Sean Meriwether's Blog: The Green Economist, page 9

Which Future Will You Vote For?

NY Dispatch Day 158: Tonight the Democratic National Convention (DNC) will conclude with former VP Joseph Biden Jr.’s plans for the future of this country and how his administration will tackle the multiple challenges created by the scorched earth policies of the GOP. He has continued to maintain his centrist candidacy while opening up to the younger and more liberal wing of the party, striking a tentative balance. Due to the pandemic, the DNC has abandoned the pep-rally-circus event attended by...

The Night the Lights Went Out in CA

NY Dispatch Day 157: California is experiencing the first wave of statewide rolling blackouts since 2001, when Enron and other traders manipulated the energy markets. Over the last four days 3.3 million people have been plunged into the dark for hours at a time. The state has had a week-long heat wave with soaring temperatures, including a potential world record of 130 degrees Fahrenheit recorded in Death Valley. The result is a huge spike in energy demand. The state’s electric grid manager, Cal...

When They Go Low, We Go High

NY Dispatch Day 156: On this day 100 years ago Tennessee ratified the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution, becoming the 36th state required to secure its adoption. It was ratified on August 26th, 1920. The amendment prohibits states and the federal government from denying the right to vote to any US citizen on the basis of sex. The suffragettes fought for decades to win the right to vote. Today women represent more than 50% of the electorate and are more reliable voters than men. Ho...

Elvis has left the building

NY Dispatch Day 155: I’ve have this working theory about why there are still sightings of Elvis Presley decades after his death. These sighting are often detailed with fuzzy pictures in supermarket tabloids. He didn’t die of a drug overdose on August 16, 1977. Elvis was abducted by aliens. They cloned him and sent alien versions of The King of Rock and Roll to mingle with humans and gather information about us. Once their research was complete they gathered together at the Cherokee Casino in 201...

The Golden Age

NY Dispatch Day 154: Like many LGBTQ+ kids I knew I was different from a very early age, but I didn’t know what was different. With long and curly hair and huge eyelashes my parents were often congratulated on having such a beautiful daughter. This didn’t bother me as a child. Those strangers thought that I was pretty and I didn’t grasp the concept of gender. I believed that some kids “tucked” out of modesty; it never occurred to me that others had different equipment. Children are gender neutra...

Belarus Protests Election Results

NY Dispatch Day 153: We have another real life warning about our potential future. In order to extend his 26-year rule as the last dictator in Europe, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko is believed to have rigged the election. The results were 80% in his favor. Tens of thousands of people took to the streets of Minsk calling for his ouster. They were met with extreme force. Reports of people being beaten on the streets and tortured in jail are pouring out of the country. Lukashenko turned...

COVID-Nightmares

NY Dispatch Day 152: While I am sure I am not alone, I had my first COVID-19-themed nightmare last night. I do not typically remember my dreams but this one was so vivid that I can still recall it in detail 12 hours later. I was at my local supermarket in the refrigerated section; I recognized where I was immediately. This is odd because the locations from my dreams are either places from childhood or unfamiliar. There were a random number of people shopping nearby. I felt a tickle in my throat ...

45 Attacks the USPS to Suppress the Vote

NY Dispatch Day 151: Just in case anyone wasn’t clear about why the president has been attacking the United States Postal Service, he clarified his position in a Fox interview. Responding to questions about why he blocked $25 billion in emergency funding and $3.5 billion in supplemental assistance for the election, he responded,”They need that money in order to have the post office work so it can take all of these millions and millions of ballots. If they don’t get those two items, that means yo...

Biden + Harris 2020

NY Dispatch Day 150: Unless you just emerged from a coma or live off the grid, by now you know that former VP Joe Biden Jr, the presumed democratic nominee, selected Senator Kamala Devi Harris as his running mate. Her selection is historic for several reasons. Harris is the 3rd woman to be on the ticket as a VP, the 1st woman of color, and the 1st candidate from California since Ronald Reagan. She represents not just women, who make up a majority of the electorate, and African Americans, who are...

From Russia with… Love?

NY Dispatch Day 149: Today we woke up to exciting news. Russia has developed a vaccine for COVID-19 which may well bring the war within measurable distance from its end. They have developed a method to deliver harmless cold viruses—the common cold is also a coronavirus—that have been engineered to carry the spiky protein that surrounds the COVID-19 virus into the recipient’s cells, triggering a response. The adenovirus method is being researched by other labs as an approach to develop immunity a...