"The hot conditions are developing too quickly, and across too much of the planet, to be explained solely by El Niño. Records are falling around the globe many months ahead of El Niño’s peak impact, which typically hits in December and sends global temperatures soaring for months to follow."
So, it appears the "secret sauce" to prevent another disastrous storm that knocks out my power for 3 days is to make sure everything is charged to 100% -- car, laptop, phone, watch, earbuds, lantern, bluetooth speaker, ETC. ALSO, do not under any circumstances buy anything perishable that day.
And that is how I guarantee I will not lose electricity.
The last installment of my look at the SCOTUS term is about judicial restraint--or rather lack thereof. In what ways did SCOTUS rewrite or invent rules to achieve the desired result? Take a look with me. https://open.substack.com/pub/statuskuo/p/unrestrained?r=1zr8b&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
"Our system is supposed to function by way of majority, elected rule—and not via edicts from a star chamber. Interference in the legislative or executive process is rightfully viewed by many as a power grab, especially when the Court’s decisions are doing the heavy lifting for the party out of power. It is a form of minority rule, and it is antithetical to democratic principles."
#SupremeCourt #JohnRoberts #democracy #MinorityRule #PowerGrab
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"Among the most notable new features of Chief Justice John Roberts’s Court is a willingness to insert itself into matters traditionally reserved to the legislative or executive branches, substituting its own judgment for that of Congress or federal agencies.
This is a particularly troubling development for any democracy."
~ Jay Kuo
#SupremeCourt #JohnRoberts #democracy #MinorityRule #PowerGrab
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America Has a Supreme Court Problem
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2023/07/supreme-court-legitimacy-crisis
Outrage as Republican says 1921 Tulsa massacre not motivated by race | Oklahoma | The Guardian
Oklahoma superintendent Ryan Walters condemned for comments on 1921 massacre in which hundreds were killed by white mobs — Read on www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jul/08/oklahoma-republican-tulsa-race-massacre
How do we know stuff? In the age of LLM chat bots, this question is on my mind. For example: 'tomatoes love basil' is common advice on the internet. I have zero doubt that if I asked ChatGPT "what are good companion plants for tomatoes?" the answer would include basil.
But right out of the gate I know better than to trust a chatbot with the well-being of my tomatoes. A google search will cough up the same info from dozens of sites, all swearing that basil plays nicely with tomato plants. But how do I know these sites a) aren't generated by chat bots? or b) based on people plagiarizing each other?
In fact, I don't know that. All these gardening sites could be cribbing information from other gardening sites in a happy circular sharing of information--or perhaps misinformation. I can't tell.
So, you ask, who would you believe? Well, there are a couple of sources. I could experiment in my own garden, trying to control variables as best I can, and then compare tomatoes grown with basil to the same kinds of tomatoes grown without. Hardly perfect, but it might hint at an effect if there is one. I'd probably need to experiment for a few years, so not a quick way to get info. And unless the results were dramatic, I might be just as unsure after trying a few times.
Or I could hunt for websites run by university agricultural centers. They should provide references to research on companion planting. In other words, what can science tell us about basil and tomatoes? If it's true that tomatoes grow better with basil planted nearby, scientists might be able to explain why. Maybe basil releases compounds into the soil and/or air that help tomatoes thrive.
So in my case, I think if I want some assurance that I'm dealing with facts, I would head for scientific sources.
This is exhausting, trying to know stuff. I think I'll go outside and admire the the 15-20 small green tomatoes I've grown so far. Watching them grow is like watching paint dry, but I keep doing it. 😆
#tomatoes #gardens #Maine
Shocker:
A conservative today (Rep Gaetz Fl) is getting credit for something I agree with. For all I know , he has been a closet user. It happens to coincide with a drop in #military enlistment rates. In general the USA’s #WarOnDrugs has been a forked up affair when it comes to handing out prison sentences to users, especially when they are minorities. 😑
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2023/07/08/marijuana-military-cannabis-testing-recruitment/70391486007/
All the people still pushing for time and resources be put towards nuclear are not serious about addressing the #GlobalWarming that we are now suffering from example #41,893:
A new 1.2 GW solar facility is now providing clean energy to Brazilians. Construction only started in 2021!
We need to stop burning fossil fuels just as fast as we possibly can and #Wind #Solar and #Batteries can get it done the quickest for the lowest cost. https://www.pv-magazine.com/2023/07/06/largest-pv-plant-in-americas-goes-online-in-brazil/
Did you think it's kind of crazy for a judge to uphold free speech by imposing a gag order on a non-trivial number of Americans? If so, you have company among the First Amendment experts I spoke to for this breakdown of the incoherent, right-wing-grievance-fueled July 4th ruling ordering much of the Executive Branch to shut up about social-media content moderation. https://newrepublic.com/article/174098/louisiana-judges-anti-biden-social-media-order-makes-zero-sense
Open Thread | No Labels is Nothing But a Right- Wing Front Whose Goal Is to Throw the 2024 Election to the GOP
Period. Rubin has this absolutely correct. Opinion Follow the money: No Labels can’t hide its right-wing ties Just as it applies to investigating … Open Thread | No Labels is Nothing But a Right- Wing Front Whose Goal Is to Throw the 2024 Election to the GOP
#PoliticalModerate #Independent, #SocialLiberal, #Agnostic, #Unions, #Veteran, retired airline pilot. Supports level playing fields, equal opportunity, and democracy, not how to twist it to my advantage; capitalism/corporation critic, 🚫Today’s GOP, 🚫MAGA. Human species pessimist, pondering the Great Filter and do we have the Right Stuff? 🇺🇸 Citizen residing in a blue enclave of Texas.