With Trump as the front runner and Ben Carson as second in the current GOP field, this whole Republican race is bizarre, especially with Carson believing that the world was created in six days. That's right. The world was created in six days according to Carson. Stunningly stupid. Even my eleven-year old daughter recognized that story as a metaphor. Check out "Ben Carson: The World Was Created in 6 Days. Literally."
Over at the Washington Post, in "Why Republicans Are Starting to Panic, in One Paragraph." Chris Cillizza concisely sums up what a number of people in the GOP are worried about considering demographics and the coming presidential election.
As for the Democrats, it's the Hillary and Bernie dynamic right now with Biden sitting it out at the moment. I suspect Biden decides to run.
The candidate I would probably support the most, Elizabeth Warren, made an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
I'm one of the coaches for my son's soccer team, which makes me wish I played soccer as a kid. I think there might have been some soccer leagues back then northern Iowa (maybe), but the junior high schools and high schools didn't offer soccer as a sport.
This weekend the men of the Nasty home will have the house to ourselves. Mrs. Nasty and my daughter are going with a few friends to Nashville to see an insanely expensive Taylor Swift concert.
Showing posts with label Living Vicariously through Your Kids. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Living Vicariously through Your Kids. Show all posts
Friday, September 25, 2015
Sunday, July 12, 2015
Random Notes from a Crank
The most recent issue of The Atlantic had a good article about Saudi Arabia moving toward major solar power projects: "Why the Saudis Are Going Solar." The initiative has political and reference-point hurdles, but part of the impetus behind the move is that Saudis are crazy inefficient with energy consumption: "The Saudis burn about a quarter of the oil they produce." Another major reason behind the solar initiative is $$$. Regardless, as the author, Jeffrey Ball, concludes, "Saudi Arabia's energy challenge is a more extreme version of the one that faces the rest of the world. But if the kingdom's leaders can find the political courage to act decisively, Saudi Arabia, of all nations, could become a model for other countries trying to shift away from oil."
And China is moving toward renewables because of air pollution problems, climate change, and business interests. A National Geographic article concisely relates what's going on: "NASA Photos Show China's Plan to Meet New UN Climate Pledge." China has agreed to halt the rise of greenhouse gases and plans to get at least 20% of its energy from non-fossil fuel sources by 2030.
The past couple of weeks my kids have been featured as "swimmers of the week" in the local paper. One of the coaches talks about each kid, and they ask the kids about their favorite strokes and their goals. Local celebrities, people.
Here's another good installment from Existential Comics: "Philosophy News Network: The Death of God."
I'm thinking about starting up a flip-phone support group in this world awash with people staring at their smartphones.
And China is moving toward renewables because of air pollution problems, climate change, and business interests. A National Geographic article concisely relates what's going on: "NASA Photos Show China's Plan to Meet New UN Climate Pledge." China has agreed to halt the rise of greenhouse gases and plans to get at least 20% of its energy from non-fossil fuel sources by 2030.
The past couple of weeks my kids have been featured as "swimmers of the week" in the local paper. One of the coaches talks about each kid, and they ask the kids about their favorite strokes and their goals. Local celebrities, people.
Here's another good installment from Existential Comics: "Philosophy News Network: The Death of God."
I'm thinking about starting up a flip-phone support group in this world awash with people staring at their smartphones.
Thursday, January 8, 2015
Random Notes from a Crank
Michael T. Klare's "Carbon's Counterattack" is a worthwhile read over on TomDispatch. This ¶ stood out to me:
But this vision, like so much contemporary advertising, is based on a lie: in this case, on the increasingly bizarre idea that, in the twenty-first century, humanity can burn its way through significant parts of the planet’s reserves of fossil fuels to achieve a world in which everything is essentially the same -- there’s just more of it for everyone. In the world portrayed by Exxon, it’s possible for a reassuring version of business-as-usual to proceed without environmental consequences. In that world, the unimpeded and accelerated release of carbon into the atmosphere has no significant impact on people’s lives. This is, of course, a modern fairy tale that, if believed, will have the most disastrous of results.
For a much different perspective, read Grist's article on recent peer-reviewed scholarship published in Nature: "Leave the Damn Fossil Fuels in the Ground, Says Big Nerdy Study."
