TGIF 4/15/22

I'm doing only good-week reports today. There'll be plenty of time for the bad-week folks another day. 

Let's start with talking mushrooms. Yep - that's what at least some scientists are saying. It seems that electrical signals sent fungi to fungi via underground filaments are similar to language. Here's a bit from the article.

The split gill fungus formed the most complex “sentence structures,” and Professor Adamatzky suggested that the most likely purpose for this electrical dialogue is to keep integrity between the parts of the mycelium. Mycelia makes up more than 90% of the total biomass of fungi, and the filaments can stretch for hundreds of feet, connecting trees, other plants, and other fungi, so keeping the mycelia integrated, Adamatzky said, could be similar to the way wolves howl to keep all members of the pack integrated.

Other scientists are not so sure; it could be a case of 'seek, and ye shall find' exactly what you're seeking. 

Here's something that's never happened before: On Tuesday, Alyssa Nakken became the first female 0n-field coach in the history of major league baseball. She got her chance when the 1st base coach for the San Francisco Giants, Antoan Richardson, was ejected in the third. Here's how she looked at the historic moment.

Everybody can just see that there are a lot of opportunities in baseball. Sometimes I think we always limit ourselves to thinking what we could do. At least that’s my experience. I never thought that I could do something like this because I never saw it. So, I think, sure, it’s certainly important for people to be able to see that this is an opportunity and they can see somebody that kind of looks like them going out there and coaching in the big leagues.

Seek, and ye shall find opportunities you never thought existed.

Sticking with baseball for just a moment longer, today is Jackie Robinson Day in the majors, where every player on every team wears Robinson's number 42 in honor of his breaking the league's color barrier 75 years ago today.

This year’s celebration marks not just the 75th anniversary of Jackie’s debut but also the 25th anniversary of then-Commissioner Bud Selig’s announcement that Robinson’s No. 42 would be retired across MLB. Ten years after that landmark 1997 decision, Griffey requested and received permission to wear No. 42 on Jackie Robinson Day, and a few other players took part. And in 2009, the practice of every player, coach and manager wearing No. 42 on April 15 became a new tradition.

Seek, and ye shall find a way to change the game.

Moving on, we've got a nine-year-old fashion designer. Kaia Aragon, a third-grader, designs and sews her own clothes, after being taught to sew by her mom when she was five. You can see her designs via a link in the article; she shares them on her mom's TikTok page. 

Now, as a person who had to finish her junior high sewing project during the summer break, in order to avoid taking an incomplete, I can't even comprehend how Kaia does what she does. My project? A denim skirt, in case you were wondering. Which I'm pretty sure I never wore, but at least I finished the darn thing. In August. Ugh.

And speaking of better late than never, 101-year-old Merrill Pittman Cooper of West Virginia was given an honorary diploma recently.

As a high school student, Cooper attended Storer Normal School, taking several college prep courses. While he planned on attending college, life got in the way and he moved to Philadelphia and never graduated. Four years ago, he visited the campus and spoke of regretting not getting a degree. Family members worked with officials to make magic, and Cooper received his degree in March. 

Good for him, and for all involved in making this happen. 

Sticking with making good things happen, there's a new social media platform - and no, I'm not talking about Truth Social, I'm taking about Supernova. 

It is billed as an ethical alternative to Facebook and Instagram, which have been jointly dogged by accusations of ramping up misinformation and damaging mental health. O’Meara wants to test his belief that a growing slice of the population is craving a life- affirming, glass-half-full outlook instead.

What's different about this site? The company puts 60% of its ad revenue in an 'action fund,' and users get to determine how the money is divvied up among several different "causal areas." The target audience for Supernova? Millennials and Gen Z.

And in the end, the likes you give and get mean money for causes you like. Many things could be worse than that.

Speaking of giving and getting likes, I hope you like this one - a doggy tale, with a very happy ending. Duke, a homeless dog, made friends with US Army troops stations in Kosovo. The dog and the troops bonded, with the dog making them feel less homesick, and them making the dog feel loved. 

