January 31

 Welcome to the last day of January. We have rain--a nice steady rain that should soak the ground nicely. Some area here are under a flood warning but we are high enough that we shouldn't have any problem. The city has been very diligent about fixing the drainage problems some areas had a decade ago. I remember one storm when we went to a grocery and waded through ankle deep water to get to the door. That rarely happens now. Our Republican mayor is the only Republican politician I have voted for several cycles now. At least he and his people manage to get things done that improve things.

An article at ANTHROPOCENE magazine asks a good question "How long can fossil fuel dominance last?" and answers "Quite some time." It is a long piece but pretty well done. The author writes about the difficulty of transitioning away from a dominant energy form but he simplifies the matter somewhat. It isn't just the transition in the 19th century from wood to coal, gas and oil. Society transitioned from whale oil to kerosene and from human and animal muscle to mechanical energy from coal, etc. The point that the author missed was that whale oil was becoming more expensive as whales became scarce. The transition to coal came as we cut down the eastern forests. As the country expanded we developed transportation methods that allowed us to cover the distances faster than horse, wagon trains and feet would allow. A new transition from fossil fuels would require similar incentives.

Bill Astore has an interesting piece this morning on THE DECLINE AND FALL OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY. He echoed some thoughts I had recently. When I first heard of Tulsi Gabbard I was impressed. Then, suddenly, things changed--she seemed to have changed. But did she. She did change to the Republican Party and did endorse Trump. I don't agree with either action. But I don't necessarily believe what has been said about her. What he wrote about the Democrats at the national level being a shell and a shill for corporate interests is equally true of the Republicans. I have said for some time that the two party system has devolved into a single party with two wings both beholden to the finance/industry/tech powers that be. And those have been fighting for dominance for a long time.

Astore has another article today which says a truth that Gabbard couldn't, for what ever reason, say: Snowdon was, and is a traitor. The Democrats tried to wipe that truth with the term "whistleblower." Two things can be true at the same time. Whistleblowers can be traitors at the same time. The question is "to what were they traitors and what values did they think they were serving when they stole information?". Motivation matters.