Here are this week's stories of note: Optimist, 4 Feb; Czech election; fading coal; wind and solar; cattle rustling and drugs; E.J. Dionne on autocrats; Michael Gerson on the Repulican party; Italy's race card; whence cometh Trump?; Musk and Away; reading, non-fiction

Optimist. The link to this week's column, including dinosaurs in D.C. -- no, NOT Congress; Tom Hanks as Mr. Rogers, "Orca speak," etc.; rustling and drugs;

European populism. As noted in last week's blog, Milos Zeman was re-elected president of the  Czech Republic. As this Foreign Policy article notes, "The fight against European populism is far from over." The Brexit moment still haunts Europe. "Zeman has aolalso capitalized on the momentum generated by Brexit to call for a referendum on Czech membership in the EU and NATO, in contrast with Drahos’ strong support for them."

 Coal. Despite President Trump's remarks about "beautiful, clean coal," an article from HCN notes, "The power of fossil fuels is fading." The article subtitle then asks, "Will Western states react in time to save local economies?" Actions by federal and state governments, as well as companies themselves all point to a lessening dependence. "[E]ven though coal is still [Montana's]...most significant fossil fuel, three-quarters of the plants that burned Montana coal in 2012 are scheduled to retire by 2030."
    Even major coal conglomerates are NOT reinvesting in coal, but in alternative energy sources. Overseas, the EU, Britain, and India have plans to shutter coal-fired generation stations. Even in China, coal usage in plateauing. "The export outlook is grim."
     The impact is already with us. "This isn’t solely a future issue. Wyoming, Montana and Alaska are already seeing big budget holes from the decline in oil and coal prices. Teachers, doctors, police departments and children in towns across the West bear the brunt of those cuts."

Solar and wind power. This article from HCN discusses why Oklahoma, the nation's second largest wind producer, has "[a] massive state budget crisis, along with powerful oil and gas interests, [that] has led the state to phase out key tax incentives for wind." The fossil fuel industry is not yet "out of gas."
     " In the past year, OK has ended two key incentives that even wind proponents admitted were in some ways “too generous....'I’m hopeful that that balance stays in place,' says state Sen. AJ Griffin (R) of Guthrie, who says she encourages investment in wind “without giving away the farm.” More to the point, "[s]ome are pushing not only to remove all subsidies, but to levy a new tax on wind."

Rustling and drugs, the old and new west. Cattle rustling is surely the old west? No, not really. Jerry Flowers heads a special OK agricultural unit dedicated to finding and prosecuting rustlers who today steal to support their drug habits. In cattle country, rustling is still a quick way to make easy, if illegal, money. Unlike the opioid crisis in the east, the midlands are mostly concerned with meth, which has its links to Mexican heroin cartels, not Big Pharma.

Dionne on autocrats. In Monday's column discussing Rep. Nunes' (R, CA) Russia investigation-related memo, E.J. Dionne reminds us of Hannah Arendt's comments regarding the ways of autocrats in her classic, The Origins of Totalitarianism.

Gerson on the Republicans. About Gerson, this is from a long-time friend, an astute teacher and student of foreign affairs.

Michael Gerson [is] one of the nation’s leading conservatives and long-time Republican. Among conservative writers, he has always been esteemed for his ethics-based commentaries He, along with George Will and David Brooks, are much like the late William F. Buckley, a man of consummate integrity, who in his time was not afraid to take on the lunatic fringe on the right (think John Birch Society). 

That said, Gerson is quite fed up with the Republican party's course of action regarding what may/may not have been involved with the President's and/or his minions' connections to the Russian. Virtually, the only "good" news is that it is becoming painfully obvious to all that the Russians DID "mess with" our election process. Tech savvy politicians and election officials world-wide are becoming aware of how technology can be used at home/abroad to affect outcomes.

The "race" card in Italy. The Economist reports that former Italian prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi described the recent drive-by shooting of six Africans in Macerata as evidence of Italy's smoldering immigrant "time bomb." He claimed, "...there were 630,000 immigrants in Italy of whom only 5% had the right to residence as refugees. 'The others represent a social bomb ready to explode,' he told an interviewer on one of the three television channels in which he has a controlling interest. 'They live off their wits or by crime.' "

Whence cometh our President? Historian Andrew Bacevich cites "The 11 Historical Moments That Gave US President Trump." Worth a read. Bacevich notes:n1989: fall of the Berlin Wall; 1992: defeat of Ross Perot; 1993: gays in the military; 1998: Monica Lewinski; 2000: Cheney picked as VP; 2000: SCOTUS picks the president (Gore v. Bush); 2003: Bush invasion of Iraq; 2003: Congress oks Iraq; 2003: GM kills electric car; 2009: Obama bails out Wall Street; 2010: Obama begins using Twitter; 2010: Sen. McConnell (R, MO) chooses party over country.

Musk and Falcon Heavy. The designation "Heavy" is air traffic control lingo for one of the larger airliners, e.g. Boeing's Dream Liner. The recent test launching of Elon Musk's Falcon Heavy rocket largely went off without a hitch. Currently the world's most powerful rocket, the Falcon is meant to carry men/cargo to not only the International Space Station, but to the moon and beyond. One feature will be missing from future cargo bays: a red Tesla (which will end up somwhere in the solar system's asteroid belt. As planned, Falcon's two side boosters landed  on two floating barges in the Atlantic Ocean; however, the main booster did not land on its designated barge and hit the Atlantic at an estimated 300 mph.

Reading, non-fiction. In the Shadows of  the American Century: The Rise and Decline of US Global Power (2017, Professor Alfred W. McCoy) McCoy traces the roots/rise/decline of US influence in world affairs. Sobering examination of what the future may hold for America and the world.

Thank you for reading. Stay warm while enduring the extra weeks of winter predicted by that preeminent rodent prognosticator, Punxsutawney Phil! Or, get ready for the warmer weather predicted by eight other groundhogs surveyed by Time magazine. Your choice.