Our Spending on Electric Semis Might not Be Wise

    As suspected, Joe Manchin and Chuck Schumer's proposed bill to spend hundreds of billions on EVs and climate change efforts will benefit large corporate benefactors such a Telsa. News now out says when corporations buy heavy-duty commercial electric vehicles they will be able to receive $40,000 tax credits.

    Perhaps this is unwise. It is bothersome to drop that much money in the laps of the rich.

   There is also the matter of the price at the charging stations. The price will perhaps be too much unless the government subsidizes that, too. Then there is the matter of whether enough electricity can be generated, period.

   We should not be getting the cart ahead of the horse. We first need to create more hydro-electric power plants and come up with more other renewable energy sources capable of meeting demands. 

   Saving the planet is good, but if you don't have a plan in place that will work, it will all be in vain.

(Index -- Climate change info)

Kaep's Being Locked Out Still Isn't Fair

    As time etches on, it appears there will be no Colin Kaepernick come-back. No one will sign him. And, it might be that he is no longer good enough. 

   He was not in shape when he showed up for the work out with the Las Vegas Raiders, perhaps. So, they Raiders do not want him, and as word has gotten 'round the NFL, nobody wants him.

   Perhaps.

   Nevertheless, here's holding out hope. If it is just a matter of getting in shape, Kaep, get in shape. It would be wonderful if Kaep overcame the odds against him. It would be nice. The NFL blackballed him for his political views. That isn't right. That isn't just. 

Are We Just Thowing Dollars at the Problem but not Really Tackling it?

   Tell us, then, how this $369 billion will be spent. How much for the tax incentives? How much to corporate participants? Just exactly where will the money be placed?

   Yes, we want clean energy. Yes, we want electric vehicles. But, we do we want to give away money unnecessarily? Maybe we must. Norway, the world's leader in the percentage of people who drive electric vehicles, got to where it is much through offering generous tax incentives.

   Still, it remains: We should look closely at how we can get more EVs on the road. Can it be done without deep incentives? Government spending remains one of our biggest problems. The national debt remains one of our biggest problems. Let's not add to those woes.

EVs Rule in Norway -- and 98 Percent of Electricity is Renewable

   Is it true? Electric vehicles in Norway drive more miles annually than gas or diesel-powered vehicles. Such says a news story. And, it notes with the price of gas, the move to EVs is likely to intensify. 

   Another news story says almost 65 percent of the new cars sold in Norway in 2021 were electric. And, another story says Norway, per population, has the highest percent of electric vehicles in the world.

   And, yet another story proclaims that 98 percent of the electricity generated in the country comes from renewable energy sources, mainly hydropower.

   Meanwhile, in America, many say it can't be done. Frankly, we just need to get off our duff and do it. 

The First Endorsement Is In

   I'd like to be the first to endorse someone for the 2024 election. Little old me, ahead of everyone else. Yes, I realize it's a little early, but I like to get ahead of the crowd.

   Liz Cheney. 

  The race is in its infancy. Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis, and Mike Pence are making rumblings for the Republican nomination. Joe Biden has suggested he would like to run for re-election.

   Cleary, clearly -- surely we all can see that Liz Cheney is the best person for the office. 

Rupert Area Blossomed as a Rose

   I consider the settling of this valley (the Salt Lake Valley) and how some say it was a fulfillment of Isaiah 35:1, which speaks of the desert blossoming as a rose. And. I consider that if this is true, then the settling of my hometown, Rupert, Idaho, was also a fulfillment.

There stands a plaque in Rupert, proclaiming, "The Desert Blossoms." The area was considered a desert. A river ran through it, but diverting water from it would not serve many. It took what was then modern technology, hydroelectric dams, to make it possible for water to be pumped and canaled to the farms. The timeliness of the technology is attested to by Rupert High School being the first all-electric high school in the nation. Even, then, there was a limit to how many people the water could serve. But, when the Snake Plain Aquifer was discovered in 1947, it opened the area to more settlers. The government then invited military veterans to farm the land. My dad and mom won a farm in the drawing, and became part of the largest homestead farming project in the nation. Dad and Mom had been parade marshals in Manassa, Colorado, for the Pioneer Day and now, this short time later, were pioneers, themselves, opening up new land as America was going through some of its last expansion.