A sergeant at the base wanted to get Duke off the streets, and worked with Paws of War, charity that helps soldiers bring dogs home. And then, Duke stopped coming by. The soldiers eventually found him, and it was heartbreaking - he had been shot. After emergency surgery and six months of recovery, he's expected to get here this month.

This was a familiar story to me; a coworker went to Florida to pick up a dog that was shipped here from Afghanistan at the request of her future son-in-law, and a friend of mine adopted the mama dog, who also came over. The bonds these kids we send overseas make with these dogs is really something, and so is the love that brings them back together here. 

I'm not a religious person, but today is Good Friday, after all, and so I'll close with the story of the youngest Catholic bishop in the US: Bishop Joseph Espaillat, the 45-year-old 'rapping bishop' from New York City. And why does he rap? 

There was a talent show at this parish, Our Lady Queen of Martyrs, and a couple of the young boys wanted to rap, but you know these secular songs and they had a lot of bad words in them," he told Al. "And I said, 'I bet you money, I could come up with a rap song' ... and they were like, 'Oh no, Father, you can’t rap,' and I was like, 'Watch.' I was like, challenge is on, so I took the challenge."

He says he just uses his talents to speak to his community, the same way Jesus did. Which is probably good advice for many 'religious' people these days, and on  this day.

TGIF, everyone. 

Wondering on Wednesday (v218)

Ready... Set... Wonder!

Let's dive into wonder-land, shall we?

First off, I have to admit to a certain bit of confusion on the whole back-to-school thing.  I mean, on the one hand we've got the president and the Secretary of Private Education telling us that we need to have kids in school, five days a week. And, we also have the president telling us that if we can't have the kids in school five days a week, we should give "the money" to the parents. Which they can spend on the "public private charter religious or home school of their choice." So, I wonder: does the president thing that there's a 'home school' out there that kids go to, take a bus to, like a public private charter religious school?  Or, is having kids in school five days a week not really important after all?

How, I wonder, is putting up a new FBI headquarters, across the street from the president's emoluments hotel, a component of the HEALS Act, the latest stimulus package from the White House and Senate Republicans? I know that many of the senators are against that $1.75B provision, and that the president insisted it get added to the bill, but really? How does that help with testing, or PPE, or contact tracing, or people making their rent, or getting schools open, or anything else?  And don't start with me -- I know the HEROES Act, passed months ago by the House, has more than enough porky stuff too, but this is just one more example of the president attempting to feather his own nest, or at least make his nest attractive for feathering.  I'm getting tired of it - really tired. 

I'm not even going to mention the president's latest obsession or said obsession's obsessions. I'll let you wonder about that yourself.

Joe Biden's talking points for Sen. Kamala Harris have made big news, but for totally the wrong reason. Everyone's all gaga wondering if it means that he's going to pick her as his veep - but what they should be paying attention to are the comments made by Biden ally  Sen. Chris Dodd, who is grumbling about the "lack of remorse" Harris has shown for taking on Papa Joe over his positions on busing back in an early debate. The only thing to wonder here is, when will we no longer have to deal with men like Dodd?

One thing I'm not wondering about tonight? The announcement that President Barack Obama will deliver the eulogy at the funeral of John Lewis; that was my guess and I'm sure it will be a moving, honorable and fitting tribute. I'm also not wondering at all whether Presidents Bush and Clinton will attend - of course they will. And I'm glad the current president will not be there. I wonder not at all about that, too.

And, from the good news pages, we learn that folks have been able to train dogs to sniff out the coronavirus.  A study in Germany found that, with only a week of training, eight dogs were able to smell the coronavirus in saliva samples with a 94% success rate. That's pretty cool, and very exciting given the issues that people are experiencing getting test results back. This could be a game-changer, assuming that additional testing goes well. And while I don't wonder that dogs can do this - we know they're able to sniff out other diseases, including cancer - I do wonder when someone will have success doing something like this with cats.  You know - a new kind of cat scan...

What are you wondering about tonight?

Quick Takes (v49): Fauci, Frankly.

Quick Takes

Many people, me included, have been looking to Dr Anthony Fauci as the voice of reason - the adult in the room, if you will - during the word salad explosions that are the White House Coronavirus Task Force press conferences.

