Power Rankings 1
While all the naughty clowns take a brief recess from their name-calling kindergarten spat, the news cycle spins away from subpoenas and impeachments and counter-investigations and the constitutional crisis to look toward the future and the far-off elections. Sort of like a tornado, looking for another trailer park to trash. After all, it’s only a year and half until the big fashion showdown of 2020. We better get the preliminary competitions going right away.
So, from the Side, he-e-ere’s Blue Clown Fashion-Show Power Rankings Number One.
Conventional wisdom always prevails among the conventional pundits. As predictable as a ringmaster’s patter, the mainstream spews out a whole lot of words that pass by a little too quickly to be heard over the din of the circus despite their many exclamation points!!! (You would almost think they were paid by the word.) The crowd at the Two-Party Circus mostly ignores what they say, however loud the ringmasters shout. But somehow we all still end up looking where the ringmasters are pointing. That’s how it works, sucker.
Here, Niall Stanage makes a pretty conventional list of leading Democratic candidates, without any insightful analysis to go along with it. And not a hint of self-awareness or even a little sarcasm to keep us awake. The tone is reminiscent of an ESPN Power Rankings column so early in the pre-season no one really cares yet. Like the ESPN commentators, Stanage describes no system or basis for the rankings except, you know, like, I’m Niall Stanage, after all. Love the writing, too. “Broken out of the pack”; “Reboot his campaign.” Wow, original and incisive. Gotta give it up for “Buttegieg Boomlet”, though, which I’ve never once heard before. Is that a thing now? Did I miss it? And alliteration, I mean, catchy, baby. Real catchy. Even if it sounds ridiculous.
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/445504-the-top-10-democrats-in-the-2020-race
So, conventional wisdom combined with conventional language leads to conventional thinking which leaves out the only Democrat, so far, that independent Climate Voters like myself could vote for. Jay Inslee. Inslee has gathered enough donations to be part of the debates, and will, I’m sure, join this fool’s top ten list then because, well, even Stanage is going to find himself on board the electric-powered Jay Inslee train eventually.
His article makes not one mention of environmental or climate issues, which are the most important issues of all to many, many voters. To all voters, actually, whether they realize it yet or not. The Hill could look a little closer at their power rankers. This one’s sorta rank. But most likely they just needed a column to fill the quiet time during the Clowns’ recess. Pretty quiet read, all right. My Power Ranking on this article… way down the fookin’ list! I’m only linking it for example purposes, not recommendation. And I swear it’s not slowed down or doctored in any way. The point is, this is how we get steered, like steers, without even noticing, if we don’t pay attention.
From the side, I can do Power Rankings, too.
Inslee, Warren, Sanders, Harris, … Forget about the rest of those bozos.
You want reasoning, evidence? Hey, my guess is as good as Stanage’s. And just about as biased. Maybe not quite as conventional. But then again, I’m not getting paid by anybody.
But enough of the clowns for now. The fookin’ tent is burning down! I’ve made a pretty big deal in this blog about the IPCC report on the climate crisis. IPBES is a similar international body which looks over a broad array of ecological concerns. Sort of a Bio-Diversity version of IPCC.
The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) is the intergovernmental body which assesses the state of biodiversity and of the ecosystem services it provides to society, in response to requests from decision makers.
Their coming “global assessment” looks pretty grim. You can click around their site and read a lot of the individual reports. Worth a look.
But I don’t like the term “ecosystem services.” The environment isn’t there to serve us, even though we need it. We won’t solve these crises until environmentalists stop thinking like that.
Let’s end for today with the View from the Side Storm Report:
The tornadoes have moved north and east, hitting Ohio and Indiana.
https://www.whio.com/news/local/storms-create-path-destruction-across-midwest/rV0cHpp0x2JlpS1tWi341M/
While the “worst floods in history” follow along behind them.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/05/27/oklahoma-arkansas-brace-for-record-floods/1249936001/
https://www.newsweek.com/oklahoma-arkansas-nebraska-flooding-update-map-1436835
I know, I know… it’s springtime. It’s storm season in the Midwest. Tornadoes and thunderstorms are pretty common this time of year, even in Ohio. I once saw a tornado there in July, and lightning split a tree in half right across the street just as the tornado passed. It was pretty cool!
But people being killed and houses destroyed is not cool at all. And it’s happened a few times this past week.
I know that no one can attribute any particular storm, or set of storms, to the climate crisis. It’s like trying to say what caused a particular cancer, right? It might not be the smoking, after all. There’s no way to know for sure. Right?
Just keep saying that.
You know Exxon will, when they are finally hauled into court for intentional ecocide.
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