Regardless, here's a quotation from Rebecca Solnit: "To me, the grounds for hope are simply that we don't know what will happen next, and that the unlikely and unimaginable transpire quite regularly. And that the unofficial history of the world shows that dedicated individuals and popular movements can shape history and have, though how and when we might win and how long it takes is not predictable."
Over the holidays, the Nasty family got into watching game shows, namely Family Feud and The Price is Right. Since I primarily do the grocery shopping in the family, I enjoy The Price is Right. I remember that show being a big draw at my fraternity house. It and Supermarket Sweep.
My son, a first grader, starts his basketball season this month. It should be entertaining. I hope he's better than I was and he grows taller than I am (eventually). For whatever reason, in junior high school, I went out for the basketball team a couple of times. I stunk. So many kids went out for basketball that West Junior had three teams: A, B, and C. It's not hard to guess what team I suited up for. I should have gone into wrestling instead.
But this vision, like so much contemporary advertising, is based on a lie: in this case, on the increasingly bizarre idea that, in the twenty-first century, humanity can burn its way through significant parts of the planet’s reserves of fossil fuels to achieve a world in which everything is essentially the same -- there’s just more of it for everyone. In the world portrayed by Exxon, it’s possible for a reassuring version of business-as-usual to proceed without environmental consequences. In that world, the unimpeded and accelerated release of carbon into the atmosphere has no significant impact on people’s lives. This is, of course, a modern fairy tale that, if believed, will have the most disastrous of results.
For a much different perspective, read Grist's article on recent peer-reviewed scholarship published in Nature: "Leave the Damn Fossil Fuels in the Ground, Says Big Nerdy Study."
Regardless, here's a quotation from Rebecca Solnit: "To me, the grounds for hope are simply that we don't know what will happen next, and that the unlikely and unimaginable transpire quite regularly. And that the unofficial history of the world shows that dedicated individuals and popular movements can shape history and have, though how and when we might win and how long it takes is not predictable."
Over the holidays, the Nasty family got into watching game shows, namely Family Feud and The Price is Right. Since I primarily do the grocery shopping in the family, I enjoy The Price is Right. I remember that show being a big draw at my fraternity house. It and Supermarket Sweep.
My son, a first grader, starts his basketball season this month. It should be entertaining. I hope he's better than I was and he grows taller than I am (eventually). For whatever reason, in junior high school, I went out for the basketball team a couple of times. I stunk. So many kids went out for basketball that West Junior had three teams: A, B, and C. It's not hard to guess what team I suited up for. I should have gone into wrestling instead.
Tuesday, July 1, 2014
Random Notes from a Crank
As live albums go, it's hard to beat At Fillmore East by The Allman Brothers Band. They were a jam band before the term was invented.
This summer, my going-into-first-grade son has played rookie league ball, which is machine-pitch baseball. Since I didn't get to play organized baseball when I was kid, I'm living vicariously through him. It's been fun practicing with him and working as one the team's ad hoc coaches. The first day of the tournament started on Monday, and my son's team lost its first game, which was difficult because they are a good-hitting team, but they've had defensive issues on a consistent basis. They kicked it around the yard last night and lost because of it. Bad deal. They barely won their game tonight. And tomorrow night they have a game. It's a double-elimination tournament, so it's either win and advance or lose and the season is over.
One of the moms who was watching taekwondo class on Tuesday was reading a Reader's Digest. I'm surprised that mag is still around and that people still read it.
The article, "Supreme Court Upholds Little Caesar's Right to Feed Christian Employees to Lions," is a wonderful bit of satire. Carpe diem, bitches.
This summer, my going-into-first-grade son has played rookie league ball, which is machine-pitch baseball. Since I didn't get to play organized baseball when I was kid, I'm living vicariously through him. It's been fun practicing with him and working as one the team's ad hoc coaches. The first day of the tournament started on Monday, and my son's team lost its first game, which was difficult because they are a good-hitting team, but they've had defensive issues on a consistent basis. They kicked it around the yard last night and lost because of it. Bad deal. They barely won their game tonight. And tomorrow night they have a game. It's a double-elimination tournament, so it's either win and advance or lose and the season is over.
One of the moms who was watching taekwondo class on Tuesday was reading a Reader's Digest. I'm surprised that mag is still around and that people still read it.
The article, "Supreme Court Upholds Little Caesar's Right to Feed Christian Employees to Lions," is a wonderful bit of satire. Carpe diem, bitches.
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