Fauci did an interview over the weekend with Jon Cohen, of  Science magazine, and it's an interesting read, for sure. Here are a few excerpts for you.

He started by letting people know he's "sort of exhausted" but doing well otherwise, adding a laugh on the second part below.

I'm not, to my knowledge, coronavirus infected. To my knowledge, I haven't been fired.

Cohen asked how he's managing the not getting fired part.

Well, that's pretty interesting because to his [Trump’s] credit, even though we disagree on some things, he listens. He goes his own way. He has his own style. But on substantive issues, he does listen to what I say.

He also said that although it looks like he is disagreeing with Trump, he "doesn't disagree in the substance." Rather,

It is expressed in a way that I would not express it, because it could lead to some misunderstanding about what the facts are about a given subject.

He also talked about having to push messaging, sometimes repeatedly, whether it's on hand-shaking, or meetings, or the press conferences. He said the VP is "really pushing" for physical separation during the task force meetings, keeping people out of the room if more than 10 or so try to cram in.  But,

The situation on stage [for the press briefings] is a bit more problematic. I keep saying, ‘Is there any way we can get a virtual press conference?’ Thus far, no. But when you're dealing with the White House, sometimes you have to say things one, two, three, four times, and then it happens. So, I'm going to keep pushing.

And, he said as far as the press conferences go, when there are sometimes more than 10 people on stage and more than that many reporters in the room,  "I’m trying my best. I cannot do the impossible."

And there was this exchange on travel restrictions.

Cohen: What about the travel restrictions? Trump keeps saying that the travel ban for China, which began 2 February, had a big impact [on slowing the spread of the virus to the United States] and that he wishes China would have told us 3 to 4 months earlier and that they were “very secretive.” [China did not immediately reveal the discovery of a new coronavirus in late December 2019, but by 10 January, Chinese researchers made the sequence of the virus public.] It just doesn't comport with facts.

Fauci:  I know, but what do you want me to do? I mean, seriously Jon, let’s get real, what do you want me to do?

Cohen:  Most everyone thinks that you’re doing a remarkable job, but you're standing there as the representative of truth and facts, but things are being said that aren't true and aren't factual.

Fauci: The way it happened is that after he made that statement [suggesting China could have revealed the discovery of a new coronavirus 3 to 4 months earlier], I told the appropriate people, it doesn't comport, because 2 or 3 months earlier would have been September. The next time they sit down with him and talk about what he’s going to say, they will say, ‘By the way, Mr. President, be careful about this and don't say that.’ But I can't jump in front of the microphone and push him down. OK, he said it. Let's try and get it corrected for the next time.

On the current process of state-by-state social distancing or shelter-in-place orders ,and whether it's a mistake to not have this be a national plan, Fauci pointed to the "delicate balance" and to discussions about the "overall impact of shutting everything down completely," and of finding a compromise.

If you knock down the economy completely and disrupt infrastructure, you may be causing health issues, unintended consequences, for people who need to be able to get to places and can't. You do the best you can. I've emphasized very emphatically at every press conference, that everybody in the country, at a minimum, should be following the fundamental guidelines. Elderly, stay out of society in self isolation. Don't go to work if you don't have to. Yada, yada, yada. No bars, no restaurants, no nothing. Only essential services.

When you get a place like New York or Washington or California, you have got to ratchet it up. But it is felt—and it isn't me only speaking, it’s a bunch of people who make the decisions—that if you lock down everything now, you're going to crash the whole society. So, you do what you can do, as best as you can. Do as much physical separation as you can and ratchet it up at the places you know are at highest risk.

Also interesting? The process of what happens before the daily press conferences.  Fauci said that the task force sits down for 90 minutes or so, then move to the anteroom near the Oval Office to talk about the messages that they want to emphasize. And then?

Then we go in to see the president, we present [our consensus] to him and somebody writes a speech. Then he gets up and ad libs on his speech. And then we're up there to try and answer questions.

