Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicles Versus Electric Vehicles

by | Jun 26, 2021 | Science

Everyone who cares about the future of our planet probably accepts the fact that we must transition away from gasoline powered vehicles. Because of TESLA and the focus of mass media, you’re probably assuming the future will be electric vehicles. Don’t be so sure, because many people believe Hydrogen Fuel Cell vehicles are a much better option, for both the environment and the consumer. A significant number of car companies are working on HFC vehicles. I could print the list, but I’m not doing such. Please take my word for it, the list is quite long.

I’m going to talk about this choice, and why I hope it will be the Hydrogen Fuel Cell which dominates the future of America, but I must begin with two caveats.

  1. Technology changes rapidly, so if something totally unexpected happens in the next few years, that could change the equation big time.
  2. I am not an engineer, so don’t rely upon my technical analysis.

Before we start the comparison, we need to explain how a Hydrogen Fuel Cell vehicle works and why it’s an ecofriendly option. A Hydrogen Fuel Cell vehicle combines hydrogen with oxygen to produce electricity, which powers the electric motor. Here’s the good news. The only byproduct of this process is H2O (water). Both Hydrogen Fuel Cell and Electric Vehicles have comparable or better performance than a gasoline powered car.

Negative Aspects of owning an electric vehicle

  • The cost is obviously very high.
  • Range is limited to around 250 miles.
  • I’m sure this will change over the next several years, but when you must find an electric charging station, that’s a challenge. Imagine being on a long trip and you get stuck in an unexpected traffic backup on the Interstate, while your battery charge is dissipating. That isn’t a very comforting thought, is it?
  • Before we get to the big downside to electric vehicles, it’s important that you understand the following. Just like your phone, you can charge the battery rapidly or you can do a slow charge.
  • Why would you choose the slow charge over a rapid one?
  • Because repeated rapid charging of the battery will make it wear out prematurely. If you always opt for the slow charge, the battery will have a much longer life.
  • If you’re on a trip and opt for the rapid charge, it will take around an hour to charge your vehicle. Are you comfortable with that? I didn’t think so.
  • If you’re home and doing a slow charge, that could take between 8-12 hours. I don’t know about you, but that’s not an appealing option for me.

Why Choose a Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicle Over an Electric One

  • Let’s acknowledge that the cost is much higher than a gasoline powered engine. Of course that could change if and when these vehicles are mass produced at a significant level.
  • One reason to choose this option over an electric vehicle is range. A HFC vehicle has a range of approximately 350 miles, which is about a hundred miles more than an electric vehicle. Please understand, this could change as technology advances in the design of electric batteries.
  • But here’s the big one. You can fill up a HFC Vehicle with Hydrogen, just as you do with gasoline. In other words, you can fill the tank in less then 4-5 minutes.
  • Of course, you’re probably asking, fill up where? Obviously, America would have to make a concerted effort to build hydrogen fuel stations everywhere, just like gasoline stations.
  • Hydrogen is probably the most abundant element on the planet.
  • If enough people understand the advantages of Hydrogen, I think this is a very realistic possibility, but there’s a big problem.
  • That problem is a chicken and egg issue. No car manufacturer is going to commit to building HFC vehicles in America, until there’s an infrastructure of hydrogen stations. Of course, nobody’s going to build that infrastructure until car manufacturers start building HFC vehicles.

Hypocrisy in Fox/Trump World

by | Jun 24, 2021 | Politics

The Fox Propaganda Network and Trump are constantly trying to blame incompetent Democrats for the problems Blue States have. However, they only focus on part of the picture and always leave out key information in their analysis. They also ignore statistical data reference Red States, who voted overwhelmingly in favor of Trump. That level of hypocrisy illustrates how propaganda effectively influences people. The technique is clever, this is how it works. They find something which is true, and focus solely on that, endlessly repeating that to their viewers. Meanwhile, they completely ignore other relevant data. Remember how this technique works as you read the article.

