Despite Growth In Renewable Energy, More Coal Plants Being Built: More Global Warming on Horizon
Despite the precipitous drop in prices for solar panels and wind turbines, companies worldwide are planning and building some 1,600 coal-fired electric power plants. The addition of these plants would increase the world’s coal-fired power capacity by 43 percent and make it impossible to meet the terms of the Paris climate accords, which aim to keep the world’s average temperature from rising more than 2 degrees Celsius, or 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit. China has entered the renewable-energy competition, but it is primarily aimed at reducing pollution in cities and less on overall emissions reduction.
The reason for this continued growth in coal-fired electric power plants? The motivations are unclear. Demand for infrastructure development is high in developing countries, and in places like Egypt and Pakistan, electric power supply is limited. Many African countries get by on four hours of power a day. It appears that the overall supply of new electric power generating capacity is limited, and existing solar and wind power installation growth simply is not enough to supply the rising needs of developing countries.
The development of worldwide modern infrastructure is overwhelming the capacity of the environment to tolerate it. Significant temperature increases are inevitable and development will continue to be spotty. Predictions of future temperature increases over the next hundred years are probably conservative, meaning things are going to be worse than we think.
Source for coal power plant numbers: New York Times July 1, 2017.
Civil War May Come to America
Here’s what Noam Chomsky had to say in an email interview with the NYT, conducted over the last couple of months:
Noam Chomsky: We have to be a little cautious about not trying to kill a gnat with an atom bomb. The performances are so utterly absurd regarding the “post-truth” moment that the proper response might best be ridicule. For example, Stephen Colbert’s recent comment is apropos: When the Republican legislature of North Carolina responded to a scientific study predicting a threatening rise in sea level by barring state and local agencies from developing regulations or planning documents to address the problem, Colbert responded: “This is a brilliant solution. If your science gives you a result that you don’t like, pass a law saying the result is illegal. Problem solved.”
Ridicule is a morale-booster for our side, but it is not a weapon of attack. The only weapon that can possibly defeat the Republicans is the acquisition of enough raw power to pass laws and staff the federal executive branch with experts so that Republicanism as it now exists can be utterly destroyed. Republicanism must change or be eliminated, or Republican policies will destroy America, not to mention the world.
There is at present a significant risk of civil war between the urban population and the rural population of the US, with blacks, Latinos, and Asians being forced onto the urban side by rural racial bigotry and poor to middle-class, uneducated whites being forced onto the rural side by Republican propaganda and racial affinity. A further risk to civil war is the proliferation of lethal firearms, over 300 million in the country. As blacks have begun to feel more at risk, they have been taking advantage of lax gun-control measures to arm themselves as best they can afford. Other ethnic groups are not far behind in arming themselves.
The violent rhetoric and exclusionary policies of the current Republican administration have led to a deteriorating mental attitude among die-hard supporters of Don the Con. Here’s a quote from another article in the NYT:
One friend who twice voted for Barack Obama now sees World War III on the horizon and deeply regrets his vote for Mr. Trump.
Revolution is unlikely because the reins that hold the country together are held by the military and the National Guard, who remain loyal to their government paymasters. But small unit actions by local vigilance committees and hippies who have fled to the hills have become increasingly likely. Disintegration of the social fabric that provides people with a basic sense of security is making everyone trigger-happy.
The only thing that can hold the country together is a de-escalation of violent rhetoric and the re-establishment of benevolent government. The first thing that must happen is removal of the current administration. Then a administration must take steps to provide jobs that pay well enough to keep body and soul together to everyone, even people who don’t want to work. Everyone must have a home to live in; all foreclosures must be reversed and all housing units must be occupied. Once these basic steps have been taken to calm unrest, government must attack on the propaganda front. True propaganda must be produced that shows the actual situation in the world today, with global warming and pollution wrecking the planet and millions of people starving in countries Americans have never heard of. Someone has to lecture the American people on their duty to help make things better.
Here’s what Noam Chomsky had to say in an email interview with the NYT, conducted over the last couple of months:
Noam Chomsky: We have to be a little cautious about not trying to kill a gnat with an atom bomb. The performances are so utterly absurd regarding the “post-truth” moment that the proper response might best be ridicule. For example, Stephen Colbert’s recent comment is apropos: When the Republican legislature of North Carolina responded to a scientific study predicting a threatening rise in sea level by barring state and local agencies from developing regulations or planning documents to address the problem, Colbert responded: “This is a brilliant solution. If your science gives you a result that you don’t like, pass a law saying the result is illegal. Problem solved.”
Ridicule is a morale-booster for our side, but it is not a weapon of attack. The only weapon that can possibly defeat the Republicans is the acquisition of enough raw power to pass laws and staff the federal executive branch with experts so that Republicanism as it now exists can be utterly destroyed. Republicanism must change or be eliminated, or Republican policies will destroy America, not to mention the world.
