Sustainability and Politics: August 2016

Wednesday, August 24, 2016

Hillary Clinton's Sense of Humor

Here

If Hillary is trying to liven up her image in LA, she's doing pretty well. Holds her own hamming it up in the photo booth with Juatin Timberlake and Jessica Biel. Funny.

New Tesla Now Fastest Production Car in the World

Here And I thought my Volt was fast! New Tesla Model S P100D goes 0-60 in 2.9 SECONDS!

My childhood mentor friend Dick Dyer, who raced motorcycles in his Pantera, would be fired up. "Trick!" he would say.

"I think this is going to send a great message to the public that sustainable transport is the future," CEO Elon Musk said.

Remember the battery pack is just sitting there with all that voltage just available. The switch of the accelerator is the only impediment to unleashing full speed.

Combustion engines have to burn gas and compress chambers where pistons increasingly begin to pump faster (and spit out pollution and fuck up our climate and lungs among other bad things) to get up to speed.

Hmm, any option seem superior? See Musk's quote again.

Monday, August 8, 2016

Monday Morning News: Fresh batch of Republicans defect to Clinton - POLITICO

Monday morning's news.

Fresh batch of Republicans defect to Clinton - POLITICO

"“Our nation faces a unique set of challenges that require steady and experienced leadership. That is why today I am personally supporting Hillary Clinton,” Lezlee Westine, who served as the White House’s director of public liaison and deputy assistant to the president in the Bush administration, said in a statement to The Washington Post."

"Former New Hampshire Sen. Gordon Humphrey said he would cast his ballot for Clinton if she were “neck and neck” with Trump in his state. But Trump, he said, is a “defective nominee” who is “deranged” and whose “psyche is sick,” and the Republican National Committee should replace him as the nominee."

Last week's news.

http://www.bbc.com/news/election-us-2016-36962942

https://news.google.com/news/ampviewer?caurl=http%3A%2F%2Fmobile.nytimes.com%2F2016%2F08%2F09%2Fus%2Fpolitics%2Fnational-security-gop-donald-trump.amp.html#pt0-185720https://news.google.com/news/ampviewer?caurl=http%3A%2F%2Fmobile.nytimes.com%2F2016%2F08%2F09%2Fus%2Fpolitics%2Fnational-security-gop-donald-trump.amp.html#pt0-185720

Republicans not voting for Mr Trump

Barbara Bush, former first lady
Jeb Bush, former Florida governor, 2016 presidential candidate
William Cohen, former secretary of defence
Jeff Flake, Arizona senator
Lindsey Graham, South Carolina senator, 2016 presidential candidate
Larry Hogan, Maryland governor
John Kasich, Ohio governor, 2016 presidential candidate
Mark Kirk, Illinois senator
Mitt Romney, former Massachusetts governor, 2012 Republican presidential nominee
Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Florida congresswoman
Ben Sasse, Nebraska senator

http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2016/06/25/george-will-donald-trump-republican-party/

Republicans voting for Mrs Clinton

Richard Armitage, former deputy secretary of state
Hank Paulson, former treasury secretary
Brent Scowcroft, former national security adviser
Richard Hanna, New York congressman
Meg Whitman, party donor and fundraiser

MEG WHITMAN'S FULL STATEMENT ON SUPPORTING CLINTON

As a proud Republican, casting my vote for President has usually been a simple matter. This year is different. To vote Republican out of party loyalty alone would be to endorse a candidacy that I believe has exploited anger, grievance, xenophobia and racial division. Donald Trump’s demagoguery has undermined the fabric of our national character.

Trump’s reckless and uninformed positions on critical issues – from immigration to our economy to foreign policy – have made it abundantly clear that he lacks both the policy depth and sound judgment required as President. Trump’s unsteady hand would endanger our prosperity and national security. His authoritarian character could threaten much more.

Therefore, I have decided to support Hillary Rodham Clinton. It is clear to me that Secretary Clinton’s temperament, global experience and commitment to America’s bedrock national values make her the far better choice in 2016 for President of the United States. In a tumultuous world, America needs the kind of stable and aspirational leadership Secretary Clinton can provide.

I urge all Republicans to reject Donald Trump this November.

I've been thinking some about the Winter Solstice, the Mayan end of the 30,000-year-cycle on 12/21/12.

What if in fact the world did end? Even though this probably will not happen, to live consciously it is honest for us to take a bit of an inventory.

Am I happy with how I've lived my life? (Yesterday, I thought mostly yes, with some areas for improvement, as below.) Are there changes I would make?
Would I have tried to forgive those that were hostile or disappointing to me?
Would I spend more time with those I loved the most, telling them that, feeling that more?
Would I be happier, grateful for what I have, what I've experienced, the joy, the beauty in this world?

Maybe the answer is yes to all of the above.
So this time can serve as a point of rebirth for all of us. If we think about it.

Because somewhere along the line I realized I think maybe mankind deserves it. !
The way we are killing each other, killing the planet.
How selfish we are, and snotty to those around us. Petty, competitive. Why is this? Do we have to behave this way? (I say no, it greatly detracts and misdirects energy from the full-time celebration in which we could engage, the great multi-cultural, multi-rhythmic dance we can sustain here.)

Maybe God or the Great Universe is fed up, and will pull the rug out from under us.
Don't think I can say we could blame Him/Her/It.

But it probably won't happen. (Probably not! This time.)

Still we are finite on this ride.

It is a time to think, am I happy with how I've lived my life?
Hopefully most of us can say yes.

For the part of us that have a little worry, a little sadness....
This is the time to be present.
This is the time to be the person you want to be, that can die at peace, that can hope to every day be able to look yourself and the Universe in the eye and say, how beautiful, smiling, and thank you. Let's do that.