Before we get to the data/facts, let’s talk about some of the allegations coming from Fox/Trump World. They always say blue states pay the highest taxes and have the highest crime rates, implying leadership in those states are not serving their residents. The first statement is true, while the second one is true only if you look at the total number of crimes. The FBI uses a per capita analysis to compile their crime stats and their statistics reveal red states are extremely violent and dangerous. We’ll get back to the level of crime later, but let’s begin our examination of the facts/data with the following, which I believe illustrates the hypocrisy in Trump World. If one listens to Fox, they never stop berating people on welfare and you know who they mean. But let’s check the real data to see what we learn.

The top 5 states receiving federal welfare benefits are all Trump states.

  • West Virginia
  • Mississippi
  • Arkansas
  • Kentucky 
  • Alabama

West Virginia, where Trump had his 2nd largest voting victory, gets more money per person from federal government programs than any other state in the country, with more than a quarter of their income in the coming from federal benefits. After West Virginia, the rest of the top five recipients of federal benefits are: Mississippi, 24.0 percent; Arkansas, 22.8 percent; Kentucky, 22.4 percent; and Alabama, 21.8 percent. 

Residents of Washington, D.C., received the lowest percentage of government benefits, with only 11.7 percent of their total income coming from government programs. Do you think FOX will ever mention any of the above? I’m LOL. Of course not! They focus solely on the negatives in blue states, while totally ignoring the dysfunction occurring in the red states. That’s how propagandists operate.

The lists below show the top ten states with the lowest and highest levels of education. Let’s start with the 10 states which have the lowest levels of education. As we already know, a low level of education, translated into a higher margin of victory for Trump in 2016. In English, that means people who are not educated, voted for Trump at a significantly higher rate than educated people.
The 10 States with the Lowest Levels of Education

41 New Mexico
42 Oklahoma
43 Tennessee
44 Nevada
45 Kentucky
46 Alabama
47 Arkansas
48 Louisiana
49 West Virginia
50 Mississippi

The 10  States with the highest levels of education.

1 Massachusetts
2 Maryland
3 Connecticut
4 Vermont
5 Colorado
6 Virginia
7 New Hampshire
8 Minnesota
9 Washington
10 New Jersey

How many times have you heard someone say you get what you pay for? Blue states have the best schools, the highest levels of education, the best jobs, and the best cultural forums (art, theater, museums, etc.) Blue states have higher taxes because they invest heavily in their communities and we can see the results of those investments. They aren’t dependent on the federal government, and as many people pointed out, they actually help support many of the poorer red states.

As for crime, the blue states definitely have more homicides and other violent crimes than the red states. Here’s a relevant question for you, which Fox viewers seemingly cannot answer correctly. Where would you expect to find a greater volume of violent crimes and homicides? Would it be in the sparsely populated red states like Montana and Wyoming, where the nearest neighbor may be a mile from your home? Or, would you expect to find more total violent crimes in the big cities, where millions of people live on top of each other?

If you have any level of intelligence, the answer is obvious. But in Trump/Fox World, they try to push the story that crime rates are higher in the big cities because Democrats are in power. No, it has nothing to do with politics and everything to do with numbers and human behavior when living in a very crowded environment.

Let’s examine some other trivial forms of hypocrisy. When Obama was President, a supply crisis resulted in high prices of gasoline. In many states, the price was over $5 a gallon. I’m sure you won’t be surprised to learn that Fox and their viewers blamed Obama for the rise in prices. But a few months later, when the supply crisis was resolved, gasoline prices dropped below $3 per gallon. When the same people who blamed Obama for the high price of gas, were asked if he should get credit for the significant drop in prices, do you know what their response was? They said the President has no impact or control over the price of gasoline. Duh… Many who reside in Trump World do not understands logic. If you blamed Obama for soaring gasoline prices, why don’t you give him credit for falling prices? HYPOCRISY!

