Two things come to mind when I think about Tucker Carlson; racism and that blank look on his face.  Carlson’s crowning achievement is a repertoire completely devoid of integrity or information.

Trevor Noah put together a little mashup that highlights Carlson’s racism, Jeopardy style.  Click HERE to view that.  And thank you, Alex.

I caught a couple minutes of Carlson the other night and within 30 seconds he said two things that were demonstrable and blatant LIES.

Referring to the power outage in Texas, Carlson said that windmills make up 25% of the Texas power grid and that they freeze in the winter.

A two-second search would have informed Carlson that wind turbines only make up about 7-13% of Texas’ expected winter usage and wind turbines don’t freeze up in the winter.

At least they don’t have to freeze up in the winter.

To prove his point, Carlson showed a dramatic video of a helicopter deicing a frozen wind turbine.  True to form though, the video was from Sweden in 2014.

Wind turbines in Iowa, Canada and as far north as the Arctic Circle operate down to actual temperatures of 22 degrees below zero Fahrenheit because they are equipped to operate in those conditions.

Carbon fiber, internal heating elements, waterproof coatings and deicing kits all work to make wind turbines impervious to cold weather.

Because of the lack of regulation in the Wild West culture of Texas and the failure of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, winterizing wind turbines was only a suggestion, not a requirement.

Texas’ power grid broke down at the infrastructure level of coal and natural gas power plants. Take two seconds and make your own determination.

Did Carlson know none of this or did know all of it and deliberately lie about it?  As always, it comes down to one basic question:  Is he stupid or a lying piece of shit?

Rest easy, the two are not mutually exclusive.

Twenty years ago Texas’ Republican legislators decided to separate their power grid from the rest of the country to avoid federal regulation.  Their power grid is managed by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas with oversight from the Public Utility Commission of Texas.

It’s all a dog-and-pony show of deregulation and privatization.  If only Texans would have seceded their whole damn state instead of just the power grid.

Texas Republicans have repeatedly shown that they will do ANYTHING to restrict voter access, but their only agenda is to deregulate at the risk of their constituents and to thumb their collective noses at the federal government.

Until they need help, like when Hurricane Harvey hit in 2017 and right now.

They are power hungry White men who have repeatedly shown that they are incapable and/or unwilling to govern.

Two areas in Texas with independently governed power grids, Beaumont in the east and El Paso in the west made investments to winterize their power generators and were spared the devastation of this week’s cold snap.

As for the millions of Texans who were clearly NOT enjoying their misery, one of Rick Perry’s more bizarre claims, they fell victim to what has become the hallmark trinity of the GOP; ignorance, incompetence and greed.

Does Tucker Carlson want us to close our eyes to the ever more obvious and destructive effects of climate change and global warming?  Does he want us to join Republicans in their war on renewable energy?

I read that Donnie Trump told some 30,000 lies during his presidency, many of them reinforced in the echo chambers of FOX, Newsmax, OAN and the now dead, Rush Limbaugh.

All of that led up to the Big Lie that our election was somehow stolen by Democrats, which led to a violent insurrection at our nation’s Capitol.

Enough already.  Stop the lies.

Tucker, please stick to your racism.  It’s what you know best and at least, it’s honest.

Reminder:  Extreme winter weather (cold, snow, wind, etc) is EXACTLY what we can expect from a planet on the current trajectory of global warming.

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BY SANDRA GUY

Rumors of gyms’ and workout clubs’ deaths post-COVID have been greatly exaggerated. In fact, new workout clubs are opening and offering more exercise options than ever before. And online exercise classes via Zoom and remote video are here to stay.

So there’s no better time to start honing your workouts to achieve the results you’ve always wanted. After all, March is National Athletic Training Month.

Fitness experts say it’s not just about going back to a gym or subscribing to a series of exercise videos. The key is to focus on your health and conditioning.

The COVID-19 pandemic’s ability to turn people’s focus to basic health and safety regimens have informed how to get fit going forward. Though dubious advertisements and infomercials about powders, slimming machines and will continue, experts say follow these basics:

• Walk — outdoors if possible — whenever possible. Studies show that walking outside, taking care to wear a double mask and maintain the COVID-required six-foot social distance from others, can boost your immune system and your mood, helping ward off depression and unhealthy weight gain.

• Master the basics, including adhering to federal guidelines to get two-and-a-half hours of moderate-intensity aerobic activity to stay healthy. You could start with 30-minute brisk walks, five days a week.

• Build a strong aerobic base with longer, slower exercises before testing intervals or other higher-level techniques. As your cardiovascular fitness improves, you can finish a 60-minute walk in 45 minutes, burn more calories and, if you eat properly, keep diabetes, heart disease and high-blood pressure at bay.

• Your mom was right about this one: Get adequate sleep — seven to eight hours, if possible.

• Give yourself a weekly treat or reward for eating real food, preferably plant-based, such as fruits and vegetables, lean protein from foods such as tofu, lentils and beans, and heart-healthy fats such as those from tuna, salmon and mackerel. Remove the skin from chicken.

• Stick to a routine. Even if you must wake up at 5 a.m. instead of 6 a.m., schedule a no-excuses time to exercise.

Speaking of no excuses, personal trainers — both in-person and on video — can be found in a Google search or by spending an afternoon reading reviews of workout programs.

In Chicago alone, workout clubs offer mask-required, socially distanced classes from 6 a.m. until 8 p.m. in everything from cycling to yoga to high intensity interval training (HIIT). Or look for fun classes such as Zumba, salsa or kickboxing.

Or search for online workout programs that let you build your own workout by stacking 20 minutes of cycling with 30 minutes of yoga and 10 minutes of stretching, back to back, without having to switch websites or click into new web pages.

And finally, find someone who inspires you every day. Whether it’s a celebrity, a singer or a family member, remind yourself that you, too, can become an athlete.