For a fleeting moment, it seemed the era of fossil fuels was facing its final, violent curtain call. During the tense hours before the announced two-week pause on proposed strikes against Iranโs power plants and bridges, the world teetered on the edge of a supply-chain apocalypse. Had those strikes proceeded, the resulting retaliation would have likely seen Iran systematically dismantling the oil and gas infrastructure of its regional rivals. This wouldn’t have just been a regional skirmish; it would have been the “kick in the pants” required to forcibly decouple the global economy from carbon-based energy.
The logic is simple but brutal: Iran possesses the capability to inflict damage on Middle Eastern oil and gas infrastrucutre that would take years, not months, to repair. In that vacuum of supply, the world would be forced to adapt or collapse. While the transition from oil to renewables is often discussed as a gradual, decades-long evolution driven by climate policy, history shows that true systemic shifts are usually born of necessity rather than idealism. Climate change alone has lacked the immediate, visceral pressure needed to dismantle the fossil fuel status quo. A total physical destruction of supply, however, would have left the global market with no other choice but to “move on.”
The impact would be felt unevenly but universally. Europe and Asia, both heavily dependent on Middle Eastern exports, would face an existential energy famine. For these regions, electrification and renewables would cease to be a “green choice” and would become the only available lifeline. Even in the United States, which enjoys greater energy independence, the resulting price shocks would shatter the consumerโs lingering attachment to the internal combustion engine. High costs at the pump serve as a more persuasive argument for EVs than any environmental manifesto ever could.
Critics argue that the world would simply wait for the wells to be rebuilt. Yet, if the incumbent fuelsโoil and gasโwere severely constrained for a period of years, the infrastructure of the future would settle in. Electric cars and renewable grids are no longer experimental; they are “good enough” to handle the load. Once a nation invests the massive capital required to pivot to a renewable grid out of desperation, it is highly unlikely they would revert to a volatile, vulnerable fossil fuel system once the dust settled.
A devastating blow to Middle Eastern infrastructure would have been a painful, chaotic, and incredibly difficult transition. However, it might have been the only scenario where the world finally leaves the fossil fuel era behindโnot because it wanted to, but because it had to.
I was reading the Times Union this morning, and was a bit annoyed by the article titled, “Cannabis treatment not always easy to find“. What I find so triggering about the article is its part of the Times Union screed about how awful high-potency cannabis is and how some users get addicted to it. But honestly, I kind of like the high-potency concentrates, because it doesn’t stink the way conventional cannabis does, and you can take a very quick puff and be good and high.
Is Cannabis addiction a real thing? Well, I have a bit of an addiction to apple cider vinegar, and I like cornmeal pancakes, and would be sad if I didn’t have either one. But it’s hardly a chemical addiction. And there isn’t a lot of evidence that cannabis is chemically addicting, even if is enjoyable to be stoned out of one’s brains. Cannabis treatment has dropped as fewer courts are mandating it for a now legal product. Concentrates are healthier as you smoke much less for the same amount of high.
Operating machinery or driving a car when stoned is not a good idea. Smoking a lot of anything is breathing in carcinogens. But life is not risk-free, and people will do stupid shit. Yet, if it gives people enjoyment on their time off, then all the more power them.
“Conventional wisdom” refers to widely accepted, often unexamined, beliefs within a society or field. While appearing as early as 1838 to mean common knowledge, the phrase was popularized and defined in its modern context by economist John Kenneth Galbraith in his 1958 book The Affluent Society to describe ideas favored for their acceptability rather than their accuracy.ย
History and Evolution
Early Usage (1838): The phrase appeared as a synonym for “commonplace knowledge” or “accepted beliefs,” used in various contexts before the 20th century.
Galbraithโs Coining (1958): Economist John Kenneth Galbraith is widely credited with coining the modern usage in The Affluent Society. He specifically used it to describe how ideas become “esteemed at any time for their acceptability”.
Refinement of Meaning: Galbraith emphasized that “The” conventional wisdom refers to ideas that are comfortable and predictable, often resisting new facts that might challenge them.
Modern Usage: Today, the term is used in political, economic, and social contexts to represent the dominant, often unchallenged, consensus.ย
Key Characteristics
Resistance to Change: The conventional wisdom is often defended with intense loyalty and is used to explain complex topics through simple, widely accepted narratives.
Institutional Adoption: It can represent long-accepted expert opinions within institutions, sometimes restricting creative, new solutions.
Drawbacks: Because it is accepted without question, it can make it difficult to think creatively, leading to reliance on outdated information.
Itโs been six and a half months since I had LASIK on both eyes, and honestly, itโs hard to believe how fast the time has flown. Looking back, making the decision to go under the laser was easily one of the best moves Iโve ever made.
If youโre tired of the “contact lens struggle,” hereโs what my journey looked likeโfrom a stressful surgery day to waking up with 20/20 vision.