Let’s examine another trivial issue. When Obama was President, he played golf 4 or 5 times per year. Fox and their viewers constantly criticized him for not staying in the White House and doing his job. People who study presidential behavior, wrote articles stating Trump played golf 22% of the time he was President. That means he spent at least one out of every 5 days playing golf. Guess what? We never heard one word from Fox/Trump World. How do you spell hypocrisy?

Let’s take a quick look at one other area illustrating hypocrisy. Fox and Trump World frequently talked about Obama destroying the economy and stock market. At the same time, they praised Trump for stock market and job growth. Would you be surprised to learn this is more propaganda? Trump did OK with the stock market and job growth before Covid-19 arrived, but not great. Let’s examine how Obama handled the economy in his 8 years in office. As Trump and his supporters claimed, Obama did everything he could to make this country into a third world nation. Really?

The above helps explains why uninformed voters supported a despicable man like Donald Trump. His supporters live in an alternate reality, devoid of facts and the truth. If you want the truth, please read the following economic impact of the Obama Administration.

  • Along with GW Bush, President Obama saved GM and Chrysler.
  • Our nation’s banks, which were in grave danger, were also saved.
  • Multiple records were set for job growth over the course of his administration.
  • The unemployment rate was cut in half.
  • The stock market (the DOW) more than tripled in value during the Obama Administration.

I found the last point fascinating because Fox/Trump World always tried to portray Obama has a Socialist, who is opposed to capitalism and the free market. Yet the DOW tripled in value over the eight years of his administration and job growth set an array of records. Hmmmmmm……. not too shabby for a Socialist.

In conclusion, the level of hypocrisy is incredible in Trump World. When anything good happened, they gave credit to Trump, even when he played no part in the process. When something bad happened, they never held him accountable. One area where they are truly excellent, is coming up with a scapegoat every time something negative occurred.

Republican Cruelty Demonstrated by their opposition to Obamacare

by | Jun 17, 2021 | Health, Politics

When it comes to Obamacare, the Republicans repeatedly demonstrated cruelty towards the American people.  Even though the concept originated with Republican Mitt Romney, they repeatedly tried their best to block it because, in my opinion, they didn’t want President Obama receiving credit for a national health insurance law. They created an array of bogus scare tactics such as “Death Panels’, and it’s a government takeover of healthcare, etc. Nothing could be further from the truth because, per the law, all insurance is provided by PRIVATE companies.

Apparently, Republicans couldn’t care less if millions of Americans are forced to live without health insurance. When Trump was President, and they controlled both houses, they never came up with an alternative to Obamacare. That didn’t stop Trump from repeatedly promising the best health care bill ever will be ready to go in two weeks. In my opinion, that was the biggest broken promise (out of many) from Trump. Of course, his loyal followers will never hold him accountable for that failure.

Republicans recently tried to destroy the Affordable Care Act law forever, with a Texas case, supported by 17 Republican State Attorney Generals, which advanced to the Supreme Court. Thankfully, on June 17, 2021, the Supreme Court announced a 7-2 decision, rejecting the lawsuit, because they didn’t have legal standing. I’m sure the 21 million Americans on Obamacare are breathing a sigh of relief, knowing they can keep their health insurance.

Let’s acknowledge that Obamacare has flaws which need to be fixed, but that’s very doable. The main reason everyone should support the Affordable Care Act is it provides insurance to around 20-21 million people, who prior to this law, often went without health insurance. But the law did a lot more than fill in a desperately needed gap in coverage. Even though most people (around 85%) still obtain health insurance through their employers, the law has a major impact on everyone. Check out the following positive changes which apply to all Americans.

