Derrell Durrett
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derrelldurrett.bsky.social
Derrell Durrett
@derrelldurrett.bsky.social
2.7K followers 950 following 9.8K posts
Ex physics. Software. Life-long observer of the public morality. Devoté of Poe's Law.

Potentially voluble.

Boulder Colorado

Born at 318 ppm CO2.
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derrelldurrett.bsky.social
The IEA might be the stupidest, most easily misled "expert" organization in human history.

They refuse to learn from history.

www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
An image that depicts actual growth of installed solar electric generation capacity as against projections from the IEA. Said capacity has risen from about 50 GW to about 700 in the en years since, and every projection from the IEA has either been flat or has expected a decrease, when instead it has increased all but two years in the middle of the first Trump administration. Text from the article: 3. Solar is spreading faster than we thought it would. Solar power has been the largest source of new electricity generation for the last three years. Most of this new solar infrastructure is coming up inside China, and Chinese companies are making so much surplus solar equipment cells, modules and everything that goes into them that prices have plummeted. Forecasts keep underestimating solar growth Source: IEA STEPS via BNEF and Embe Today, solar panels hang from apartment balconies in Germany and cover vast areas of desert in Saudi Arabia. Solar and onshore wind projects offer the cheapest source of new electricity generation. Little wonder, then, that in India's electricity sector, more than half of the generation capacity now comes from solar, wind and hydropower.
November 9, 2025 at 8:24 PM
derrelldurrett.bsky.social
The IEA might be the stupidest, most easily misled "expert" organization in human history.

They refuse to learn from history.

www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
An image that depicts actual growth of installed solar electric generation capacity as against projections from the IEA. Said capacity has risen from about 50 GW to about 700 in the en years since, and every projection from the IEA has either been flat or has expected a decrease, when instead it has increased all but two years in the middle of the first Trump administration. Text from the article: 3. Solar is spreading faster than we thought it would. Solar power has been the largest source of new electricity generation for the last three years. Most of this new solar infrastructure is coming up inside China, and Chinese companies are making so much surplus solar equipment cells, modules and everything that goes into them that prices have plummeted. Forecasts keep underestimating solar growth Source: IEA STEPS via BNEF and Embe Today, solar panels hang from apartment balconies in Germany and cover vast areas of desert in Saudi Arabia. Solar and onshore wind projects offer the cheapest source of new electricity generation. Little wonder, then, that in India's electricity sector, more than half of the generation capacity now comes from solar, wind and hydropower.
November 9, 2025 at 8:21 PM
derrelldurrett.bsky.social
This spider has the best views of Rainbow Reef.
A spider hangs in its web, with Somo Somo Strait on the background as seen from Taveuni.
November 4, 2025 at 12:30 AM
derrelldurrett.bsky.social
Ludwig Boltzmann on the the situation in America about a hundred and twenty years ago, demonstrating that today's profoundly wealthy people have a long way to go and a lot of work to do to live up to the standards of the robber barons of old.
Image of text from article: ... With a sure psychological aim that philosophers would envy, Klein strikes each intended victim at precise-ly that sore point where he is most vulnerable to persuasion. What motivates Klein? Only idealism. And if we open our eyes we find idealism everywhere, all the way to the Pacific Ocean. Near the California coast we are greeted by the two white towers of the Lick Observatory, the work of an idealist and hundredfold millionaire. More of that later. I have often asked myself which is the more remarkable fact about America: that millionaires are idealists, or that idealists become millionaires. What a fortunate land!...
October 28, 2025 at 2:26 AM
derrelldurrett.bsky.social
There's some crazy MAGA shit on Facebook, and I've already seen two versions. One claiming that the author is 74 and the other claiming to be 78.

And the guy posting it is definitely neither since we went to high school together.
Crazy MAGA stuff with a lot of words. They're meaningless.
October 27, 2025 at 3:57 AM
derrelldurrett.bsky.social
Absurd.

No idea how to preserve the part we cannot eat.
A woman holds two trombetta squash that are each at least a meter fifty long.
October 19, 2025 at 1:28 AM
derrelldurrett.bsky.social
Two hours of this in Boulder this afternoon.