Cohen mentioned seeing the creative ideas that we're not doing here that other countries have tried, such as taking everyone's temperature before letting them into a grocery store, and wondered if that's something we should be considering. Fauci noted that things others are doing have been discussed, but not all of them can be implemented. Specifically to the temperature-taking, he noted

I think the logistics of that have to be worked out... This is something that should be considered. I will bring it up at the next task force meeting and see whether there’s some sort of a logistical, bureaucratic reason why it can't be done. The rationale for doing it is at least worth serious consideration.

He also said that it's premature right now to talk about what went wrong, and that there'll be time to do that later after it's over.

It's almost like the fog of war. After the war is over, you then look back and say, ‘Wow, this plan, as great as it was, didn't quite work once they started throwing hand grenades at us.’ It really is similar to that. Obviously, testing [for the new coronavirus] is one clear issue that needs to be relooked at. Why were we not able to mobilize on a broader scale? But I don't think we can do that right now. I think it's premature. We really need to look forward.

And finally, the question that everyone wants to know the answer to?

It was asked, and it was answered. Kind of. Take a look.

Getty Images

Cohen: At Friday’s press conference, you put your hands over your face when Trump referred to the “deep State Department,” [a popular conspiracy theory]. 

It’s even become an internet meme. Have you been criticized for what you did?

Fauci: No comment.

Maybe we'll get the real story after the fog of war has cleared.

TGIF 3/8/19

It's time again for our weekly look at good weeks and bad, even if we don't have an actual definition of those terms.

It's sort of like pornography, right? We know it when we see it?

Minnesota's Rep. Ilhan Omar had a good week, I think in the end. She made, for the 3rd time, what most people would historically think of as being anti-Semitic remarks - that's right, the 3rd time - and as a result, the House of Representatives decided that the right thing to do was to draft a seven-page resolution that the House thinks that hatred and discrimination of all kinds are wrong.

All of the Democrats voted in favor of the resolution, Rep. Omar included, as did many Republicans - all but 23 of them, in fact.  The fact that the resolution was drafted in such a way as to protect Omar from being singled out for her specific comments gave her a better week than it might have otherwise been. The question for the House leadership, of course, is what happens the next time? Because it seems almost inevitable that there will be a next time.

Meanwhile, NY's Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez used this opportunity to raise money. I'm not sure whether or not those efforts were successful, but I bet she thinks she had a good week.

Who else had a week?

Space:The Economic Military Scientific Frontier

I confess I was almost certain My Sweet Baboo was kidding when he told me the president was going to create a sixth branch of the military.

Sadly, he was not. Monday, the president told us that he wants a Space Force (Force, not Farce, although...)

At a meeting with the National Space Council, after doing his usual "I Love Me" speech (economy great, numbers great, I'm great, womenblackhispanic employment great) and after hammering home his lies on immigration (including the Dems not cooperating because they aren't being invited to the discussion and their ideas aren't being considered) there was this:

You take a look at the death and destruction that's been caused by people coming into this country, without going through a process. We want a merit-based immigration so that Boeing and Lockheed and all of the people - Grumman - all of the people that are here today, the heads of every company, so that you can hire people on a merit-based -- you know they're coming in -- they're people that came on merit, not on a lottery, or not people that snuck across the border. And they could be murderers and thieves and so much else.

So yes, the president just promised business leaders in the aerospace and defense industries to just sit tight and they'd be able to not hire Americans and instead hire all the smart or meritoriously endowed immigrants, #MAGA #winning and all that jazz, but I digress.

And, you know, just a great group of other executives are here from the top companies. And it's patriots like you that are the reason why America was first in flight, first to the moon, and why America will always be first in space.

You know, before I got here, it wasn't looking so good. Before we came in, I will tell you, they didn't have such big plans for space. Now they have plans. And it's great not only in terms of jobs and everything else; it's great for the psyche of our country.

Which is taking a beating from every ally except Israel, and every trading partner bar none, and every religious demographic bar none, and a majority of reasonable people everywhere who think beyond their own pocketbooks, so yes, our psyche is bigly important. And then he babbled about 1776 economic statistics before getting back on track, or whatever.

I want to also say that when it comes to space, too often, for too many years, our dreams of exploration and discovery were really squandered by politics and bureaucracy, and we knocked that out. So important for our psyche (Where are you? Where is she? Our psyche?)

