Open Thread May 20, 2023

Yesterday, I got an alert from Axios that Senator Tim Scott (R-SC) has filed to run for the Presidency. I don’t know whether that’s incredibly gutsy – or incedibly delusional – or maybe a little of both. He is black, and Trump** isnot going to like this, and since Trump** cannot keep his mouth shut, he’s going to say so in no uncertain terms. I expect Scott to receive a plethora of death threats, and actual violence is not impossible either. It’s always possible, of course, that I am the one being paranoid here, but if I were Scott, I’d rather play it safe and wait

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

Letters from an American – May 17, 2023
Quote – Republican congressmen wrote that section [of the Fourteenth Amendment] to prevent Democratic opponents, who hated the newly powerful government that had won the Civil War, from changing the terms of repayment of the debt. Democrats called for turning gold interest payments into payments in paper money. That change would have significantly degraded the value of the debt. It would also have destroyed confidence in the government, a result those who had just lost the Civil War quite liked.
Click through for the history – which we should all know but I’m confident were never taught in school. We do know that – though the names of the parties have changed – seditionists thrive on chaos.

Colorado Public Radio – Colorado is poised to set the nation’s first standards for green hydrogen. Will the federal government follow suit?
Quote – “The unique thing about hydrogen is it’s a molecule,” said Keith Wipke, who leads the laboratory’s fuel cell and hydrogen technology program. “You can move it around physically. You can store it. It just stays there.”… Due to [the concerns voiced by environmental groups], Colorado lawmakers recently amended a bill to include the nation’s first-ever clean hydrogen standards. Gov. Jared Polis is expected to sign the legislation, offering a potential preview of similar restrictions under consideration at the national level.
Click through for some details – I deliberately chose to quote a sentence that I didn’t find very illuminating, but it isn’t all like that.

Food For Thought