Thursday, May 15, 2025

It's a car world. We just squeeze ourselves in where we can

 https://getpocket.com/explore/item/parking-has-eaten-american-cities?utm_source=firefox-newtab-en-us

 

 "Scharnhorst finds that there are more than 2 million parking spaces in Philadelphia, 1.85 million in New York, 1.6 million each in Seattle and Des Moines, and just over 100,000 in tiny Jackson, which has a population of about 10,000.

Parking takes up a huge amount of space: Jackson has more than 50 parking spaces per acre, 25 times its residential density of just two households per acre. Jackson has a whopping 27 parking spaces for each of its households."

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There were 284 million vehicles registered in the US in 2024.  They require roads, bridges, parking spaces, fuel stations, repair stations, plants to build them, plants to tear them down when they get old. etc.

 Public transportation could go a long way to changing this so people are more important than vehicles.  City planning could emphasize bicycling, which not only takes up less space but provides good exercise.  There are solutions to this problem.  Paris, for instance, has started to phase cars out of the city.   This would be difficult for cities with poor weather, but it does show the possibilities.

Will US cities change their ways?  I believe so. Cars are getting expensive.  The new generation is not in love with cars like Baby Boomers are.  There is hope.

Sunday, May 11, 2025

The rich cause more pollution. Who knew.

 https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/may/07/two-thirds-of-global-heating-caused-by-richest-study-suggests

 

"The world’s wealthiest 10% are responsible for two-thirds of global heating since 1990, driving droughts and heatwaves in the poorest parts of the world, according to a study.

While researchers have previously shown that higher income groups emit disproportionately large amounts of greenhouse gases, the latest survey is the first to try to pin down how that inequality translates into responsibility for climate breakdown. It offers a powerful argument for climate finance and wealth taxes by attempting to give an evidential basis for how many people in the developed world – including more than 50% of full-time employees in the UK – bear a heightened responsibility for the climate disasters affecting people who can least afford it."

 

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Can you believe the people who have personal jets, houses the size of small cities, and take vacations by circling the globe actually pollute more than poor people?  This is very useful news to find out where to look for reducing greenhouse gases.  Thanks to whomever did this research.


Thursday, May 8, 2025

Trump is "phoning it in" and is no longer an acting president

 Donald Trump is no longer even doing his job as president. He spends 20% of his time golfing. He holds fundraisers for himself, using his official position to reward acolytes. He skips most of the daily intelligence briefings to keep him informed [https://www.politico.com/news/2025/05/09/trump-intelligence-briefing-frequency-00338946]. When asked questions about what his administration is doing he either says he doesn't know, or refers the questioner to another official. For instance, when asked whether he planned to send migrants to Libya, he responded “I don't know. You'll have to ask the Department of Homeland Security.” Even when asked about the most important aspect of being president, “[D]on’t you need to uphold the Constitution of the United States as president?” Once again, Trump answered, “I don’t know.” [https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/-dont-know-problem-trump-leaning-new-favorite-phrase-rcna205546]

 Trump generally skips the daily intelligence briefing.  Apparently he can't afford the time or brain power needed.

When the need arises to fill an important vacancy in his administration, he does not take the time to find the most qualified person. Instead he searches in his head through people he already knows and decides which one of them will best fit the slot. This is laziness and dangerous for the country.

This is called dereliction of duty. It means we do not really have a president. We have a golfing self-promoter disguising himself as president.

Dereliction of duty is defined as “a person’s purposeful or accidental failure to perform an obligation without a valid excuse, especially an obligation attached to their job. In the 1991 U.S. Court of Military Appeals case , U.S. v. Powell , the Court stated that a person is guilty of the offense of dereliction of duty when he or she willingly or negligently fails to perform his or her duties or by performing such duties in a culpably inefficient manner.” [https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/dereliction]

Trump is about to turn 79 years old. It may be that his age is catching up with him and he has trouble maintaining a knowledge of what is going on in his administration. In this case, it would not be dereliction but inability. In either case it is a danger to the country and must be remedied immediately. Congress has the ability to impeach and remove the president, though with a Republican majority at this time that is highly unlikely. There is also section 4 of article 25 of the Constitution, which allows “Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President. “

Whether Trump is deliberately failing to act as president or he is becoming mentally feeble, there are remedies, and they must be acted upon. Our country demands a president who is capable, competent, and willing to perform his duties.