Here’s a thought on David Brooks’ recent essay in The Atlantic: “Chicken Littles Are Ruining America,” aka “The Zeitgeist of Doom.”
He writes: Since about 2004, the share of American 12th graders who say it is “hard to have hope for the world” has been surging, then provides many possible explanations for people’s negativity, including the notion that it’s become fashionable to be dour; young people may feel that they look silly and stupid with a smile and a “can-do” attitude.
But isn’t it possible that these folks are precisely right? What did 2004 look like in terms of hostilities with world superpowers? Did it seem possible that a Donald Trump would come along, reduce the United States to white nationalist, anti-intellectual rubble, then make a valiant and possibly successful attempt to overthrow American democracy? Did it appear possible that climate change would soon be baking our planet while world leaders sat back and watched from their palaces?
Maybe it’s a good think that our teens recognize this crap for what it is.
Renewable Energy
Nordex Invests in Türkiye, Vestas Wins First V182 Order
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Nordex Invests in Türkiye, Vestas Wins First V182 Order
Allen covers Nordex’s Türkiye expansion, Chinese turbine makers seeking European partners, Vestas’ first V182 order, and two Pennsylvania repowers.
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Renewable Energy
Is There a Pattern in Republicans’ Behavior?
I’m not sure it’s as simple as this, insofar as Bush 41 and 43 weren’t criminal sociopaths.
I happened to be driving through Manhattan on the very day that Colin Powell was addressing the United Nations just a few miles away and claimed, and I think honestly, that Saddam Hussein had “weapons of mass destruction,” and must be stopped by a U.S. military invasion.
Contrast that against what we’re doing in Iran. Fifteen years ago, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), included Iran, the P5+1 nations (the United States, China, Russia, France, the United Kingdom, and Germany), alongside the European Union made an agreement in which most of the developed world agreed that Iran must not have a nuclear weapon.
That stood firmly in place until Trump’s latest war crime, which is costing lives and choking the world economy, solely to defend our president’s neuroses.
Renewable Energy
Illegal Immigrants Are Voting Huge?
The Brennan Center at NYU’s seminal report on this issue, The Truth About Voter Fraud, found that most reported incidents of voter fraud are actually traceable to other sources, such as clerical errors or bad data matching practices. The report reviewed elections that had been meticulously studied for voter fraud and found incident rates between 0.0003 percent and 0.0025 percent.
Does that stop liars like Mike Lee from spreading disinformation of the subject? Of course not.
There is no judgement day. There is no Saint Peter standing in front of the Pearly Gates discerning good from evil and acting according.
That’s a lucky break for Mike Lee.
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