The Minidoka County project (Rupert area) became the largest homestead project in the nation. I've always joked that that kind of makes Rupert the New York City of rural areas.

Anyway, an area that was desert, covered with sagebrush, is now one of the noteworthy agriculture developments that our nation has had. It was once uninhabited. It once was solitary. (It still might be considered, "solitary," depending on how you take that word.) That it lacks natural water is testified to by the fact a strip of land next to my father's farm remained in sagebrush right up past the year Dad sold the farm.

So, would all this be a fulfillment of the prophecy in Isaiah 35:1"The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose."

Is America Headed for a Strong-Man Government?

  News item: Nearly one in three Americans believe it might be necessary to take up arms against the government.

   News item: More than half of all Americans believe a civil war will break out in the coming years.

   News item: The majority of Americans believe the day will come when America will cease to be a democracy.

   News item: More than 40 percent of Americans believe that "having a strong leader for America is more important than having a democracy." (Surely they cannot be preferring a strong-man government, but who knows. If Trump were their strong man, perhaps they do prefer a strong-man government.)

   News item: Forty-seven percent of Republicans believe what happened on Jan. 6 was a legitimate protest. (Are they only suggesting they believe the election was a fraud, or are they supporting the violence that took place?)

   News item: U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger says the insurrection "represents the greatest effort to overturn the will of the people, and to conspire against American democracy that we've ever had, frankly, since the Civil War."

   Can the polling taking place be correct? Are we really headed toward losing our freedom? For my part, I think we are going to be O.K., even if these things happen. Nevertheless, I find it all shocking.

Women Were at the Forefront of Insurrection Hearings

    It was women who were at the forefront of the Jan. 6 insurrection hearings. It was a woman, Nancy Pelosi, who called for creation of the select committee. It was a woman, Liz Cheney, who co-chaired the hearings and who was the guiding force of the hearings. It was a woman, Sarah Matthews, who testified that the insurrection was "the darkest day in our country's history" and who said Trump's actions that day prompted her to resign from being deputy press secretary. 

   It was a woman, White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson, who provided key evidence against Trump, testifying that Trump was angry when security officials refused to drive him to the Capitol to be with his supporters. She said the president was so upset that he grabbed the SUV's steering wheel when the officers told him they would not take him there. 

   It was a woman, Capitol Police Officer Caroline Edwards, who testified she was tear-gassed and knocked unconcious, and who described it as a "war scene," with officers lying on the ground and bleeding. "I was slipping in people's blood," she said.

   It was two women, Georgia elections workers Shaye Moss and her mother Ruby Freeman, who testified they received death threats, home break-ins, and sexualized threats when their superior elections officials questioned their integrity in counting the votes.

   "The political courage of women from both parties has been front and center," said Joanna Lydgate of the United Democratic Center.

   Of note: Cheney purposefully wore a white jacket, on the final day of the hearings. White jackets were famously worn by suffragette leaders in the early 20th century as they fought for the right for women to vote. 

Early Feminist Leaders Opposed Abortion

   The early leaders of the women's right movement believed abortion was wrong. Alice Paul, author of the original Equal Rights Amendment, said, "abortion is the ultimate exploitation of women." 

   A simplified quote from another early leader of the movement, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, says she said, "If it is degrading to treat a woman as property, it it no better for a woman to treat her own child as property. Stanton's actual words were, " When we consider that women are treated as property, it is degrading to women that we should treat our children as property to be disposed of as we see fit." 

   Susan B. Anthony, one of the founders of the feminist movement, opposed abortion.

   The first female candidate for president, Victoria Woodhull, wrote that, "Every woman knows that if she were free, she would never bear an unwished-for child, nor think of murdering one before its birth." 