#NoKings
October 18, 2025 at 10:56 PM
derrelldurrett.bsky.social
This from @kenklippenstein.bsky.social demonstrates in spades why any intelligent person cannot be associated with this administration.

open.substack.com/pub/kenklipp...
At one point, President Trump instructed several prominent conservative media figures present — all of whom said they’d been victimized by Antifa for reporting on them — to share their knowledge with top national security officials. “Do you know the name of any of the funders?” Trump asked the roundtable. “Because if you do, I’d like you to give them to Kash or Pam or Kristi — as soon as you can." The floundering attempts to actually find an organized Antifa entity reflects a virtually 180 degree turn from previous government articulations of the group. Former FBI Director Christopher Wray told Congress that although Antifa is a “real thing … it’s not a group or an organization.” Wray instead likened Antifa to “a movement or an ideology.”
October 16, 2025 at 2:42 AM
derrelldurrett.bsky.social
Ya know, if all those folks stopped going to work one day, the regime might discover it's powerless.

www.theatlantic.com/national-sec...
Image of text from article: As journalists walked out of the building, taking our collective centuries of experience on the beat with us, we passed dozens of locked doors leading to secure rooms that we have never entered. Inside those rooms sat career military officers and civilians, some of whom believe that the oath to protect secrets and the responsibility to engage with the American public through the press are two values that can coexist. In recent days, mid-level troops have been reaching out to me, unsolicited, and promising that they would keep providing journalists with information, not to snub their civilian leaders but to uphold the values embedded in the Constitution. Retired spokespeople have written to me to say that they, too, have felt like they are losing something with the media’s departure. As I said goodbye to the cleaning crews, the Pentagon police, the troops, and the longtime civilian staffers, what I heard was, in effect, a collective sigh. I repeatedly heard stories of people asking themselves, How long can I stay here? Some said they were tired of watching colleagues be pushed out, fearful of when they themselves would be asked to sign new rules that they felt went against their oath to defend the Constitution or their personal ethics. “I am tired of new rules,” one civilian told me. “They clearly don’t want us,” an Army colonel said.
October 16, 2025 at 1:36 AM
derrelldurrett.bsky.social
Spent yesterday (and today) wandering Colorado's wine country, and I'm telling you it's hard to beat this.
A woman with a glass of wine on a patio A wire sculpture. Old people on bikes Old people on a patio with the Grand Mesa in the background.
October 8, 2025 at 8:01 PM
derrelldurrett.bsky.social
This kitty would wish you a brilliant #Caturday except she's wondering what she can get up to this morning....
A ragdoll cat on the back of a couch in the soft light of a skylight.
October 4, 2025 at 2:51 PM
derrelldurrett.bsky.social
The subtext to @joshtpm.bsky.social's paragraph here is that too often Dems not elected tend to find the party feckless. Too often the electeds choose to abstain from using what power they have.

This time, at least, they seem to have found their footing.

talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/let-i...
Image of text from article: Given all this, the opposition — to be an actual opposition — has to find the sources of power it has at its disposal and use them to their absolute limit. Most of that power, as we’ve discussed, is in the independent sovereignties of the states. The need for votes for “continuing resolutions” to fund the government is basically the only locus of power for the congressional opposition. They not only have to use that power for whatever they can get with it, they need to show there is an opposition out there willing to fight the imposition of a presidential autocracy. If they’re not, who else will have the courage or inclination to take any risks and fight? An opposition requires morale to remain in the fight and endure while its opponents are holding most of the power.
October 1, 2025 at 1:44 PM
derrelldurrett.bsky.social
Really not beating the allegation that they're using 1984 as an instruction manual.
Image of a card in Google News with text saying: At Marine Corps Base Quantico, top military leaders convened as General Dan Caine warned of aligning adversaries. "Secretary of War" Pete Hegseth announced rebranding the Department of Defense as the Department of War, prioritizing warfighting readiness and "peace through strength." President Trump also addressed the leaders, discussing significant military investments and emphasizing merit. The rest of the text says that it's from DWS News, and links to YouTube.
October 1, 2025 at 12:12 AM
derrelldurrett.bsky.social
The divide today is between the liberal and the illiberal actors: those who believe in universal rights and those who believe in contingent rights. Klein claims to defend liberalism while celebrating illiberal rhetoric.