  • You can no longer be denied health insurance because of Pre-Existing Conditions, and it also eliminated the Pre-Condition Penalties. By the way, it’s estimated that over 40% of Americans have pre-existing conditions.
  • The unemployed can buy quality health insurance.
  • Those who are Self-Employed can buy quality health insurance.
  • Those who have jobs where their employer doesn’t provide health coverage can now buy it.
  • Women cannot be charged extra for their premiums, which was typical before Obamacare.
  • The Affordable Care Act prohibits employers from imposing annual or lifetime limits on benefits and caps out-of-pocket spending. If you get a serious illness, such as cancer, this one is huge.
  • Children can stay on the parent’s policies up to the age of 25.
  • Medicaid was expanded.
  • For Medicare recipients, Obamacare closes the so-called Prescription Drug Doughnut Hole.
  • The next one is so important, I’m going to highlight it with a different color. Insurance companies and doctors all agree on the critical importance of preventive care, which often discovers health problems before they become serious, major issues.
  • Thanks to Obamacare, preventive care is free to the patient.

Do not listen to the never ending bogus, phony Republican claims about Obamacare. And don’t believe  what I wrote. I encourage you to do your own research, something which rarely happens in Trump World. I’m confident you’ll learn that even with its flaws, Obamacare is having a major positive impact on America. If the Republicans don’t like the law, why don’t they come up with a better alternative? As mentioned above, they had a golden opportunity to create their own health care law during the first 2 years of the Trump Administration, but they did nothing. I think they just don’t care. They instead concentrate their efforts on taking away health insurance from approximately 21 million Americans. That is cruel and despicable.

NASA Developing A Telescope To Find Asteroids/Comets Headed Towards Earth

by | Jun 15, 2021 | Science

Around 66 million years ago, scientists believe an asteroid, approximately 7-9 miles wide, crashed into earth, just east of Mexico. It was the final blow which made dinosaurs extinct. It just didn’t impact dinosaurs. Most scientists believe around 80% of life on the planet, possibly more, also became extinct, eventually leading to new forms in the evolutionary process. Shhhhhhh, don’t mention the science of evolution to Trump lovers.  That wasn’t the only reason for the dinosaur extinction, but it was the primary one.

Why do we care about the above? Because an asteroid which crashes into the planet earth can do massive damage, possibly even destroying all forms of life.  Scientists estimate an asteroid 55-60 miles wide would destroy every civilization on the planet. Asteroids/Comets are constantly headed in our direction. The last known asteroid which caused serious damage entered Earth’s atmosphere over Chelyabinsk, Russia in 2013. That’s approximately 930 miles east of Moscow. It exploded in the air, releasing 20 to 30 times more energy than that of the first atomic bombs, generating brightness greater than the sun, generating heat, damaging more than 7,000 buildings, and injuring approximately 1,000 people. The shock wave broke windows almost 60 miles away. The asteroid wasn’t detected because it apparently came from the same direction as the sun.

In light of this major threat, NASA will launch a new telescope in 2026, which will be our first line of defense in protecting the planet. The primary mission is to search the solar system for potentially dangerous asteroids or comets headed towards earth. The Near-Earth Object Surveyor space telescope (NEO) was approved by NASA, and is currently in the design phase. The infrared telescope will help scientists find asteroids and comets which come within 30 million miles of the Earth’s orbit. Yes, 30 million miles is considered close enough to pose a danger. There’s no guarantee this telescope will find all dangerous objects headed our way (remember the one which exploded over Russia in 2013), but they hope to have a success rate above 90%.

Unfortunately, finding asteroids or comets headed our way is only part of the equation. The second part is can we change the path of the asteroid or comet. I’m sorry to say, we still don’t know if that’s possible. There are some proposed strategies, but as of today, they are only theories.  NASA will soon conduct some experiments to see if we can find a methodology that can reliably re-direct an asteroid away from our planet.

Please keep in mind, when they find an asteroid headed our way, NASA needs lots of time to prepare a mission to hopefully redirect the asteroid or comet. If they find an asteroid headed our way, scheduled to arrive, in let’s say only 4-6 months, that would not be nearly enough time to prepare a mission. If that happens, we may not be around to worry about climate change.