Stephan: In the hysterical fascist hate-filled politics of today, programs being implemented by the Biden administration to prepare us to exit the carbon era just get lost. Here is one example. This is good news.
Ford F-150 electrical truck Photo credit: USFS
The United States Forest Service (USFS) is now testing the Ford F-150 Lightning as it begins to transition its 17,000 vehicles (fossil powered at the moment) to a rugged, sometimes off-road fleet of over 17,000 battery-electric vehicles. In addition to being used in remote areas, vehicles must be top-notch and withstand extreme weather conditions.
Outside reports that the sites for the lengthy testing were chosen to test in the most rigorous conditions. The White Mountain National Forest in New Hampshire and Maine, the Allegheny National Forest in Pennsylvania, and the Huron-Manistee National Forest in Michigan have received three F-150 Lightnings. Perhaps the Forest Service will eventually test some in water as well, answering that question “Can an EV drive in water?”
Stephan: AM radio on the way out in electric powered vehicles. A major change in our daily lives that no one saw coming.
Credit: DNYUZ
For nearly 100 years, drivers have been listening to AM radio, an American institution crackling with news, traffic, weather, sports and an eclectic variety of other programs.
But that dashboard staple could be going the way of manual-crank windows and car ashtrays as electric vehicles begin to grab more of the American marketplace.
An increasing number of electric models have dropped AM radio in what broadcasters call a worrisome shift that could spell trouble for the stations and deprive drivers of a crucial source of news in emergencies.
Carmakers say that electric vehicles generate more electromagnetic interference than gas-powered cars, which can disrupt the reception of AM signals and cause static, noise and a high-frequency hum. (FM signals are more resistant to such interference.)
“Rather than frustrate customers with inferior reception and noise, the decision was made to leave it off vehicles that feature eDrive technology,” BMW said in a statement, referring to the system that powers its electric vehicles.
Tesla, Audi, Porsche and Volvo have also removed AM radio from their electric vehicles, […]
HERYLL CASHIN, Law Professor - Georgetown University - Politico
Stephan: If you read me you know my views on guns, and gun violence. Here is another take. I picked it because it also points put the important linkage between sensible gun laws and democracy.
Gun safety advocates rally in front of the U.S. Supreme Court on Dec. 2, 2019. Credit: Drew Angerer / Getty
A grim anniversary is upon us. On the morning of December 14, 2012, a troubled, 20-year-old male shot and killed his mother then proceeded to Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. Among his arsenal, he wielded a Bushmaster AR-15 rifle, a semi-automatic assault weapon that is shockingly easy to purchase in America. In less than five minutes, he killed six adults and 20 children between the ages of 6 and 7.
I remember thinking at the time that if ever there were an event that would alter Washington’s normal politics of capitulation to the gun lobby, this was it. Instead, only 40 Senators voted the following year to reinstate an expired national assault weapons ban, while several Democrats from swing states voted against it. In the ensuing decade, the barriers to gun access have come down, precipitously. Half of U.S. states now allow open carry of firearms
Stephan: This potentially is a very big deal, but it is important to be clear that it will probably, as I analyse the data, be another decade before fusion technology becomes a major power source.
US government scientists have made a breakthrough in the pursuit of limitless, zero-carbon power by achieving a net energy gain in a fusion reaction for the first time, according to three people with knowledge of preliminary results from a recent experiment.
Physicists have since the 1950s sought to harness the fusion reaction that powers the sun, but no group had been able to produce more energy from the reaction than it consumes — a milestone known as net energy gain or target gain, which would help prove the process could provide a reliable, abundant alternative to fossil fuels and conventional nuclear energy.
The federal Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, which uses a process called inertial confinement fusion that involves bombarding a tiny pellet of hydrogen plasma with the world’s biggest laser, had achieved net energy gain in a fusion experiment in the past two weeks, the people said.
Although many scientists believe fusion power stations are still decades away, the technology’s potential is hard to ignore. Fusion reactions emit no carbon, produce no long-lived radioactive waste and a […]
Elizabeth A. Harris and Alexandra Alter, - The New York Times
Stephan: The MAGATs don't want any view but their own taught to children in public school. They want indoctrination not education; it is straight out of the Nazis playbook, but most of the mainstream media cannot bring themselves to say what they know. The christofascists don't seem to realize that such a scheme will reduce the United States to second-class status. In contrast, the Chinese have worked out that education is directly linked to social success and status.
Brooke Stephens, of Utah Parents United. The group lobbied for a bill banning “sensitive materials” in schools. Such measures have helped push books bans to record levels in the last two years. Credit: Niki Chan Wylie / The New York Times
The Keller Independent School District, just outside of Dallas, passed a new rule in November: It banned books from its libraries that include the concept of gender fluidity.
The change was pushed by three new school board members, elected in May with support from Patriot Mobile, a self-described Christian cellphone carrier. Through its political action committee, Patriot Mobile poured hundreds of thousands of dollars into Texas school board races to promote candidates with conservative views on race, gender and sexuality — including on which books children can access at school.
Traditionally, debates over what books are appropriate for school libraries have taken place between a concerned parent and a librarian or administrator, and resulted in a single title or a few books being re-evaluated, and either removed or returned to shelves.
