by Oui
Wed Sep 29th, 2021 at 02:52:40 PM EST
Gerrymandering
by Oui
Sun Sep 26th, 2021 at 11:26:22 AM EST
by Bernard
Fri Sep 24th, 2021 at 08:46:08 PM EST
Next Sunday, September 26, German voters will renew their Federal parliament, the Bundestag.
Angela Merkel, aka Mutti, aka the Queen of Europe, is retiring after 16 years at the helm as Federal Chancellor, so this is a momentous event, not only for Germany but for the all or Europe.
There are (most likely) two possible names for her replacement: Olaf Scholz from the SPD or Armin Laschet from the CDU, Merkel's party.
by Oui
Fri Sep 17th, 2021 at 09:56:21 AM EST
Highly Unlikely ...
PM Mark Rutte travels to London today to visit his friend and Conservative colleague Boris Johnson ... it's about Afghanistan he says. 🤥 Hard to believe as his caretaker Cabinet was shaken by vote of censure in Dutch lower house yesterday affecting both the FM Kaag (D66) and Defense minister Bijleveld (CDA). Both are leading politicians of parties still supporting the caretaker government. Sigrid Kaag resigned to work full time as MP and key player in the formation talks ongoing for six months after the election.
He lost two key figures of his cabinet due to failures on withdrawal from Kabul and leaving interpreters with family and human rights workers behind. Handling of visa and papers were in chaos as staff had left with the first evacuation flight. Rutte has no soul of decency and serves his party's populist agenda on immigration and with priority less taxation for multinationals. Problems are not solved ... where is our Dutch leader? His heart is in corporate welfare, not the hard working people of main street Rotterdam or Groningen.
Gas production and earthquakes in Groningen: reflection on economic and social consequences | RUG Edu |
by gmoke
Tue Sep 7th, 2021 at 02:58:50 AM EST
USAmerica generates around 100 quadrillion BTUs per year, more or less, and has plateaued at that level since 2000. However, about 67% of the energy produced is characterized as "rejected energy," energy that does no useful work, according to the annual energy report of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (https:/flowcharts.llnl.gov).
We waste about 2/3rds of the energy we produce, each and every year.
A lot of that is waste heat which could be used for heat in industrial processes and heating (and cooling) especially if we had district heating systems. The EU does have district heating systems and is now beginning to maximize their use in order to reduce their own "rejected energy" and the climate effects it produces. In fact, "This is how Copenhagen plans to go carbon-neutral by 2025" (https:www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/05/the-copenhagen-effect-how-europe-can-become-heat-efficient) starting with Nordhavn, a district "designed to be the world's foremost smart energy laboratory at full scale" demonstrating "how electricity and heating, energy-efficient buildings and electric transport can be integrated into an intelligent, flexible and optimized energy system."
They say, "We need to link district heating systems and expand thermal grids at scale. The next step in Europe is to make smart thermal grids that can harvest heat wasted from current and future sources such as power plants and data centres. Europe is wasting enough heat to almost cover the current heat demands in all its buildings. The Heat Roadmap Europe (HRE) project (https:/heatroadmap.eu) and World Economic Forum's Future of Europe, Energy initiative sparked the idea of creating a smart thermal grid in all EU countries. As a result, the Pan-European Thermal Atlas (Peta) (https:heatroadmap.eu/peta4) now pairs areas with heat demand and heat excess sources. In other words, it is preparing and planning the heat grid."
Let me make this clear, the EU is mapping waste heat sources throughout their participating nations and developing plans to transform that waste heat into useful work. I doubt there's anyone in USAmerica who is even thinking along those lines at that scale. Yet.
You can learn more about these ideas at the 7th International Conference on Smart Energy Systems (https:/smartenergysystems.eu) on 21-22 September 2021 at Aalborg University and Energy Cluster in Denmark.
"After being forced by circumstances into holding the conference strictly virtually in 2020, we look forward to yet again welcoming our conference participants in a hybrid setting with the possibility to attend either online or in person - this time in Copenhagen.
"The conference establishes a venue for presenting and discussing scientific findings and industrial experiences related to the subject of Smart Energy Systems based on renewable energy, 4th Generation District Heating Technologies and Systems (4GDH), electrification of heating and transport sectors, electrofuels and energy efficiency.
