Monthly Archives: September 2018

Part 1 Intro. Raven rock: the story of the U.S. governments secret plans to save itself after a nuclear war and let the rest of us die

Posted on September 30, 2018 by

This is a book review of Graff’s 2018 “ Raven Rock. The Story of the U.S. Governments Secret Plan to Save Itself–While the Rest of Us Die”. This book exposes the government’s plans to carry on government and democracy after … Continue reading →

Posted in Nuclear, Nuclear, Politics | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Part 1 Intro. Raven rock: the story of the U.S. governments secret plans to save itself after a nuclear war and let the rest of us die

Book review of “White Trash. The 400-year untold history of class in America”

Posted on September 27, 2018 by

Preface.  This book makes the case that the poor arrived 500 years ago when America was first settled, and most of them never rose to the middle or upper classes because “land was the principal source of wealth, and those … Continue reading →

Posted in Distribution of Wealth, Financial, Politics, Poverty | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Book review of “White Trash. The 400-year untold history of class in America”

Not enough lithium to electrify transportation

Posted on September 24, 2018 by

Preface. Breaking news: The New York times just reported that there are only 25 years of zinc reserves left and goes on to say that lithium reserves are even smaller — just 5% of zinc reserves (Penn 2018).  The authors of … Continue reading →

Posted in Automobiles, Electrification, Peak Lithium | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

What percent of Americans are rational?

Posted on September 21, 2018 by

Preface. Why does rationality matter — what’s the harm in believing there’s a fat old “Santa Claus” God in the sky noting down every time any intelligent creature in the entire universe is naughty or nice on the potentially trillions … Continue reading →

Posted in Critical Thinking, Critical Thinking and Scientific Literacy, Religion | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

The electric grid: fragile, filthy, poorly managed, polluting, inefficient, corrupt

Posted on September 18, 2018 by

Preface. Most forms of alternative energy depend on the electric grid (nuclear, wind, solar, geothermal, hydropower). But the Grid is falling apart because of privatization and the splitting of the grid into thousands of competing, uncoordinated entities where there’s no … Continue reading →

Posted in Alternative Energy, Blackouts, Books, Electricity, Energy | 2 Comments

Book review of Democracy in Chains, the history of how extremist Republicans stealthily stole our Democracy

Posted on September 15, 2018 by

Summary I can’t do justice to this book in a book review (so buy it), especially the history of how the right-wing libertarians came to be so powerful, their huge influence on congress, the judiciary, and laws enacted, and how … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Book review of Democracy in Chains, the history of how extremist Republicans stealthily stole our Democracy

Book review of Hillbilly Elegy and why hillbillies voted for Trump

Posted on September 12, 2018 by

Source: David Horsey / Los Angeles Times Preface. I bought “Hillbilly Elegy: A memoir of a family and culture in crisis” because I’d like to understand why anyone would vote for Donald Trump. Before the election, it was well-known that … Continue reading →

Posted in (Auto)biography, Human Nature, Politics | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Book review of “Deer Hunting with Jesus”. Best book to find out why people voted from Trump.

Posted on September 9, 2018 by

[ Joe Bageant grew up in poor, conservative Winchester Virginia, which is like tens of thousands of other small towns in America. He is one of the few who escaped and got a college education.  So when he retired there … Continue reading →

Posted in Critical Thinking and Scientific Literacy, Human Nature, Politics, Religion | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

The dangers of relativism, of not being able to criticize anyone or anything because all of our beliefs are equal

Posted on September 4, 2018 by

[ I’ve been criticized for attacking right-wing Republicans, fundamentalist Christians, astrology, medicinal quackery, and so on.  This is dangerous nonsense. It means I can’t criticize Hitler, because after all, he was a product of his times.  I can’t tell my … Continue reading →

Posted in Critical Thinking, Human Nature, Politics, Religion | Tagged , | 5 Comments

How Christians were manipulated by Pat Robertson into becoming right-wing Republicans

Posted on September 1, 2018 by

This is a book review is of “The Gospel of self: How Jesus Joined the GOP.” It was written by an evangelical Christian for evangelical Christians to show them how he, as the senior producer of Pat Robertson’s “The 700 … Continue reading →

Posted in Critical Thinking, Critical Thinking and Scientific Literacy, Human Nature, Pat Robertson, Politics | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment