wouldn't be losing much sleep. If Trump tries to terminate the special counsel, I have no doubt the funding for Mueller to continue would magically appear. Lacking the backing of the Justice Department, the committee might need to work a bit harder to obtain the documents and warrants they would need to proceed, but Mueller and his staff are seasoned lawyers; they know how to bypass obstacles.
Nice article. But some red states are specifically attacking wind power; putting in onerous setbacks/site restrictions based on wholly imaginary concerns about interfering with military flight training or radar, or "destabilizing" (make the language as vague as possible) the power grid. This in spite of THEIR rural constituents taking in major bucks for themselves and/or their communities by leasing the farm land. With the heavily-armed GOP, it always seems to be a question of how large a chunk of their own feet they are willing to shoot off. Yet, they seem to hold on to a LOT of districts.....
I keep thinking the Republicans will all end up adorning poles along our city's ring roads, but, somehow the rubes keep reelecting them. The whole AHCA debate came down to "Can we just make it a little more evil?" Maybe if the Democrats keep growing that spine they are working on....
I guess it will be up to the States to fight all this for the next 4 years. And, that would mean about 20 states, because the rest are run by Republicans and, thus, totally on-board with corruption.
What is the current status on DAPL? Last I heard, it was in the courts and the judge, irresponsibly, OK'ed continued construction while the case was in review.
"[coal] now employs only 86,000 or so people, including 57,000 or so miners. In contrast, there were 370,000 people working in solar electricity generation in 2016, a 25% increase over the previous year" Whether talking about drilling and mining, or brazenly running leaky pipelines across other people's lands, backed up by paramilitary thugs called out by corrupt local governments, "renewable" jobs are invisible to Republicans. This is because the carbon industries were too stupid to diversify into wind and solar, finding it easier to bribe rent-a-legislators, and for that failing, the planet pays the price. I want to scream when fools talk about coal jobs or pipeline jobs because the conversation ignores (deliberately) the fact that alternatives to polluting jobs exist.
However much Trump and the Nazi try to discredit the media, it does not seem, fortunately, to be working. The media is getting bolder and Trump's support shakier.
The GOP despises education in general. Primary and secondary education is constantly under assault in the name of "choice"-- their euphemism for sucking cash out of schools and handing it to unregulated businesses with no accountability, and sometimes no interest in true facts (wrt science or history), or in student diversity ("re-segregation"). Ask the NAACP about charter schools.
Astute point about US universities bringing in foreign dollars,
Does anyone actually believe the embassy WILL be moved to Jerusalem? We have a functioning embassy in Tel Aviv. In my experience, US embassies are imposing concrete fortresses, unlike other country's embassies, which often look like places people could live. I have not been to Israel, but I am told most embassies are in Tel Aviv, and I have hunch it is a hipper, more modern city than Jerusalem. I know Republicans are are herd animals, like sheep, and have fallen in line with Trump so far, but given the cost of building a new embassy and lack of benefit, will they fund this? Where's Schumer on the idea?
The thing Trump and his 19th century cronies fail to realize is that electric cars are coming MUCH sooner than people expect. Look around your neighborhood right now. You may not see a Volt or a Tesla, but you WILL see a few hybrids. The near future is electricity and new powerplant growth is fastest now for wind and solar for PRACTICAL reasons-- you build it, the "fuel" is right there for the taking. And the sector creates jobs in numbers similar to extractive fuels. The incoming Menace may try to discourage renewables and incentivize dead dinosaur fuels, but economics will have its say. As will rural farmers who like the idea of making more off their open lands than they do now.
Her speech was beautiful and full of wisdom. It is, however, easy for regular people to look at somebody like Streep and say "her problems are not my problems", or, "her life is not like my life." Can not the same be said about Trump? Has he ever logged an honest day of work? Streep creates, enriches the culture, literally, and with her thoughtful performances. Trump is at best parasitic; at worst a predatory (most likely judging from his team, a parasite traveling in a pack of nationalistic throwbacks). He represents every ugly stereotype about America and every child's worst nightmare. Will he be the the man who broke up our family? Will he be the man who let the bank take our house? The question about his presidency will be how long before his numbers are as low as Congress's. And will there be any America left at that time?
This is why I am hopeful enterprise (Apple, Amazon) will lead the way on energy policy. There is little doubt the Trumped GOP will be actively pushing fossil fuels (economics and the Will of the the People be d*mned), but businesses have the muscle to build out their own power. Also, electric demand in the US may again increase as plug-in electric cars build market share-- this is likely to occur faster than people imagine.
We're at a point where the GOP is more ideological than industry. They sit on their fat tushes; businesses are building electric cars, committing to 100% renewables. Homeowners are putting up solar panels. Benito Trumpelini will get the mount top removal going again in West Virginia and find limited market interest.
The brutality of the pipeline company against American and tribal citizens has been worthy of China. It is a disgrace and a failure of the system that police are backing up the aggressors rather than the citizens, who are clearly in the right on this issue. How do they look their families in the eyes at the end of the day?
Nuclear. I am NOT a fan of nuclear (waste, mining, breaches), but it is low carbon, high density, high uptime energy. I'd rather see some deplorable (Koch, Halliburton) build some nukes than dig more coal. Of course, they'd rather do BOTH....
If I were Robert Mueller, I wouldn't be losing much sleep. If Trump tries to terminate the special counsel, I have no doubt the funding for Mueller to continue would magically appear. Lacking the backing of the Justice Department, the committee might need to work a bit harder to obtain the documents and warrants they would need to proceed, but Mueller and his staff are seasoned lawyers; they know how to bypass obstacles.