Excellent @nicholasgrossman.bsky.social

www.arcdigital.media/p/ezra-klein...
Image of text from article: But while gatekeeping can be abused, it played a valuable societal role. Much as the Paradox of Tolerance explains how the one thing a tolerant society cannot tolerate is intolerance, a rule of law democracy cannot tolerate lie-based rejection of election results, treating any group as subhuman, or a standard under which one politician can break laws without consequence. A democratic society needs people in Ezra Klein's position to treat Charlie Kirk's anti-democracy stances as disqualifying, rather than pretend they're just another policy opinion like tax rates. Media leaders are among those responsible for making sure ideas relegated to the dustbin of history stay there. In this specific instance, the impact is giving people who didn't know of Charlie Kirk the false impression he was a supporter of free speech gunned down because others can't tolerate open dialogue. That in turn provides some cover for crackdowns on free speech in Kirk's name. But in the aggregate, this glaring media malpractice brought fascists into the mainstream, laundered their arguments, and cultivated complacency the fascists were happy to exploit. And still are.
September 29, 2025 at 1:44 PM
derrelldurrett.bsky.social
I mean.
Image of text from article: The longest known drop-kicked field goal in college football was a 62-yard kick from Pat O'Dea, an Australian kicker who played for Wisconsin. O'Dea's kick took place in a blizzard against Northwestern on November 15, 1898.[32]
September 28, 2025 at 10:36 PM
derrelldurrett.bsky.social
As always, read @jamellebouie.net.

Here, very carefully dismantling the notion of a unitary executive being inherent in the design of the US constitution. After all, he notes, the president's election is filtered through the Electoral College.

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/24/o...
Image of text from article: The fight over the fate of Lisa Cook is so much more than a narrow question of personnel. It gets to the very foundations of the American political order. President Trump and his allies are not just making a claim of overweening presidential authority; they are making a bid to transform American government itself. This is one very revealing example of how they are trying to redefine the 2024 presidential election away from what it was — a democratic choice subject to revision and the authority of other democratic actors — into something wholly new, an enabling act for presidential dictatorship. And in this, they have allies in American society, on the courts and in Congress. But the American people, throughout their history, have been jealous of their liberties, to the point of taking real action to preserve them. We shall hope that as Trump attempts his autocratic transformation of our government, they will hold onto that protective vigilance.
September 24, 2025 at 3:06 PM
derrelldurrett.bsky.social
Note well that Mr "L'État, c'est moi" here doesn't say US Gov't debt. Somebody oughta ask about that.

www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/...
Image of text from article: The concept of a pay-to-play residency permit isn’t all that new. First instituted during the George H. W. Bush administration, the EB-5 visa is open to applicants who invest upwards of $800,000 into American businesses. It is far from a perfect program, and has been used as a vehicle for fraud, but its focus on investment in the American economy makes it decidedly different from the Trump Gold Card, which asks for an “unrestricted gift to the Department of Commerce” that the government can use as it sees fit. (Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick initially said that a Gold Card would replace the EB-5, but Friday’s executive order makes no mention of the program.) While the vestigial EB-5 asks for a direct injection of capital—Manhattan’s Hudson Yards was developed in part by EB-5 funds—the Department of Commerce will put its Gold Card war chest to work to “promote commerce and American industry,” which is a mandate is broad enough to encompass both new investment in public housing and also just paying off the government’s debt. In fact, Trump said on Friday that the Gold Card windfall will “generally” go to “pay down debt.”
September 22, 2025 at 11:31 PM
derrelldurrett.bsky.social
David A. French on the dangers of permitting Trump to consolidate power.

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/20/o...
Image of text: French: I mean, if the next thing you had after this “we’re going after the bad people” was singling out somebody who had done some horrific celebration of Charlie Kirk — who was a television personality — just a horrific celebration of his death, that would land very differently than Jimmy Kimmel. One of the things you’re seeing on the right is that these guys are extremely hubristic right now. They think all the wind is at their back. They think they are the alphas of the culture. They are feeling their oats, and they are overreaching at a level — and I agree with Jamelle — they are absolutely overreaching. But here’s what worries me: Can you overreach so much that when you push so far into actual authoritarianism, it has a more intimidating effect than a rallying effect? It’s obvious to me that that’s what they’re heading toward. They’re trying to push all the way through normal American politics and get to a point where they feel like they can dictate the terms of the debate through sheer retribution and intimidation, and cow opponents into silence. I think that is literally the core theory of the case here, that they can just push through normal politics and achieve sweeping, permanent change through the raw exercise of power.
September 21, 2025 at 6:52 PM
derrelldurrett.bsky.social
As always, read @jamellebouie.net.