"This 7th conference in the series cements it as a main venue for presentations and fruitful debates on subjects that are pertinent to the development and implementation of smart energy systems to fulfil national and international objectives."
May there be USAmerican policymakers, scientists, and engineers in attendance at this conference who take good notes to bring back home.
PS: "How much CO2 equivalent is offset if we whiten all eligible urban flat roofs world- wide?
Answer: 24 Gigatonnes (Gt) - 2/3 of a year's worldwide emission - Gigatonne = billion metric tons
If implemented over 20 years (the life of a roof or a program) this is ≈ 1.2 Gt/year."
Source: https:/www.coolrooftoolkit.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Rosenfeld-Presentation.pdf
"We remain alert so as not to get run down, but it turns out you only have to hop a few feet to one side and the whole huge machinery rolls by, not seeing you at all."
Lew Welch
"the war that matters is the war against the imagination
all other wars are subsumed in it."
Diane Di Prima
"Quite clearly, our task is predominantly metaphysical, for it is how to get all of humanity to educate itself swiftly enough to generate spontaneous behaviors that will avoid extinction."
R. Buckminster Fuller
Although, given recent and current events, there seem to be a whole hell of a lot of people who seem to be in love with the death drive.
by gmoke
Thu Sep 23rd, 2021 at 06:37:49 PM EST
Each USAmerican TV network has 24 hours of prime time every week.
CBS has 16 hours of crime shows
Tuesday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday are 3 hour blocks of crime. Sunday maybe even more if you count the segments on 60 Minutes on crimes.
NBC has 7 hours and all of Thursday for crime.
ABC has only 3 hours for crime but 5 hours for game shows.
the war that matters is the war against the imagination
all other wars are subsumed in it.
Diane Di Prima
There seems to be a severe lack of imagination here but then, they wouldn't be doing this if it didn't make money.
2021 Fall Lineup & TV Schedule for CBS, NBC, ABC
Source: https:/parade.com/1210669/paulettecohn/fall-tv-schedule-2021-premiere-dates-abc-fox-nbc-cw-cbs
CBS Fall Lineup & TV Schedule
Monday
8 p.m. The Neighborhood (Sept. 20)
8:30 p.m. Bob Hearts Abishola (Sept. 20)
9 p.m. NCIS (Sept. 20) - crime
10 p.m. NCIS: HAWAI'I (Sept. 20) - crime
Tuesday
8 p.m. FBI (Sept. 21) - crime
9 p.m. FBI: INTERNATIONAL (Sept. 21) - crime
10 p.m. FBI: Most Wanted (Sept. 21) - crime
Wednesday
8 p.m. Survivor (Sept. 22)
9 p.m. Tough as Nails (Oct. 6)
10 p.m. CSI: VEGAS (Oct. 6) - crime
Thursday
8 p.m. Young Sheldon (Oct. 7)
8:30 p.m. United States of Al (Oct. 7)
9 p.m. GHOSTS (Oct. 7)
9:30 p.m. B Positive (Oct. 7)
10 p.m. Bull (Oct. 7) - crime
Friday
8 p.m. S.W.A.T (Oct. 1) - crime
9 p.m. Magnum P.I. (Oct. 1) - crime
10 p.m. Blue Bloods (Oct. 1) - crime
Saturday
8 p.m. Crimetime Saturday (drama series encores) - crime
9 p.m. Crimetime Saturday (drama series encores) - crime
10 p.m. 48 Hours (Sept. 18) - crime
Sunday
7 p.m. 60 Minutes (Sept. 12)
8 p.m. The Equalizer (Oct. 10) - crime
9 p.m. NCIS: Los Angeles (Oct. 10) - crime
10 p.m.: SEAL Team/S.W.A.T. (Oct. 10) - crime
NBC Fall Lineup & TV Schedule for 2021
Monday
8 p.m. The Voice (Sept. 20)
10 p.m. ORDINARY JOE (Sept. 20) - crime
Tuesday
8 p.m. The Voice
9 p.m. LA BREA (Sept. 28)
10 p.m. New Amsterdam (Sept. 21)
Wednesday
8 p.m. Chicago Med (Sept. 22)
9 p.m. Chicago Fire (Sept. 22)
10 p.m. Chicago P.D. (Sept. 22) - crime
Thursday
8 p.m. The Blacklist (Oct.21) - crime
9 p.m. Law & Order: SVU (Sept. 23) - crime
10 p.m. Law & Order: Organized Crime (Sept. 23) - crime
Friday
8 p.m. TBA
9 p.m. Dateline NBC (Sept. 24) - crime
[As I recall, Dateline began, as did ABC's 20/20 before it as a clone of 60 Minutes and both would cover much more than true crime and celebrity interviews.]