It's going to be important monetarily and militarily. But so important for right up here (pointing to his 'wherever' -- you know, where the blood comes out) - the psyche. We don't want China and Russia and other countries leading us. We've always led - we've gone way far afield for decades now, having to do with our subject today. We're going to be the leader by far. We're behind you a thousand percent. 

 Our "vital interest in space lost out" he told them to special interests -- "except, of course, for the senators and congressmen here," of course. But the times, they are a-changing.

My administration is reclaiming America's heritage as the world's greatest space-faring nation. The essence of the American character is to explore new horizons and to tame new frontiers (like mail order steak, and for-profit education). But our destiny beyond the Earth, is not only a matter of national identify, but a matter of national security. So important for our military. So important. And people don't talk about it. 

No - not so much. But again, the times they are a-changing, bigly.

When it comes to defending America, it is not enough to merely have an American presence in space. We must have American dominance in space. So important.

Very importantly, I'm hereby directing the Department of Defense and Pentagon to eemeediately begin the process necessary to establish a space force as the sixth brand of the armed forces.  That's a big statement (like my hands, right? Like my hands?) So big.

 We are going to have the Air Force and we are going to have the Space Force - separate but equal. It is going to be something. So important. (dare I say bigly?) General Dunford, if you would carry that assignment out, I would be very greatly honored, also. Where's General Dunford? General? (Bueller? Anyone?) Got it? 

And from a corner of the room, "(oh crap...) We got it!"

Let's go get it, General (loud bursts of orgiastic glee, described as 'applause' in the official transcript, can be heard in the room). But that's the importance that we give it. We're going to have the Space Force!

After that it got really boring, as he went back to doling out opportunity to those immigrant-hiring American patriots, as paraphrased below:

•  we're going back to the moon, but it's about jobs and the economy, and establishing a long-term presence on the moon, and an eventual mission to Mars (it's not just about flags and footprints). Got it?
• rich guys love their 'rockets' and can't wait to launch them and we'll be happy to give them the real estate to do that, they love their rockets, it's all good as long as the rocket is launched by a rich American, har har har.
• there'll be timetables and they'll be aggressive and we'll charge cheap rent for you to use government facilities and let me tell you about the regulations, right? There'll be almost none, I tell you, because record regulation-cutting leads to record-setting profits. They can be really big when no regulations go uncut. 
• we'll be in charge of space traffic management, but don't get too carried away with regulations, again, because (and I quote) "We have regulation. We have a lot of regulation. We have good regulation."
• congested conditions in orbit?  Yeah, we're going to take care of that too.

And then he went back to lofty stuff, about the first astronauts who walked on the moon., and their fearless bounding and impossible doing.

This is a very important day. This is a very important gathering. A new generation of young people seeks to challenge -- really challenge hard - to get their talent and their skills to work (provided there'll be jobs left over after all those meritorious immigrants are hired). And now we're giving them a forum and a platform from which they can put that genius to work.

But fear not, American workers -- you'll be needed to weld things and work metal and build stuff - rockets and spaceships. And there was more, eve loftier stuff.

Once more, we will launch intrepid souls blazing through the sky (hopefully riding a rich man's rocket or something)  and soaring into the heavens.. And once more, we will proudly lead humanity - and that's what it is, humanity -- beyond the Earth and into those forbidden skies, but they will not be forbidden for long.. 

What you're doing has been incredible, but it will be even more incredible - far more incredible - because we are giving you a platform, the likes of which nobody has ever been given before. 

(then I saw her face and) I'm a big believer. 

You will go out there and you will take that frontier (move on it like a bitch and grab it by the asteroid, as it were) which is largely unknown by man or woman, and you will learn everything there is to know about it. And what you're doing is so important - remember - economically, militarily, scientifically.  In every way, there is no place like space.

There is no place like space... 

There is no place like space...

There is no place like space... 

Quick Takes (v24): The Erosion of Science

Quick Takes

We had another rocket science moment in Congress recently - there should be as little surprise about that as there was about another school shooting, right?

Republican Representative Mo Brooks of Alabama tutored a scientist from the Woods Hole Research Center (WHRC) about rising oceans.

The gentleman from Alabama wanted to know, at a meeting of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology (which, under the current state of things, is kind of a science denying committee),  if there were things other than climate change, which is melting ice, causing the oceans to rise.

What about erosion! Every single year that we're on Earth, you have huge tons of silt deposited by the Mississippi River, by the Amazon river, by the Nile, by every major river system - and for that matter, creek, all the way down to the smallest systems. And every time you have that soil or rock whatever it is that is deposited into the seas, that forces the sea levels to rise. Because now you've got less space in those oceans because the bottom is moving up.

What about the White Cliffs of Dover? California, where you have the waves crashing against the shorelines and time and time again you have the cliffs crashing into the sea. All of that displaces the water which causes it to rise, correct?

Um, well, from a scientific perspective, that's ridiculous. Philip Duffy, president of WHRC, noted.

I'm pretty sure that on human time scales, those are minuscule effects.

In fact, according to folks who did the math using long-accepted theories on measuring the displacement of water, it would require the top five inches of the 9.1 million squares miles of the US land mass  - about 6.6 quadrillion pounds worth - to be dropped into the ocean to create the same change in all of the world's oceans as we currently see.

Not just one time dropping that 6.6Q pounds of dirt, and rocks, and and asphalt, of plastic bags and Styrofoam cups and disposable diapers and cat litter and manure and tires and cans and bottles and whatever else we have in the first five inches of the earth -- all of that, every year - to equal what we're seeing in ocean level rise. All of that and more, actually, since the level of ocean rise is increasing each year.

There was a scathing editorial on AL.com, which said, in part, about the rocks falling into the ocean comment,

It would have been comical if it had come from a middle school science fair, but it didn't. It came from a guy on a committee making decisions for the most powerful country on earth about the future of the planet. 

In his response, Brooks used additional logic about increasing ice in one part of the earth but not mentioning decreasing ice somewhere else, logic that one person described along the lines of figuring out how much money you have in the bank by only counting deposits and not withdrawals.

About that particular bit of logic Politifacts waves a 'mostly false' flag.

Random Thoughts: The Time is Now

Random thoughts, sitting on the porch listening to a gentle rain falling, watching the dust wash away from the garden, smiling at reflections in the puddles on the street (until a car comes through and ripples the heck out of everything):

We had another school shooting a couple of days ago. Ho hum, right? We sent out compassion, our "we're with you forever" messages right on schedule. And while our "thoughts and prayers" are floating over a small Texas town, just like they've floated over a small Florida town, a small Connecticut town, a small Colorado town, a small Pennsylvania Amish town, and more, our real thoughts and prayers focus on what to do about it, or what not to do about it.

Because guns don't kill people, people kill people. Guns don't bully people, people bully people. And guns don't wear black trench coats in the heat of a spring Texas day, people wear trench coats in the heat of a spring Texas day. Guns don't get overly upset when someone shuns their advances, people do...  You know the drill.

Similar vein, different subject: plastic bags.

There's a movement to ban the plastic bags we get when we pick up groceries, or clothes, or plant food or convenience items, or prescriptions - they're ubiquitous, the darn things. (And without them, we'd not have a convenient way to get our cat litter into the trash - unless of course we start leaving it on the yards of people who don't pick up after their dogs on our yard, maybe?)

The big blue states of California (which saw a 72% drop in plastic bag waste on a cleanup day the year after the bill was passed) and New York, where the governor is being forced to the left by an actress, are in the thick of it.

Retailers say it's unnecessary, expensive, paper bags aren't viable replacements, yadda yadda yadda...
And this morning on a news report, I heard the ultimate shutdown of these attempts at protecting the environment: plastic bags don't cause pollution, people do.

Another story I heard talked about a requirement, also in California, that soon new home construction will have to include solar panels.  Locally, builders are not excited about that, concerned that the added costs of installing the panels could price people out of the new home market.

So, builders don't price people out of the market, solar panels do?  That doesn't make any sense: solar panels, which are inanimate objects, cannot price anyone out of the housing market, that would have to be the builders, right?