Nice article. But some red states are specifically attacking wind power; putting in onerous setbacks/site restrictions based on wholly imaginary concerns about interfering with military flight training or radar, or "destabilizing" (make the language as vague as possible) the power grid. This in spite of THEIR rural constituents taking in major bucks for themselves and/or their communities by leasing the farm land. With the heavily-armed GOP, it always seems to be a question of how large a chunk of their own feet they are willing to shoot off. Yet, they seem to hold on to a LOT of districts.....
Let me suggest that dimwits with crackerjack-box law degrees who do not accept their progenitor's loss in the Civil War are not "real Americans".
I keep thinking the Republicans will all end up adorning poles along our city's ring roads, but, somehow the rubes keep reelecting them. The whole AHCA debate came down to "Can we just make it a little more evil?" Maybe if the Democrats keep growing that spine they are working on....
I guess it will be up to the States to fight all this for the next 4 years. And, that would mean about 20 states, because the rest are run by Republicans and, thus, totally on-board with corruption.
What is the current status on DAPL? Last I heard, it was in the courts and the judge, irresponsibly, OK'ed continued construction while the case was in review.
"[coal] now employs only 86,000 or so people, including 57,000 or so miners. In contrast, there were 370,000 people working in solar electricity generation in 2016, a 25% increase over the previous year" Whether talking about drilling and mining, or brazenly running leaky pipelines across other people's lands, backed up by paramilitary thugs called out by corrupt local governments, "renewable" jobs are invisible to Republicans. This is because the carbon industries were too stupid to diversify into wind and solar, finding it easier to bribe rent-a-legislators, and for that failing, the planet pays the price. I want to scream when fools talk about coal jobs or pipeline jobs because the conversation ignores (deliberately) the fact that alternatives to polluting jobs exist.
However much Trump and the Nazi try to discredit the media, it does not seem, fortunately, to be working. The media is getting bolder and Trump's support shakier.
The GOP despises education in general. Primary and secondary education is constantly under assault in the name of "choice"-- their euphemism for sucking cash out of schools and handing it to unregulated businesses with no accountability, and sometimes no interest in true facts (wrt science or history), or in student diversity ("re-segregation"). Ask the NAACP about charter schools.
Astute point about US universities bringing in foreign dollars,
Does anyone actually believe the embassy WILL be moved to Jerusalem? We have a functioning embassy in Tel Aviv. In my experience, US embassies are imposing concrete fortresses, unlike other country's embassies, which often look like places people could live. I have not been to Israel, but I am told most embassies are in Tel Aviv, and I have hunch it is a hipper, more modern city than Jerusalem. I know Republicans are are herd animals, like sheep, and have fallen in line with Trump so far, but given the cost of building a new embassy and lack of benefit, will they fund this? Where's Schumer on the idea?
The thing Trump and his 19th century cronies fail to realize is that electric cars are coming MUCH sooner than people expect. Look around your neighborhood right now. You may not see a Volt or a Tesla, but you WILL see a few hybrids. The near future is electricity and new powerplant growth is fastest now for wind and solar for PRACTICAL reasons-- you build it, the "fuel" is right there for the taking. And the sector creates jobs in numbers similar to extractive fuels. The incoming Menace may try to discourage renewables and incentivize dead dinosaur fuels, but economics will have its say. As will rural farmers who like the idea of making more off their open lands than they do now.
Her speech was beautiful and full of wisdom. It is, however, easy for regular people to look at somebody like Streep and say "her problems are not my problems", or, "her life is not like my life." Can not the same be said about Trump? Has he ever logged an honest day of work? Streep creates, enriches the culture, literally, and with her thoughtful performances. Trump is at best parasitic; at worst a predatory (most likely judging from his team, a parasite traveling in a pack of nationalistic throwbacks). He represents every ugly stereotype about America and every child's worst nightmare. Will he be the the man who broke up our family? Will he be the man who let the bank take our house? The question about his presidency will be how long before his numbers are as low as Congress's. And will there be any America left at that time?
I 100%, fully agree, Juan. Please forward this column to your Senators. I don't have any; I'm in North Carolina.
This is why I am hopeful enterprise (Apple, Amazon) will lead the way on energy policy. There is little doubt the Trumped GOP will be actively pushing fossil fuels (economics and the Will of the the People be d*mned), but businesses have the muscle to build out their own power. Also, electric demand in the US may again increase as plug-in electric cars build market share-- this is likely to occur faster than people imagine.
We're at a point where the GOP is more ideological than industry. They sit on their fat tushes; businesses are building electric cars, committing to 100% renewables. Homeowners are putting up solar panels. Benito Trumpelini will get the mount top removal going again in West Virginia and find limited market interest.
The brutality of the pipeline company against American and tribal citizens has been worthy of China. It is a disgrace and a failure of the system that police are backing up the aggressors rather than the citizens, who are clearly in the right on this issue. How do they look their families in the eyes at the end of the day?
Nuclear. I am NOT a fan of nuclear (waste, mining, breaches), but it is low carbon, high density, high uptime energy. I'd rather see some deplorable (Koch, Halliburton) build some nukes than dig more coal. Of course, they'd rather do BOTH....
Given that Iraq has become dominated by the Shiites (including Al-Malaki), we could argue that US influence in the country is already at a low ebb.