THE UNITED States’ Environmental Protection Agency is going to eradicate its own scientific research arm, with over 1,000 scientists going from working on protecting us and our environment to standing in an unemployment queue.
Removing scientists that are working on climate change won’t change the facts nor will it remove it from the news.
As a science teacher I always promoted the value of science and research even if it wasn’t immediately obvious. Science should be held high but now the voices of “fake” sciences are louder and worryingly they are being listened to.
The appointment of R.F. Kennedy Jr. to the management of the country’s health system does not improve the situation either.
It looks like a cloudy future, obscuring the truth and letting the darkness destroy our futures.
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Modern technology vs ancient silliness
US President Donald Trump has declared, without a legal basis most suggest, that the presidential pardons issued by retired President Joe Biden were invalid as they were signed by a robotic pen. These pens have previously been used by numerous Presidents without challenge.
A Google search tells me that under “The Electronic Transactions Act 1999” (ETA) electronic signatures are valid in the US and I am sure that most countries permit them as I know Australia does.
I have signed legal documents with ink pens in the past but now many documents are signed electronically or with a scanned copy of my signature and they have never been challenged. I have even tried using the big black marker pen that President Trump uses but it’s very hard to clean off my computer screen later.
It’s either a feeble attempt to ensure the opportunity of attacking numerous people who spoke against him, or it’s just another distraction from the presidential circus and its ringmaster’s actions.
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No influence on me
Like many sane, and a bit older people, I have wondered about the nature and purpose of “influencers”. This concern has been highlighted by the stupidity of an influencer, Sam Jones, who stole a baby wombat from her mother. Yes, as an Australian, I appreciate the irony of that given how many aboriginal mums had their babies stolen from them.
There are legal consequences of harming native animals, but rather than face that possibility, she took the coward’s approach and fled the country immediately. How could she think stealing a baby animal would improve her image?
The purpose, and appreciation, of influencers escapes me as I tend to make up my own mind on what I want to pay for, or accept my partner’s wisdom. There have always been ads based on the popularity of a sports person even though they were usually more comedy than influence.
It seems that we should seek guidance from wiser people, ignore social media and live our own life without the influence of mostly pretty airheads.
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Into the bunker
A golf course and clubhouse, “Turnberry Golf Resort” in Scotland belonging to Donald Trump has been targeted by vandals, not really the best way to publicize your political issues.
The problem is that the more time he spends on golf courses cheating on his scores, the less time he will spend in the Oval Office signing Executive Orders that probably won’t benefit the average citizen.
Let him play in his own little world of golf courses rather than playing with dangerous ideas in the real world.
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Princess to the rescue
After watching two minutes of the Meghan Markle cooking show, just before switching to something more meaningful like the shopping channel, I learnt a number of things.
The first being that I have dud friends as they haven’t prepared individualized bath salts for me when I visit.
Bees are safe if you wear an astronaut suit and have a worker to collect the honey.
Watching water being poured into a coffee plunger for too long is soul destroying.
I must, however, give her some credit as she was able to prepare pasta without splashing any on her white top, a skill that I am still developing. The background music was also nice.
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Musk’s starship explodes, yet another one, just like his DOGE?
Elon Musk’s SpaceX Starship space craft has exploded shortly after takeoff. This is not the first such explosion as the company spokesperson said. “Unfortunately, thus happened last time, so we’ve got some practice now.”
Fortunately it was un-crewed and this might be the future given their track record.
Is this symbolic of his new role in running DOGE, not officially, but apparently?
The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has had a flashy launch, but also a few false starts, with the weekly five achievements email request that now seems to be ignored. If Musk wants to cut back on wasteful spending, maybe he could set an example by stopping his explosive space program./PN