Saturday
8 p.m. Drama Encores
9 p.m. Dateline Saturday Night Mystery - crime
10 p.m. SNL Encores
Sunday
7 p.m. Football Night in America
8 p.m. Sunday Night Football
ABC Fall Lineup & TV Schedule for 2021
Monday
8 p.m. Dancing With the Stars (Sept. 20)
10 p.m. The Good Doctor (Sept. 27)
Tuesday
8 p.m. The Bachelorette (Oct. 19)
10 p.m. QUEENS (Oct. 19)
Wednesday
8 p.m. The Goldbergs (Sept. 22)
8:30 p.m. THE WONDER YEARS (Sept. 22)
9 p.m. The Conners (Sept. 22)
9:30 p.m. Home Economics (new time slot) (Sept. 22)
10 p.m. A Million Little Things (Sept. 22)
Thursday
8 p.m. Station 19 (Sept. 30)
9 p.m. Grey's Anatomy (Sept. 30)
10 p.m. Big Sky (new day) (Sept. 30) - crime
Friday
8 p.m. Shark Tank (Oct. 8)
9 p.m. 20/20 (Oct. 8) - crime/celebrity interviews
Saturday
8 p.m. Saturday Night Football
Sunday
7 p.m. America's Funniest Videos (Oct. 3)
8 p.m. Celebrity Wheel of Fortune (new time slot) (Sept. 26)
9 p.m. Supermarket Sweep (Sept. 26)
10 p.m. The Rookie (Sept. 26) - crime
by Oui
Sat Sep 18th, 2021 at 10:10:47 AM EST
Afghanistan, the Graveyard of Empires ... yet it's the civilian population that bears the brunt of violence and have to pick op the pieces of a devastated nation.
by Frank Schnittger
Fri Sep 17th, 2021 at 06:16:18 PM EST
The President of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins, raised a storm of manufactured outrage yesterday when he decided not to attend a church ceremony in Armagh with Queen Elizabeth II to mark the centenary of partition and the creation of Northern Ireland. Chief among the outraged was DUP leader, Geoffrey Donaldson, who has recently pulled his party out of all north-south ministerial meetings as required by strand 2 of the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement, in protest at the Northern Ireland protocol of the Withdrawal Agreement.
It is difficult to know whether Donaldson would have been even more outraged if the President had decided to attend the event, as he typically decries southern "interference" in northern affairs. However, his claim the the President's decision is a snub to Queen Elizabeth is just another attempt by him to draw attention away from the DUP's complicity in Brexit and the Protocol. In reality unionists are desperate to normalise the creation and status quo of Northern Ireland and extremely sensitive to any suggestion it doesn't have universal support.
My thought's on the matter have been published by The Irish Times (see below).
by Oui
Wed Sep 15th, 2021 at 06:14:40 PM EST
Security at last ...
by Oui
Tue Sep 14th, 2021 at 01:52:08 PM EST
Zelensky's U.S. visit: new tone in relations
Meanwhile ...
U.S., Germany strike a deal to allow completion of controversial Russian Nord Stream 2 pipeline | CNBC - July 21, 2021 |
Nord Stream 2: Last piece of gas pipeline is in place | DW |
Construction on the controversial Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline took a major step to completion. According to the company, the final piece of piping has been welded together. It will then be lowered into place in the Baltic Sea. It must then be connected and will then be expected to begin operating soon.
by Oui
Fri Sep 10th, 2021 at 06:14:19 PM EST
Previous title: Amanpour On the Lawrence Wilkerson Show
George Bush became President based on lies and voter suppression in Jeb Bush’s Florida. The whole nation and Western allies looked to him for leadership after America’s second Pearl Harbor. Bush was fed lies and Biblical quotes to go into Iraq to avenge Saddam’s plot to murder his dad. The military show of force based on anger was led by VP Cheney and master of evil at the Pentagon, Donald Rumsfeld.
