But it will need GOP votes to pass in the Senate, and it’s ambitious — too ambitious — so Pelosi suggests breaking it into pieces. The idea there is that Republicans who would otherwise oppose it might support some parts of it, such as the Dreamer provisions. Broadly speaking, Bide[...]
Archive for February, 2021
Street straddling Arkansas and Texas displays a stark contrast in the 2 states’ public works
The Texas electrical grid failed because they didn’t winterize it. They didn’t spend anything on snowplows, either (photo below; story here). And a few years ago, when the state was being consumed by wildfires, the Republican governor had to beg President Obama for federal disaster assis[...]
February 17th, 2021 - 5:48 pm § in Donald Trump, Politics
What you don’t need at a protest
A baseball bat, club, spear, bear spray, hockey stick, stun gun, knives, guns, crossbow, molotov cocktails. Those items were confiscated from “protesters” at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. Read story here. Photo below: “Protest” toolkit? Return to The-Ave.US H[...]
February 17th, 2021 - 3:45 pm § in Misc.
Primer on home backup generators
Who doesn’t want to be the envy of their neighbors, toasty warm with the lights on, when they’re freezing in the dark? You can be if you have 10 or 20 thousand dollars to spare and someplace on your property to put a standby generator. For most people, that’s as much a vanity purch[...]
How to not get re-elected
Tim Boyd, ex-mayor of Colorado City, Texas, apparently believes a working electricity grid is “socialism.” By popular demand, he vacated the mayor’s after blasting his “lazy” constituents with the breath of cold air below (story here). He’s reportedly in hiding; I[...]
February 16th, 2021 - 6:34 pm § in Environment
What makes the Texas power blackout unique, and why it won’t happen elsewhere
Big chunks of Texas are without power in the wake of an epic snow and ice storm gripping much of the United States. The immediate cause for the grid’s failure is freezing temperatures, but this happens every winter in northern states (and Scandanavia), and they don’t lose power to the en[...]
This is much Covid-19 virus there is
A British mathematician calculated all the Covid-19 virus particles in the world would fill about half a soda can. Read about his methodology here. Return to The-Ave.US Home Page[...]
February 15th, 2021 - 11:14 pm § in Misc.
Seattle slush (video)
There are winters when it doesn’t snow in Seattle. When we get snow here, it soon becomes slush. That’s because it doesn’t stay below freezing here for very long. Watch the video below to see what I mean. Moral: Own a pair of waterproof boots. Return to The-Ave.US Home Page[...]
Will fleeing Republicans join the Democrats?
It seems like a preposterous idea. But there was a time when both parties had conservative and liberal wings. And the current leader of the Democratic Party is, by almost any reasonable measure, a moderate. And it’s hard to see traditional Republicans making common cause — or being seen [...]
Former Aussie PM: How the U.S. and China could avoid war
“Officials in Washington and Beijing don’t agree on much these days, but there is one thing on which they see eye to eye: the contest between their two countries will enter a decisive phase in the 2020s. This will be the decade of living dangerously. No matter what strategies the two sides p[...]