  That quote suggests the women were only having abortions because men were forcing them to do so. Sometimes, perhaps it was, the men forced themselves upon the women, and after which wished to erase the evidence of what they did.

Carving up the Mountain was a Desecration of Their Land

   One of the most dishonorable moments in American history came when we carved the likenesses of Washington, Lincoln, Jefferson, and Roosevelt into the Black Hills of South Dakota. Oh, it is not that honoring those four presidents was dishonorable, but how we went about it was.  

   We signed an agreement with the Indians, giving them ownership of the property. But, when gold was discovered in the Black Hills, we went back on our word. We stole the property right back. 

    The Black Hills were sacred to the Indians and they did not want the land disturbed. Carving up the mountain was a desecration of their land. 

Utah Doing Its Share in Electric Vehicle Industry

   Utah has become a notable player in the electric vehicle industry. The Tim Dahle Dealership has more electic cars on its lot than any other dealer in the nation. Vanderhall Motor Works in Provo is close to manufacturing the all-electric Brawley. Companies including Zions Bank and Packsize offer charging stations to their employees. And, despite it being a small state, population wise, there are only 15 states that sell more electric vehicles.

(Index -- Climate change info)

We Should Revisit Ukrainian Corruption Charges

   We've viewed Russia's Vladimir Putin as the bad guy and Urkraine's Volodymr Zelenskyy as the good guy. But now Zelenskky is going from hero to we'd-better-reconsider-that. As he fires a list of top officials, charges of graft and corruption are being leveled against him. 

   Some say Zelenskyy is well within his right to appoint whomever he wants as his senior officials and can whomever he wants -- especially if he sees them as collaborating with Russia. And, perhaps that should be conceded as correct. But, media pundits are not seeing it that way.

   Accusations against Zelenskyy are not new. And those accusations against Zelenkskyy intertwine with accusations against Joe Biden and Donald Trump. Remember the Hunter Biden affair? Remember Trump's vieled bribery of  Zelenskyy?

   Nor is corruption in Ukraine as new as even that. Remember in 2013 how 20,000 marched on the presidential palace of Ukraine President Viktor Yanukovich, mad that he used graft and corruption to get elected? No, that you don't remember that one. 

   So, as tired as all this becomes, and as much as we just want to move on, we should go back and revisit it all. 

Every Modern Country has Air Conditioning, Right?

     I almost laughed when someone suggested the reason people are dying from a heat wave in Britain and Europe is that they don't have air conditioning. Right, I thought. This is the 21st Century and every modern country has air conditioning. This is not a part of the world where people are living in grass huts. 

   Turns out, they were right. most Brits and Europeans don't have air conditioning. Why would you go to the expense of putting in a heater if it never gets hot?

   Then, along came climate change. The world got hotter and will get yet hotter. If the Brits and Europeans don't want to die, they will go out and buy air conditioners. 

(Index -- Climate change info)

The Pledge of Allegiance as It is Practiced

  I pledge allegiance to the flag of the Divided States of America, and to the parties, for which it stands, two nations under God (Republican and Democrat), very divisible, with liberty and justice not really being relevant.

Cities Buried Beneath the Earth

   It won't come to this, but, then again, who would have guessed there'd come a day we all were wearing masks. 

   What if war and the bombings became so crazy we couldn't live above ground. What if whole towns were beneath the surface of the earth, you not needing to come up for anything.

   I wouldn't be surprised if there's a novel out there somewhere where this happens. If not, there ought to be. 

The Cost of Speeding into the 21st Century

    I would love it if we could take our Transportation secretary up on his desire to make the U.S. "the world leader" in high-speed rail. High-speed rail is faster than most Amtrak trains. You don't have to wait in ticket lines (but maybe if it got popular, you would) like you do with planes. It can offer better accomodations, even private bedrooms.

