Environmental News

@Trollbait , the foreign income exception for US citizens paying income taxes is currently about USD$105 thousands per year. It was previously lower but I never was above it.

@ChapmanF , I was quite Atlantic when I placed an order for 2001 Prius - living in Puerto Rico. Where one does not pay US income taxes regardless of income (by that's besides the point). I took delivery of Tochatihu in California back when such things were still novel. Still a US citizen BTW, There is a green card option in China and other expats working here have gone for that, but it presents some hurdles. Annual permits in my passport have never been difficult so I go that way. My original plan was for China stay to be short and I did not arrange to maintain residence in California; state residence is required for voting from overseas. That decision has already been criticized at length in our Politics section.

@hill "You can be sure his big brother watches what he says here." That may be true but I do not know. Closest similarity may be in terms of internet searches that I do not do on a variety of topics (even topics I am curious about) because those are more widely seen as scrutinized in a big brotherly way.

If I had particular knowledge of bad things China does, and expectation that by speaking I could improve them, I would consider it. But probably not here. With no disparagement towards PriusChat, it would be somewhere else with more leverage. The only time I really criticized China here was after 2008 earthquake when publicly funded buildings collapsed and squished thousands. Whilst adjacent private buildings remained standing. That was a big deal, and publicly funded buildings are now build stronger in earthquake zones. But I do not believe for a moment that my comments here contributed to that. The matter was discussed in other places with more leverage.

@frodoz737 will continue to bang the drum and no one should expect otherwise. I would dispute the notion of not contributing anything to science in America. That happens though collaborations, mentoring, and unpaid journal reviews, and is outside our scope of discussions here. Readers can believe me that it happens, or rely on another poster's self perceived omniscience that it does not.

Some readers may see value in my science/environmental postings. Others may see value in a 'outsider's' view of American political scene. It;s long since I helped Early Adopters get their early Priuses fixed on Toyota's dime. But here's an interesting thing: Toyota actually threw some money my way to attend Detroit Auto Show. Not all express hate in the same way

@bwilson4web , a day may come when EVs from China are sold in US, but this market has too many competitors now and they are deeply cutting manufacturing costs. Caveat Emptor.

 

Back towards topic, I recently complained in Pancakes that mineralogy is sometimes poorly taught. Here is a Robert Hazen essay that does much better:

How life made the earth into a cosmic marvel | Aeon Essays

Hazen is a gem.