Here making clear that the fight is, as so many have long warned it would become, against gov't-as-would-be-bully rather than by gov't-as-good-faith-actor.

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/20/o...
Image of text from article: We can say something similar of our time. Neither Trump nor the MAGA right wants to discuss or deliberate; it wants to dominate. American politics is no longer a fight over policy; it is a fight over the character of the nation itself. The task of this moment, then, is to defend the old vision of a more perfect union — of a more democratic and egalitarian American republic — not hope that one can avoid the fight by having the right conversation.
September 20, 2025 at 6:55 PM
derrelldurrett.bsky.social
A'igbt.

1 (I can name several, so buckle up.)
a. Black Diamond youtu.be/msEgf9r8NIA?...
b. Red Sector A (R30 tour) share.google/niH6ZrlcRpeo...
c. Red Lenses share.google/ffa2XGJzWOUC...
d. Red Barchetta share.google/bP6LyzDRBySY...
e. Black share.google/mtnia0RJLPHh...
Image of text: 1. A song you like with a color in the title 2. A song you like with a number in the title 3. A song that reminds you of summertime 4. A song that reminds you of someone you would rather forget about 5. A song that needs to be played LOUD 6. A song that makes you want to dance 7. A song to drive to 8. A song about drugs or alcohol 9. A song that makes you happy 10. A song that makes you sad 11. A song that you never get tired of 12. A song from your preteen years 13. One of your favorite 80's songs 14. A song that you would love played at your wedding 15. A song that is a cover by another artist 16. One of your favorite classical songs 17. A song that would sing a duet with on karaoke 18. A song from the year that you were born 19. A song that makes you think about life 20. A song that has many meanings to you 21. A favorite song with a person's name in the title 22. A song that moves you forward 23. A song that you think everybody should listen to 24. A song by a band you wish were still together 25. A song by an artist no longer living 26. A song that makes you want to fall in love 27. A song that breaks your heart 28. A song by an artist with a voice that you love 29. A song that you remember from your childhood 30. A song that reminds you of yourself
September 6, 2025 at 12:14 AM
derrelldurrett.bsky.social
I'd say I feel like I've been reading about due process violations as long as I've had a newspaper subscription (which was sixth grade).

But this crew not to care even when they lose. They just do what they want.
Cartman what-Eva - I'll do what I want gif
September 1, 2025 at 2:55 AM
derrelldurrett.bsky.social
The answer to Mr Edwards is that the people with the money are desperately afraid of the other messages someone under their employ might convey, and they want complete control to avoid things like support for Palestinians breaking containment.

www.wired.com/story/dark-m...
Image of text from article: Keith Edwards, a Democratic content creator who has skyrocketed to fame on YouTube since starting his channel last year, was not invited to be part of the program but believes that the way it was structured seemed “predatory.” He says that he would never agree to take part in a program that was run in secret or wouldn’t allow him to disclose funding. “What I don’t understand is, why wouldn’t you just donate to creators directly who have already built something and just need to put gasoline on the fire?” says Edwards. “Democrats at least understand that the internet exists now, so that’s good. But they still think influencers are just there to do a terrible direct-to-camera interview that no one watches rather than just treating us like another form of media.”
August 27, 2025 at 3:35 PM
derrelldurrett.bsky.social
This metaphor is almost too perfect, and the fact that Trump is proud of it is either a sign he doesn't understand it or that he's celebrating the destruction he's bringing upon America.
Donald Trump strides purposely away from a conflagration, in such a way as to suggest he started it, as two rows of American flags are consumed behind him.
August 24, 2025 at 7:28 PM
derrelldurrett.bsky.social
These two posts from @criminalerin.bsky.social appearing this way in my timeline has left me with some questions not answerable by anyone, I'd wager.
Two consecutive posts in my Bluesky feed from @criminalerin.bsky.social: https://bsky.app/profile/criminalerin.bsky.social/post/3lwr5wuhce22f https://bsky.app/profile/criminalerin.bsky.social/post/3lwr474w6j22f
August 19, 2025 at 9:34 PM
derrelldurrett.bsky.social
The fuck we do, Donald.

You can fuck right off.

www.nytimes.com/live/2025/08...
Image of text from article: “They must do what the Federal Government, as represented by the President of the United States, tells them,” Mr. Trump said.
August 18, 2025 at 7:48 PM