   Bottom line, you want to provide the most-advanced and luxurious service you can to your citizens. This is the 21st Century, and you want to grab at every technology it offers. Hey, if we could go even further and speed into to the age of the Jetsons, we would.
   President Lyndon Baines Johnson started us on the quest for high-speed rail, and we continue to pursue it. It was part of his "Great Society" vision.
   Alas, alas. All this might be too expensive. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg’s proposal would add more than $4 trillion to the federal debt. All this while carrying less than 2 percent of the nation’s passenger travel.

 Three Thoughts on Rebuilding the Jazz

1. Victor Wembanyama, a 7-3 wonder from France, is said to be a once-in-a-generation prospect. He will be the first pick of the 2023 draft. Given that he will likely dominate the NBA and whatever team he ends up on will win a number of championships, we should be stockpiling lottery picks for next year. Picks late in the first round won't do. Wembanyama will be long gone by then. Trade off Conley, Bogdonovich, and Mitchell to the worst teams in the league for unprotected first-round picks. Without them, we hopefully will have the worst record in the league and have the best shot for the first draft choice. We will not only the pick for being the worst team in the league, but three other lottery picks. That's four lottery picks. Five if Minnesota falls into the lottery, as the the pick we received from them for would then be a lottery pick. Six if New York diesb't make the playoffs as we received a first-round pick from them for Royce O'Neale. All this would give us an awesome chance at Wembanyama.
2. Sign Isaiah Miller. If you don't, someone else will get away with him. He's been killing it in the Summer League. He takes explosiveness to a whole new level. He had four steals and made key baskets last night as the Jazz came back from what I believe was a 20-point deficit to almost come away with a victory.

3. Walker Kessler, he has the potential to be as good as Rudy Gobert. Don't bury him on the bench. He does most of the things Rudy does -- including blocking shots. At Auburn last season, he made 60.8 percent of his shots. He averaged 8.1 rebounds a game. And, he blocked a crazy 4.6 rebounds a game.

What if Missiles Were More Powerful and Accurate?

   What if missiles were accurate and powerful enough that a nation could precisely hit it's targets everytime, never failing to have a direct hit? What if they could be launched from Russia with precise accuracy to hit their targets in the Ukraine.

   War would be different. 

   Soldiers wouldn't play as much of a role as they do now. Why attack with soldiers if bombs can take out any given target or troop movement? If your enemy were marching troops toward you, you would simply target them and knock them out with a single missile. Each country would no longer dare to use troops to attack, knowing that would be foolhardy as they would just be wiped out. That would be good, as as many soldiers would not die

   If missles were so accurate and powerful, entire could be wipe out without fail. That would be bad, obviously, as millions of people would die.    

 

What if the Russians Could Clone Their Soldiers?

    Among the frightning thoughts of cloning is what if warring countries cloned their soldiers? Say a country like Russia was getting a lot of its troops knocked off, and they said, No problem, we'll just make some more. 

   We are fortunate human cloning probably isn't possible. 

"Gloria" Helped the St. Louis Blues Win the 2019 Stanley Cup

   Ahh, the heart-warming (and perhaps incredible) story of how the St. Louis Blues were inspired by a tune as they turned their season around at midseason.

   Laura Branigan's "Gloria" rode Billboard's Hot 100 charts for 36 weeks. It peaked at No. 2, held out of the top spot only by two other smash hits, Lionel Richie's "Truly" and Mickey Basil's "Mickey."

   But "Gloria" was a big hit in the 1970s. It had been around for decades when the Blues resurrected it to make it their anthem as they surged to win the Stanley Cup in 2019. The Blues were mired in a losing season. They had the worst record in the league. Then, in the middle of the season, "Gloria" helped turn things around. 

   The Blues had fired head coach Mike Yeo, and brought in rookie goaltender Jordon Binnington to replace the failing Jake Allen. The Blues had gotten together to watch an NFL game, and the bartender played "Gloria." The fans enjoyed the song so much that they yelled for it to be played again, and the bartender obliged, playing it on every commercial break. "Everyone would get up and start dancing," said Blues defenseman Joel Edmondson. "We just sat back and watched it happen. Right there, we decided we should play the song after our wins. We won the next game -- we got a shutout -- so we just kept on playing it."