There is at present a significant risk of civil war between the urban population and the rural population of the US, with blacks, Latinos, and Asians being forced onto the urban side by rural racial bigotry and poor to middle-class, uneducated whites being forced onto the rural side by Republican propaganda and racial affinity. A further risk to civil war is the proliferation of lethal firearms, over 300 million in the country. As blacks have begun to feel more at risk, they have been taking advantage of lax gun-control measures to arm themselves as best they can afford. Other ethnic groups are not far behind in arming themselves.
The violent rhetoric and exclusionary policies of the current Republican administration have led to a deteriorating mental attitude among die-hard supporters of Don the Con. Here’s a quote from another article in the NYT:
One friend who twice voted for Barack Obama now sees World War III on the horizon and deeply regrets his vote for Mr. Trump.
Revolution is unlikely because the reins that hold the country together are held by the military and the National Guard, who remain loyal to their government paymasters. But small unit actions by local vigilance committees and hippies who have fled to the hills have become increasingly likely. Disintegration of the social fabric that provides people with a basic sense of security is making everyone trigger-happy.
The only thing that can hold the country together is a de-escalation of violent rhetoric and the re-establishment of benevolent government. The first thing that must happen is removal of the current administration. Then a administration must take steps to provide jobs that pay well enough to keep body and soul together to everyone, even people who don’t want to work. Everyone must have a home to live in; all foreclosures must be reversed and all housing units must be occupied. Once these basic steps have been taken to calm unrest, government must attack on the propaganda front. True propaganda must be produced that shows the actual situation in the world today, with global warming and pollution wrecking the planet and millions of people starving in countries Americans have never heard of. Someone has to lecture the American people on their duty to help make things better.
The National Center for Health Statistics has published a provisional report stating that the birth rate in the United States dropped 1% in 2016 from last year to a record low. The birth rate has been below the replacement level for some time, but the country’s population continues to grow as a result of immigration. The world’s population also continues to grow, although birth rates have dropped; see this CIA web site for authoritative figures by country. A Worldbank graphic shows the dropping birth rate since 1960, when there were roughly 5 births per woman; there are now roughly 2.46 births per woman. The Worldbank website also has graphs for life expectancy, infant mortality, and so on.
Another graph on the Worldbank website is of interest: the crude death rate in the United States. After dropping from 9.5 per 1000 in 1960 to a low of 7.9 in 2009, the rate has increased to 8.2 in 2013, then levelled off. It seems that the Great Recession has killed a few people in this country (0.3 people per thousand per year, or 300 in a million: roughly 100,000 people a year over the whole US died because of the Great Recession, and are continuing to die.)
The National Center for Health Statistics has published a provisional report stating that the birth rate in the United States dropped 1% in 2016 from last year to a record low. The birth rate has been below the replacement level for some time, but the country’s population continues to grow as a result of immigration. The world’s population also continues to grow, although birth rates have dropped; see this CIA web site for authoritative figures by country. A Worldbank graphic shows the dropping birth rate since 1960, when there were roughly 5 births per woman; there are now roughly 2.46 births per woman. The Worldbank website also has graphs for life expectancy, infant mortality, and so on.
Another graph on the Worldbank website is of interest: the crude death rate in the United States. After dropping from 9.5 per 1000 in 1960 to a low of 7.9 in 2009, the rate has increased to 8.2 in 2013, then levelled off. It seems that the Great Recession has killed a few people in this country (0.3 people per thousand per year, or 300 in a million: roughly 100,000 people a year over the whole US died because of the Great Recession, and are continuing to die.)
This comment was attached to a NYT op-ed titled, “The Hijacked American Presidency”:
David J.
Massachusetts 5 hours ago
Mr. Blow, your assessment is on point, though I would contend that it is not simply the Presidency that has been hijacked but all three branches of government in some measure. Gerrymandering, voter ID laws, the rampant influence of money (courtesy of Citizens United), etc. have all combined to ensure that Congress is less a body of representatives and more a body possessed by a wealthy few. This directly led to a Supreme Court that now has the arch-conservative Neil Gorsuch occupying a seat rather than the moderate Merrick Garland.In short, our democracy is under siege. Trump is merely the thug behind the wheel. The GOP owns and controls the vehicle.
1125 Recommended
American government is, ideally, by the people, of the people, and for the people. The wealthy have an increased standing in life already, but they have become greedy and are attempting to wrest control of government away from the people. Democracy, ideally, is not in the personal best interests of wealthy people, because they are obliged to pay significant amounts of money to support the government which is controlled by democracy. The wealthy would prefer an oligarchy or monarchy, something which resembles the way a private company is managed.
In order to mend our society, we need to organize to counter the unjust demands made by the wealthy and place a check on their power. It is not wise to claim that the wealthy should have no voice in the way things are run because that would produce an unstable situation and society as a whole would suffer. It is better to demand equal time for the voices of the poorer but wiser people who have not been heard. We must organize to add our individual voices together and produce a louder voice that can be heard over the amplified voices of the puppets of the wealthy.
