1glenn comments

While most of the world suffers from the Summer from Hell, one of the major political parties in the US is talking about undoing everything President Biden has done to try to stop global warming, if they should gain control of the White House next cycle.

Saw on the news pictures of the famous banyan tree in Lahaina. What a shame. Is there any chance that it is not dead?

It is truly shocking how quickly the fire spread through town. A fire without high winds is one thing, but when the fire becomes a firestorm, get out when you can, while the fire is still far away. Easy to say, not so easy to do.

As for what comes next, one can only hope that the locals are able to afford to continue living on the island. What would Hawaii be without the Hawaiians?

We had a Mazda Protege, and loved it. Had a Focus as well, but it was not built to the same standards as the Protege.

It is a shame that so much of our resources have to be spent on the military, but if we don't, then even a third rate country like Russia is a threat.

If the ultimate goal is acceleration, then the electric cars beat the muscle cars, easily. Of course, the EVs are much quieter, and being noisy is the point of owning a muscle car.

I remember as a kid a fire that started far away, but driven by the winds, it crested the mountain back of our neighborhood, and then came all the way down the mountain to the houses in the valley. Some of the houses burned, but for some reason the winds died down, and coupled with the valiant efforts of the fire fighters, most of the homes were saved. It is something that one does not forget. The father of one school chum refused to evacuate, and was able to put out the flames that started on his house with the garden hose. However, if the winds had kicked up, he might have been unable to evacuate.

In one recent bad firestorm, my brother's house survived, but the houses on either side of his, and across the street, burned down. These stories from California.

One change that I would like to see happen asap is direct voting in national elections here in the USA. The idea that anyone could be selected to serve as President who gets three million fewer votes than the other candidate seems absurd.

Direct voting could also allow the people of Washington DC, who currently are disenfranchised, to participate in the election for President.

I agree with those posting that the 1% figure seems too low. Perhaps that figure refers to those who are so ill that they have to be institutionalized, as opposed to those who are roaming the streets?

We saw a lot of graffiti on old walls and monuments in Rome. Very disappointing.

Over here I have read a number of stories of people being shot and killed while trying to stop people spraying graffiti.

I think young people are prone to their own sort of mental illness of entitlement. I remember some of the awful things I did as a youngster.......yuck.

Growing up I remember some friends' mothers coming down with schizophrenia, which is consistent with the observation that among women it usually shows up in the late 20s or early 30s. In every case the women were institutionalized. Perhaps today there is better treatment.

It is hard to watch a person transition from being a "normal" human being, to being someone who cannot function in daily life. "There but for the grace of God go I."

It is all about short term profits. A shame, really.

Trials are not normally televised, although I would love to watch it. At some point the Trump scam has to stop.

Friends of ours went to China shortly after the country opened up to tourism. They thoroughly enjoyed their trip. I have never been, but would love to visit the country, along with Japan and South Korea. Have never been to that part of Asia.

On the subject of China/U.S. relations, the whole world hopes that Xi does not start a war to conquer Taiwan. Such a war would be disastrous for all concerned.

Like everyone else in the world, Japanese are tired of staying at home.

My Uncle in Scandinavia has told me how they have gone from barely knowing what A/C is, to embracing it. They don't use it as much as we do, but they do use it.

Sometimes luck just isn't on your side. The game could have easily been 4-2 in Japan's favor. Great game to watch, and Sweden dominated in the first half.

If the melting Greenland ice cap shuts down or slows down the Gulf Stream current system, that, too, will have an impact on European weather. They may have alternating droughts and floods, snow storms and heat waves. Good luck to us all.

Good luck, Japan!

Some of the barely literate "Christians" in this area have been scammed by marrying prison inmates they met through Christian outreach programs. The former inmates marry a woman who has property and assets, get credit cards through her credit, and loans based on her property. Before long, the woman is single again, and destitute. It is sad, and seems to be targeted directly upon ignorant "Christians."

I find it interesting that some of the people most antagonistic toward Islamic extremism are those who have fled countries subject to Islamic extremism.

I have met many people here in South Cali who fled countries ravaged by Islamic extremism. None of them, so far as I know, are interested in making a public display of burning the "Holy Koran," but neither are they particularly concerned about the phenomenon. There are over a million refugees from Islamic controlled countries living here in the Southland. I am not aware of any problem with integration into the larger society. They tend to be hard working citizens.

There is a Mexican restaurant near us that has crickets on the menu. Haven't tried them yet.

As many as 6 million Chinese were killed in World War II. About 2 million Japanese died in that war. Who is responsible for those deaths?

On the subject of Bush 2, I find him very interesting. I think I would enjoy having a conversation with him, and I would probably like him as a man. But, I think he was a less than stellar president. Trump, on the other hand, is such a terrible human being that just having him in the neighborhood would ruin property values. By rights, he should have to register as a sex offender, and those may be the least of his offenses.

The most likely Republican contender is only three years younger than Biden, and if he were to be sworn in again, he would be older at the inauguration than Biden was at his inauguration.

As a youth, I was more likely to vote for the most perfect candidate, which sometimes meant a third party candidate. Now, I don't mind voting for the lesser of two evils, especially when one candidate is opposed to the very concept of democracy, and truth, and facts, and morality,..........

Here in the States, and worldwide, heat kills more people than every other natural disaster, combined.

Some cities have almost a complete absence of trees in their downtown areas. Having trees would give shade, and reduce ground level temperatures.

In Los Angeles they have experimented with painting some blacktop white. Anecdotally, people living there have reported a huge drop in temps near those streets. Where one half of the street is left black, and one half painted white, people have said there is a huge difference in temps.

The last time a hurricane made landfall in California was in the 1850s. I worry that with global warming, and with a possible weakening of the arctic current off our coast, hurricanes making landfall will happen more frequently. I dread the thought of Los Angeles's weather becoming like Miami's.

The worst case scenario, the shutting down of the ocean currents, is given only a small chance of happening this century. Still, it is shocking that we would even contemplate such a doomsday plot.

I'm sure there is a way to do it right, but what are the chances that what is best for the environment will trump short term profits?

I expect Japan to beat Norway, but in this series, nothing is for certain. "It ain't over 'til it's over."

The article says that Euclid will be able to see 2 billion galaxies. Our own galaxy is said to have about 100 billion stars. If each of the 2 billion galaxies has 100 billion stars, that is 2 X 10 to the 18th power of stars. By comparison, the number of insects on Earth is said to be more than 1 X 10 to the 19th power.

Numbers are a funny thing. We can write them down, but that doesn't mean we can visualize them.

So, my question, how is a telescope which observes light in the visual spectrum supposed to see dark matter, which by definition is not visible to us? Is it possible that all of the dark matter theorized to exist is hiding where we can't see anything, inside black holes in space?

Very sorry to hear about this happening.

I have read that more people are dying from the heat than from all other natural disasters, combined. Heat is something to be taken seriously.

We had solar panels installed on the roof a few years back, and our electric bills since then have been very manageable. Some years we even get a refund from the electric utility. For those able to do the same, it is a good deal. For those with a house but unable to afford solar panels, at least one of the companies installing them over here offers a program wherein they pay the cost of the panels and for installation, and the monthly charge is still much less than what it was without the panels. We know some people who went that route. However, the savings are even better if one can afford to purchase the panels outright.

I have also read that those who can afford it are even going the heat pump route, wherein cool air its pumped in during the summer, and warm air is pumped in during the winter, from underground. Haven't looked into it, but I imagine it is more expensive than solar panels.