   After the Blues defeated the Dallas Stars 2-1 in double overtime in the seventh game of the Stanley Cup, a local radio station played the song for 24 hours straight.

Bring the World Fair to Bloomington

   The World Fairs, You remember them, perhaps? You know, the expositions that brought the Space Needle to Seattle and the Eiffel Tower to France (bet you didn't know that. It was constructed to attract tourists to World Fairs in 1889 and 1900.)

   Well, it appears they are back. Bloomington, Minnesota is hoping to host one either in 2023 or 2027. 

   Actually, World Fairs have never gone away. Kazakhstan hosted one in 2017 and Danubi, United Arab Emirates, held one in 2020. One has not been held in the U.S. since New Orleans in 1984.

   Here's hoping Minnesota wins in its effort to bring World Fairs back to America. Bloomington is competing against Serbia, Thailand, Argentina, and Spain to host the 2027 Fair. There was to be a Fair in Buenos Aires, Argentina, is 2023, but that country backed out and Bloomington entered the race to be the replacement city. I would guess it is now too late to have a World Fair in 2023. There is just no way all the construction could be accomplished that fast.    

How About Calling the Old Aunt Jemima Brand after Nancy Green?

   A year ago, Quaker Oats announced it was discontinuing the Aunt Jemima syrup brand, replacing it with the brand name Pearl Milling Company.

   I appreciate efforts not to demean or stereotype. But I wonder if the company could have honored Nancy Green. Aunt Jemima was a fictitious person. Nor was the syrup's recipe from Nancy Green, but Nancy Green was the first person who played the role of Aunt Jemima. Instead of changing the brand name to Pearl Milling Company, change it to Nancy Green's Superior Syrup.

   "Aunt Jemima" became the world's first living trademark.. She died 100 years ago. Since she is not alive, we can't be certain what she would make of the controversy today. However, it seems she would most-likely appreciate the brand being named after her.. She would just have to understand why it can no longer be called "Aunt Jemima, but would probably also appreciate the brand using her real name. Do any pictures of what she looked like and how she dressed when she was not playing Aunt Jemima? Use one of those on the bottle. If not, have her dressed in the dress of the time.

  Sales of the syrup fell dramatically when the name was changed to Pearl Milling Company. Whereas the Aunt Jemima brand was common in stores, I do not believe I have ever seen Pearl Milling Company syrup on store shelves. This would generate publicity that could turn sales back upwards. 

   

How About Pork-Flavored Soda Pop?

   I just wonder why we can't have more flavors of soda pop. How about Choco Pop, Pork-O-Pop, Potato Pop, or Pepper Pop? If you can flavor them with lemon, lime, or raspberry, why not with onions? How about Cinnamon Soda? That has a nice ring to it.

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Shoot up the Skies with Lasers on the Fourth

   Salt Lake City opted for a laser show instead of a fire works display this Fourth. No word on whether the outdoor lasers were dazzling, but perhaps they weren't. There were no reports of viewers being thrilled by the fireworks. 

  We worry each year about fires being sparked by fireworks. Laser shows are an alternative.

(Save)

 All You Can Do

Sometimes the best you can do, my friend

Is all that you need to do.

Sometimes all you can do is more than enough

Or enough to see you through

Sometimes effort is all that it takes

All you need to reach your goal

So just set out and try, and don't say die

And you'll end up on top of the knoll

(Poem)

Two Measures, Alone, Might Bring an End to All the Mass Murders

   1.) Don't let anyone have automatic guns, nor assault rifles. No  AR-15s. The Constitution might grant that you can own and carry a gun, but that privilege is not taken away. You can still own a gun, it just can't be an assault weapon.

   2.) Require everyone to have a psych evaluation before they can own a gun. Everyone. Those who don't pass the evaulation can appeal to the courts.  

    One has to wonder if these two measures, alone, would virtually bring an end to all the mass shootings. Automatic weapons are used almost exclusively in mass murders. On the other point, a high-percentage of the mass shootings are committed by those who are mentally challenged. 