To produce a loud enough voice, our message must be synchronized– we must say something as one. We need not all agree on everything, or even on most things, but we must agree on one or two critical things.
The most critical thing right now is jobs for everyone. I know that sounds too basic; some of us would even say, where are the LGBT rights? But a lot must be just assumed right now in order to combat the basic problem, which is the tyranny of wealth. To do that, we need jobs for everyone to lift everyone out of poverty.
To achieve jobs for everyone, ideally we should have the government take over the task. Since we do not control government, we need to do it ourselves. First, we need to set up a computer application that will coordinate the process. Inputs will be people and things that need to be done, and outputs will be jobs matched to people. To make it work on a private basis, we need some people who have money and need things to be done. That’s my 500 words for today.
Facebook: Look At Patribotics.Org for News on Don the Con’s Collusion with Vlad “the Impaler”
Just go to this website and read everything you need to know about the criminal Don the Con and his collusion with Vlad “the Impaler” Putin. In fact, this website makes it unnecessary for me to write anything further about this criminal and his behavior. It’s all there, with signals intelligence and confidential information from our security agencies and the agencies of multiple other countries. It’s disgusting, criminal, and cringe-worthy, and everyone around Don is implicated in this conspiracy. I couldn’t believe my eyes; the mainstream media simply is not reporting the inside facts about the culpability of everyone from Don to his vice president to the entire Republican Party. They have even been laundering Russian government money into the Republican Party’s coffers to supplement their fundraising and compete with the Democrat’s money advantage.
Go to the site, read it, and weep: https://patribotics.blog/
Just go to this website and read everything you need to know about the criminal Don the Con and his collusion with Vlad “the Impaler” Putin. In fact, this website makes it unnecessary for me to write anything further about this criminal and his behavior. It’s all there, with signals intelligence and confidential information from our security agencies and the agencies of multiple other countries. It’s disgusting, criminal, and cringe-worthy, and everyone around Don is implicated in this conspiracy. I couldn’t believe my eyes; the mainstream media simply is not reporting the inside facts about the culpability of everyone from Don to his vice president to the entire Republican Party. They have even been laundering Russian government money into the Republican Party’s coffers to supplement their fundraising and compete with the Democrat’s money advantage.
Go to the site, read it, and weep: https://patribotics.blog/
Don the Con: Bankruptcy for the Government!
Don the Con has a plan, a radical conservative plan, to bankrupt the federal government in order to be able to destroy all federal employee unions and take radical steps to impose “austerity” on Social Security.
The bankruptcies of state governments like that of Kansas under a radical Republican governor, and the impasse in the Illinois legislature, are small examples of what Don the Con wants to do to America.
This plan is perfect for Don’s expertise: corporate bankruptcies. It is common knowledge that he has ruled over six corporate bankruptcies and has come up richer every time. He started with the erection of a second casino in competition with a first marginal casino in Atlantic City, and the inevitable bankruptcies that occurred (the only way to lose money on a casino is to lose customers while paying out cash in laundered money to assorted anonymous partners) left him better off financially than before, when he only had his father’s hundred-million dollar inheritance to work with.
His most spectacular project in the free world, the third tallest building in Canada, was erected in Toronto with his encouragement a few years ago. It has suffered from poor sales of office space, low occupancy of the hotel rooms, and poor maintenance, although the staff is uniformly cheerful. Don has just sold off the naming rights and the management contract to another company. The original owner of the building, Talon, had defaulted on its three hundred million dollar loan; JCF Capital acquired the defaulted loan, but could find no bidders when it put the building up for sale. Bloomberg reported a few days ago that JCF Capital paid the Trump Organization at least six million dollars to exit its management contract and remove the Trump brand name from the building. Marriott has purchased the building and will renovate it under a different name.
The web of ownership of the Toronto hotel is complex: Talon International Development is a Markham, Canada-based “real estate management” organization which has no listed officers of any kind, according to Bloomberg, but it is apparently owned by the Midland Group, an “international trading and investment holding” company founded by two people, a Russian-born Canadian national, Alex Shnaider, and a Ukrainian-born resident of London. The Midland Group has extensive trading relationships with companies and banks owned or controlled by the Russian government.
There is no logical explanation for the bankruptcy of a company wholly owned or controlled by a much larger company which is in turn owned by a still larger company. Why is the larger company not held financially responsible for the deficits of the smaller company? Issues such as this make it possible for such companies to be secretly corrupt and to corruptly influence or control politicians. Don the Con is a willing colluder with the corrupt, Russian-government infiltrated Midland Group, the brainchild of Alex Shnaider.
Conrad Theodore Seitz 
Comment of the Day (from the Guardian)