Recent content by RogerCooper

Isn't the problem with solar power in Britain the distinct lack of sunlight? You highlighted the problem with dealing with Global Warming through conservation, is that the incentives to cheat are strong. In the end, we will need to do geoengineering to deal with Global Warming.

Solar panels are easy to replace if damaged. Wind turbines are expensive to repair and maintain. Fossil fuels have a complex and expensive infrastructure to extract and refine the fuels. Oil refineries have been a major target of both sides in the Russian invasion of the Ukraine.

Wind farms are actually less vulnerable than fossil fuel and nuclear plants as you need to knock out each turbine. Solar farms are even less vulnerable as each pane would need to be taken out. Many wind turbines in the United States are on actual working farms.

Technically it was an Alford plea.

He paid fines in a criminal case. Paxton likes to pretend that is a not a conviction but it is.

Securities fraud. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Paxton#Legal_issues. Got a very generous deal and avoided jail time.

In Texas, they believe the choice should be made the Attorney General, who is a convicted criminal.

The relaxation of the immigration laws during the Reagan administration greatly improved the quality of life in New York City, as fresh waves of immigrants revived deteriorated neighborhoods. I remember the boarded-up buildings where now there is life and commerce.

Don't forget about medically necessary abortions, which includes most late term abortions. As the father of a daughter of child-bearing age, this is a major concern.

Almost every time the voters have had a say, they have called for legal abortion. For example, in Florida, an initiative for legal abortion had 58% support. Passing the law required a supermajority of 50% but why does the Florida state legislature ignore the clear majority view of the public?

Abortion being "killing babies" is a doctrine of certain religious groups in the US. Their desire to impose that doctrine on all has a distinct similarity to "Sharia Law".

Another example is all the states where stage legislatures (controlled by the "Sharia Law" wing of the Republican Party) banned abortion but the voters then legalized it. This also shows the value of anti-Gerrymandering laws, which make it difficult for legislators to ignore the voters.

Elected officials tend to do their useful stuff early in their career. Don't take the nihilistic view that they are equally bad, policy does matter. I have met elected officials and bureaucrats and most are well-intended, even the ones who eventually end up in jail. Non-elected government...

The key is reducing the discretionary authority of the government. A vague law prohibiting monopolies has been used to extort from corporations under Trump, while under Biden it was used to try to punish corporations for being big. In addition, such reforms as terms limits and initiatives...

I am going to suggest that it does not make much difference. In the United Kingdom and Australia, there are strict limits on fund-raising (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_funding_in_the_United_Kingdom https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_funding_in_Australia). Even so, the limits are...