Utahns Make Their Drought Even More Harmful

 They are not just saying this is a drought, they are calling it a megadrought. Figures released Monday show the Great Salt Lake at an all-time low. It is the second time in less than a year's span the lake reached a new low. 

   The drought itself is harmful. What makes it worse is that Utahns gobble up what little water they do have. While Utah is one of the driest state in the Union, it doesn't exactly help that it uses more water per capita than any other state in the nation.

Russia no Longer has More Top Chess Grandmasters than the U.S.

    Russia's war effort to take over Ukraine has resulted in the country no longer having as many top chess grandmasters as the United States. Out of the 100 highest-ranked chess players, just a dozen are from Russia, while the United States has nudged ahead with 13. Some of Russia's best players have declined to compete under the Russian flag since Ukraine was invaded. 

   We do not know if chess is as important to Russia's leaders as it once was, but it remains a favorite pastime in that counry. It would follow that the leaders still want to do well in international chess.

   The amount of chess playing in Russia is reflected by the fact Russia remains ahead of the U.S. in the total number of grandmasters. Russia has 246 grandmasters, compared to only 101 in the United States. Forty-three percent of all Russians play chess.

Even Though Kaep's Workout Might not have Went the Best . . .

   It has now been longer than a month since Colin Kaepernick had his tryout with the Las Vegas Raiders. If the Raiders (or any other team) were going to sign him, they would have. We can only assume that Warren Sapp must be right. He didn't do well in the workout. 

   Kaepernick is a running quarterback. He kills you with his feet. Has age taken that away from him? The tryout would not have revealed that. Kaep could still have great value to a team even if his passing accuracy isn't sharp.

   Plus, just how bad did he do? Were his skills run-of-the-mill enough that he would do as a second- or third-stringer? And, add to that the fact that while he was keeping himself much in shape, he probably was not practicing daily. His skill level would only improve if you bring him to your practices and let him hone his skills on a daily basis. 

   It would be wonderful if a team were to bring him in and give him a full opportunity. If he doesn't work out in the training camp, cut him. Isn't that the way it is done with everyone else?

Deja Vu for BYU . . . Except the Cougs are on the Flip Side

   With college football in such a state of upheaval, I regret that BYU is not playing the same roll it did in 1984. Then, if you were not in a power conference, you had almost no chance of winning the national championship. BYU did win it, though. The Cougars were ranked No. 1 in the land going into the Holiday Bowl and defeated Michigan to become the first team ever to win the national title in a bowl game not played on New Year's Day. Their 13-0 record was best in the land.

  BYU's fans had felt the system was unfair. Regardless how good your team and how many games you won, you simply were not considered good enough to be the national champions. They disproved themselves, fortunately.

    Now, BYU is preparing to enter a power conference, the Big 12. Another conference, the Big 10, is expanding by raiding USC and UCLA from the Pac-12, creating quite a super conference. If you are not a member of a power conference -- regardless how good you are and how many games you win -- you will not have a chance to 

win the national championship. 

   It's enough to make you wish the Cougars would decline joining the Big 10 and, instead, endeavor to win the national title in the same fashion they did in 1984.

Same-Sex Derek Kitchen in Tight Race for Re-Election

   Derek Kitchen, a pioneer of same-sex marriage rights in Utah, finds himself in a tight, back-and-forth battle to be re-elected as a Utah State senator. As of today, his opponent in the Democratic primary, Jen Plumb, is clinging to a 51-vote advantage.

   Derek successfully sued Utah for the right to be married, and he and his partner are among the first gays to be married in the state. Kitchen vs. Herbert remains a landmark decision in Utah. The case even drew the attention of the hightest court in the land, the U.S. Supreme Court granting a stay on a lower court ruling.

   Those of us who hold to the belief marriage should be between a man and a woman, are sorry the decision gave gays the right to marry. While we believe same-sex couples can be wonderful people, and should be given equal rights in housing and employment, we continue to believe their marriages are wrong.