A Rocky Start to a Smooth Procedure
The day of the procedure started with a bit of a headacheโliterally. My bus never showed up, so I ended up having to drive my truck to the clinic and leave it there overnight. Despite the stress of showing up late for the big snip, the actual procedure was quick and surprisingly painless.
Recovery started immediately. I got a ride home that afternoon, kept my eyes shut the whole way, and was knocked out by 3 PM thanks to the prescribed sleep aid. By the next morning, the goggles were off. I caught a 6 AM bus back to the doctor to recover my truck left overnight andโfor the first time in yearsโdrove my truck home as the sun rose without a single pair of glasses or contacts.
The Recovery Phase
The first two weeks weren’t perfect. I had to deal with:
The “Scratchy” Phase: My eyes felt irritated and dry, similar to the feeling many contact lens wearers know too well.
Protection: I wore anti-itch goggles for a week and rocked sunglasses every time I jumped on my bike.
The Drop Routine: I was supposed to use eye drops for six weeks. Admittedly, I wasn’t the most consistent (especially during my October road trip!), but by week two, the major dryness had already faded.
The “Wow” Moment
The real game-changer was my night vision. It took a little while to strengthen, but once it did? Wow. Everything became clearer and brighter. The excessive road glare and eye strain I used to get while driving at night in my big jacked up truck with contacts simply vanished.
Freedom from the Costly Ritual
Before LASIK, my life involved a constant cycle of ordering lenses, packing glasses for camping trips, and the endless hunt for soap and hand sanitizer to make sure I didn’t get an eye infection while poking my pupils.
Now? I just wake up and see.
I rarely experience dry eyes anymoreโfar less than I did during those final, irritating months of wearing contacts. Most days, I almost forget I ever needed vision correction at all.
Was Is It Worth It?
Contacts are fine, but letโs be realโthey kind of suck. If youโre on the fence, I can tell you that the freedom of putting glasses behind you permanently is worth every penny. Life is just better when you can just see.
I guess technically the snow the steam plant produces is usually black in color, but it’s still kind of that unusual April snow, though it’s not sticking to the pavement in Delmar, and supposed to warm up but get very windy by afternoon.
Perfect weather for riding my bike to work, ๐ฒ actually the snow stopped a few minutes ago, though I’ll probably get somewhat wet riding in. Better make sure I have those other set of socks ๐งฆ in my office desk when I get to Assembly’s World Data Headquarters. A very unhappy looking Mourning Dove ๐๏ธ is peering in my window (what a pervert!), looking down on the rather white grass from the dusting of wet snow we got a few minutes ago. Honestly, I just don’t want to have to deal with the CDTA App now that my Navigator card ๐ณ is expired. Or the protestors at the Capitol. Wind is expected to be roaring by afternoon. ๐ฌ๏ธ If it’s too bad I can catch a bus home, but it’s usually not too bad in the hollow riding back.
Yesterday was a Monday and I was surprisingly tired ๐ซ all day at work, but I kept pushing on. Only one more majority district to update. ๐ The two supervisors were out, so I was managing everything besides my other normal responsibilities as director. I was asleep last night I don’t know around 7:30 PM as it was cold, ๐๏ธ and I was tired. Stopped at Hannaford on my bike ride home, got milk, and two impulse purchases – edmame and spinach. I do like edmame, I was told you’re not supposed to eat the shells, but I do as I like to maximize the fiber in my diet. But I also eat the skins on potatoes ๐ฅ and sometimes bananas ๐. It helps move the crap through your pooper, ๐ฉ and fills your stomach without a lot of calories. The world is built on manure. Stanton’s got their tanks of cow shit ๐ฎ rolling down past my parents house, as they prepare the fields for spring. I remember walking home, ๐ถ ducking off the road and plugging my noise as they came rolling down the road, spewing diesel smoke and flakes of cow poop off tanker trucks.
It will be interesting to see how much gas prices go up today, โฝ with the Trumpster threatening to blow up the bridges and power plants in Iran ๐ฎ๐ท as part of his war criming scheme, that nobody seems to understand outside of the President’s form of public masterbastion. I guess it feels good and is groovy. I was too busy holding the multiple hats ๐ฉ at work yesterday to research and build truck caps, I think I will most likely go with an ARE Cap assuming that Ruth’s thinks I can take delivery before July. Kind of a bad time of year to get one built, as I’m sure it’s their busy time, but I couldn’t order one until I was ๐ฏ percent sure of what truck I was going to get. The operators at work were asking when I would take the SuperDuty to work. See the first sentence of this paragraph, plus I want to keep it new as long as possible. Plus driving a SuperDuty in traffic doesn’t sound like much fun, as the 6.8L rumbles and slurps down fuel – it’s not Godzilla but it’s still an HD truck.
