Uncategorized


WASTE NOT, WANT NOT

  “What is America’s newest leadership position? It’s energy waste.”  Eric Savitz in Forbes magazine, 2013 “Energy efficiency is a powerful tool that has delivered greater economic growth, reduced emissions, and enhanced our quality of life on a massive scale.” The authors of the 2019 “Energy Efficiency Impact Report” Conservation and reducing energy consumption are more cost effective than building new power plants. Helping people use less energy is cheaper for utility companies than new power plants and transmission lines. More energy ...

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PRECESSION AND THE NORTH STAR

  "A child's top spins. It not only spins, it wobbles. After a short time, the handle of the top begins moving in a circle. This happens because of the uneven distribution of the weight (or mass) of the child's top. A slight "nudge" allows the wobble, called precession. Our planet Earth acts like a child's top. The movement of celestial bodies was very important to the ancient Egyptians. Much of interior Egypt had been a desert for a very long time. The production of food was dependent on the flooding of the Nile, which laid down a layer of fertile sediment ...

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NEW RULES FOR RESISTANCE

  Don’t use his name. Remember this is a regime and he’s not acting alone. Do not argue with those who support him. It doesn’t work. Focus on his policies, not his mental state. Keep your message positive; they want the country to be angry and fearful because this is the soil from which their darkest policies will grow. No more helpless/hopeless talk. Support artists and the arts. Be careful not to spread fake news. Check it. Take care of yourself. Resist! Keep demonstrations peaceful. In the words of John Lennon: “When it ...

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SAY NO TO ARTICLE V

  Republican state legislators are proposing a reckless way to try to amend the U.S. Constitution—and for reckless purposes. The proposal for a convention of the states is often called an Article V proposal, after the article in the Constitution that establishes two ways for amending the constitution. One is the usual way, where two-thirds of the House and two-thirds of the Senate approve the amendment and then three-quarters of the states ratify it. The other way is for two-thirds of the states to call for a constitutional convention and then have ...

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GET RID OF GERRYMANDERING

  I’m happy to report that the movement to ban gerrymandering keeps gaining speed. One illustration of that fact is the executive order that Gov. Tony Evers signed on January 27 to create an independent, nonpartisan commission to draw what he calls “the people’s map.” Along with other advocates and activists, I was at the press conference in his office when he signed the order. He deserves our praise for that. Another illustration is the fact that legislation to give Wisconsin the Iowa Model of redistricting now has five Republican co-sponsors, which ...

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AN INCONVENIENT HISTORY

  Imagine for a moment that in 2016, shortly after Donald Trump had bested Hillary Clinton in the race for the presidency, the Russian magazine, Russia Times, had run a major cover page article picturing Trump and bragging about how Russia had rigged the US presidential election in his favor. The outrage of Americans would have been immediate and vociferous. Calls for outright war against Russia could easily have been imagined. See the July 15, 1996 cover of the US magazine Time:   A major US publication, Time Magazine, was openly broadcasting to the ...

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SOLAR GAIN IN WISCONSIN

  “I’d put my money on the sun and solar energy. What a source of power! I hope we don’t have to wait until oil and coal run out before we tackle that.” Thomas Edison in 1910.   “A generation from now, this solar heater can either be a curiosity, a museum piece, an example of a road not taken, or it can be just a small part of one of the greatest and most exciting adventures ever undertaken by the American people.”  President Jimmy Carter in 1979 dedicating 32 solar panels to provide hot water to the White House.   It doesn't ...

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AN OPEN LETTER TO SENATOR RON JOHNSON

Dear Senator Johnson,   I remember a time, not so long ago, when there was a man who held the senate seat that you currently hold who broke with his party and voted to hear from witnesses in an impeachment trial. The year was 1999, and that Senator was Russ Feingold. The president on trial was Bill Clinton.   There are many significant differences between that impeachment trial and this one. First off, it needs to be said that Bill Clinton won both the popular vote and electoral college, where as Donald Trump only won the electoral college. All this ...

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GREAT NEWS FOR THIEVES! STEALING IS OK!

The White House defense team and our Republican Lawmakers say so.   I’ve always thought that the main difference between us humans and other animals is not apposable thumbs. Oh no, the difference lies in our ability to come up with lame self-serving rationalizations at the drop of a hat to explain our misdeeds, no matter how egregious. If I’m right on this, the White House attorneys reached the pinnacle of the evolutionary pyramid during the first day of Q & A in the Impeachment Trial of Donald John Trump.   With the Republican lawmakers, from ...

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POLITICAL PROPAGANDA AND ITS INTERFERENCE IN OUR AMERICAN DEMOCRATIC PROCESSES

Websters:  Definition of propaganda (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/propagandaWebsters) capitalized : a congregation of the Roman curia having jurisdiction over missionary territories and related institutions the spreading of ideas, information, or rumor for the purpose of helping or injuring an institution, a cause, or a person ideas, facts, or allegations spread deliberately to further one's cause or to damage an opposing cause also: a public action having such an effect   We’re inundated with TV ads, flyers stuck in our doors or ...

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