Monday Morning Tab Dump

Posted on September 19, 2011 by Kevin S. Willis

Esquire profiles Jon Stewart: Jon Stewart and the Burden of History.

Jon Stewart isn’t always nice, and may have a personal agenda. Shocking.

Email Trail on Solyndra looks like the the faceless bureaucrats were doing their job, but their cautious concern was apparently ignored at the end of the day. I’m past the point where I can experience schadenfreude on “liberal” failures. This is bad, and it would have been better to put the money into boutique companies making expensive electric sports cars (wait, we have? Ruh roh.) than to pick a solar plant that many folks saw as doomed to fail from the outset.

Solar energy is something we should be pursuing and expanding. This sort of stuff is not helpful. But, according to VC Vinod Khosla, it’s to be expected, and progress will continue.

Finally, as we have discussed on more than one occasion the value of being civil, and trying to understand in our disagreements, rather than just argue, I point you to Kathryn Schulz TED Talk on Being Wrong:

She makes a point that seems simple, but is one we tend to lose sight of in the heat of debate. She asks, “What does it feel like to be wrong?” The answer being, of course, it feels exactly like being right. Anyway, I think it’s worth listening to.

Update: Something that combines John Stewart and Solyndra. Just sort of brings it all home. You go, Joe Biden!

Filed under: green energy | Tagged: , , , |

« »

4 Responses

  1. Unknown's avatar
    Michigoose, on September 19, 2011 at 5:41 pm said:

    Have I ever mentioned that Esquire is my favorite magazine on the face of the earth, Kevin? Thanks for these!

    Like

    Reply
  2. Unknown's avatar
    Michigoose, on September 19, 2011 at 6:06 pm said:

    OK, Kevin, any idea what the thinking was behind giving money to a Finnish company to make the car? Is it simply because it was a "shovel-ready" project?And it strikes me that we need to get Mr Khosla into the administration as an advisor to the President on green energy investing. . .

    Like

    Reply
  3. Unknown's avatar
    kevinwillis.net, on September 19, 2011 at 6:14 pm said:

    Fisker Automotive and Tesla are American automakers. Outsourcing of some components is inevitable in any kind of car manufacturing (and the operations would go the way of Solyndra, if everything had to be sources in America). To actually do the manufacturing in Finland . . . well, I suppose it could have been a bit of a bait 'n' switch, a Finnish company starting an American company in order to secure financing, but then can funnel money back to the Finnish company.Very light impact on American jobs, though, I imagine. But if we didn't attach the strings while writing the checks . . .

    Like

    Reply
  4. Unknown's avatar
    MsJS, on September 19, 2011 at 6:22 pm said:

    FYI MarkinAustin and I have new posts. Well, mine's really a rant.

    Like

    Reply

Be kind, show respect, and all will be right with the world.