END OF UPDATE
Unbelievable a very astute analysis of the fault lines in the American Empire. So much regret for the role he played in the run-up to the Iraq War.
by Oui
Thu Sep 9th, 2021 at 09:23:39 AM EST
20 Years Military Operation Shock and Awe has Sizzled Out - Cost of US Wealth expressed in $$ trillions (military technology, arms investment and bribes) and loss of American diplomatic prestige overseas.
"You are either with us, or with the terrorists."
As the United States prepares for the 20 Year Commemoration of the 9/11 Attacks on America ...
President Bush has been talking to world leaders since last Tuesday, when terrorists flew hijacked planes into the World Trade Center and Pentagon, killing thousands.
Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair met with the President just prior to the speech and accompanied him to Capitol Hill. "We stand side by side with you now, without hesitation. This is a struggle that concerns us all, the whole of the democratic and civilized and free world," he said.
Prime Minister Blair sat to the right of First Lady Laura Bush during the address. To her left was New York Mayor Rudy Guiliani.
The House chamber, which is always used for joint meetings, was packed for the event. Mr. Bush's only other speech to the legislature was back on February 28, when the bitterness of last year's presidential election dispute filled the hall. The atmosphere this time was very different. There was unity, sorrow and determination. "Great harm has been done to us. We have suffered great loss. And in our grief and anger we have found our mission and our moment," he said.
by Frank Schnittger
Wed Sep 8th, 2021 at 03:58:41 AM EST
Eoin Drea, a researcher at the EPP affiliated Wilfried Martens Centre for European Studies in Brussels, has a go at the "The chattering Irish Europhile class" in his piece entitled "Ireland is no longer viewed as a credible voice on key issues in Brussels"(Sadly, subscriber only). In it he castigates Ireland's failure to sign up to the nascent OECD corporate tax reform involving a minimum 15% tax rate but totally misreads the Irish Government's reason for doing so.
Almost everyone in Ireland regards global corporate tax reform as desirable and inevitable and the proposed 15% tax rate is hardly a precipitous increase on Ireland's current rate of 12.5%. But as always, in tax matters, the devil is in the detail, and that detail will be determined in large measure by Biden's slim majorities in Congress, all the more so as many Democrats are as sceptical as Republicans about anything that might displease their major donors.
by Oui
Sat Sep 4th, 2021 at 10:17:41 AM EST
The U.S. Foreign Policy 'Establishment' Is Incredibly Dumb | MofA |
Decades of zero accountability for US political, economic,Intel agency elites has decimated US democratic institutions & led to an establishment that is allowed to make the same 'mistakes' over and over again? Unending impunity for elites isn't Democracy, it's Tyranny. [Posted by: Stephen Kalil]
by Oui
Wed Sep 1st, 2021 at 07:15:00 PM EST
Extremist Republican Party politicians placing patriarchy law above human rights and body integrity of women, the majority stakeholder in the Lone Star state.
The Bible has become an important feature of the legal system of Southern States with its attendant implications for reproductive health and human rights. Like other religious doctrines, Christianity has been used to legitimize conlicting positions on gender and reproductive choice. In some cases, women were being denied rights by those who claimed to be acting in the name of Jesus Christ, some of which are incompatible with internationally recognized human rights. This article identifies selected sexual and reproductive health issues at the intersection of reproductive rights and Natural Law e.g. adultery (zina), gender, marriage, polygny, and violence against women and considers how their shared concerns may prompt actions leading to the elimination of religious and cultural barriers imposed by Bible fundamentalists which impede the implementation of international legal frameworks and consensus documents on reproductive rights.
Intersection between Texas Law, the Bible and Reproductive and/or Sexual Health and Human Rights
by Oui
Tue Aug 31st, 2021 at 10:47:07 PM EST
by Oui
Tue Aug 31st, 2021 at 12:17:19 PM EST
How the US created a world of endless war | The Guardian |
In 2008, many of Barack Obama's supporters hoped he would bring the global war on terror to a close. Instead, he expanded it - and his successors have done nothing to change course.