I'm sure I could find many more examples of this stuff, where no 'things' are bad, only people are bad.
Except - -think about it:

• autonomous cars, where there's a driver who fails to take control of the car and allows it to crash? We don't blame the person, we still blame the car...
• technological assistants that spy on us, track us, all that stuff:  we don't blame the person who bought the darn things, we blame the devices... 
• failing airbags? They're supposed to protect us if we get into a crash, but we don't blame the driver who has the accident...
• costs of prescriptions, costs of  air ambulance trips, other health care costs? Blame the companies who make the items, operate the items, sell the insurance, but not the people who are getting sick...

So, then, what is the logic?  Are we supposed to blame the thing when it costs people money, but we blame the people when it takes the lives of others?  Well, no, that's inconsistent - because guns. 

Do we blame the thing when it harms people in some way, outside their control? That works on air ambulance and health care stuff, but it doesn't work on guns when children get shot in schools, people get shot in churches, and movie theaters or medical offices or on Army bases or college campuses or in Walmart parking lots... 

Do we blame people when they're stupid, such as with pollution?  Well, that doesn't work either - because isn't a person who blindly trusts an electronic spy in their homes and then is shocked when something goes wrong also stupid? Or when the autonomous car fails to do what it's supposed to, and so does the person?

I think it's clear. No matter what, there's a person behind everything that's either good, bad or indifferent. And the stuff that we think is good or indifferent can turn out to be bad when put in the hands of the wrong person. And of course, something that can be bad, if used differently, can turn into something good.

But that relies on people to identify the options, understand the implications, and make good decisions, with the best of intentions. And we've seen how that goes, right?

I think we have to protect ourselves from all of those people, and there's really only one solution.

We're stuck with the people we have, kind of like we're stuck with school shootings and environmental issues and science deniers and sexual harassers and religious zealots of any faith who can not just Joe Biden literally but actually literally justify anything and everything by finding a verse in their religious book of choice, and terrorists of any stripe and unethical politicians and and and...

So we have to ban more people.

And we have to start right now. 

TGIF 9/15/17

Finally! It's time for a random thought or two to end the work week.

We've talked before about Texas and how everything there is, simply, bigger. Bigger conservatism, bigger interference in the doctor-patient relationship, bigger everything.

And now, we have another example of 'bigger', one that I am not sure how exactly to characterize.

Apparently, in the Lone Star state, you can have a sign put up along the highway to memorialize someone killed in a motorcycle accident. You pay your $350, and you  provide the victim's name and some other info, and up goes a blue sign with a red cross on it, along with the information you provide. The sign stays up for a year, and it must have the cross, regardless of the victim's religion.  Why? Because a law passed in 2011 says so.

The symbol was suggested by the motorcycle community, which worked with legislators on the bill. The bikers don't consider it a religious symbol; to them, it's a 'motorcycle' symbol.

And the legislators who worked on the bill? They either didn't care that the motorcycle folks wanted a cross on the signs, or they took advantage of it as a way to advance a cause, and now, here it is.

I have to admit, my first reaction upon seeing one of the signs would be that the cross denoted the Christian faith of the victim, and I'd expect at some point to see one with a red Star of David or other religious symbol.

But, that's not going to happen. Because this is Texas, and everything is bigger there. Or something.

Speaking of things that go 'or something' in the night, let's go to Florida for our next random story.

It's now legal for a parent, or any resident, to challenge the instructional material used in schools. The law was pushed by the Florida Citizens Alliance, which objected to a number of things they've seen in textbooks or on reading lists, including such things as:

• political indoctrination
• religious indoctrination
• revisionist history
• distortion of our founding values and principles
• pornography
• downplaying of individual liberties, and
• promoting reliance on the federal government

And that's before they even get to evolution and climate change. Guidance is being developed by the Florida Department of Education to help school districts deal with the inevitable challenges. It should make things interesting, that's for sure. 

Finally, speaking of making things interesting, the long-awaited book from Hillary Clinton has arrived; I suspect conservatives in Texas, Florida and elsewhere are not as enamored of her multiple explanations on What Happened as some others. (The book has been fact-checked for what's it worth.)

She's starting a book tour next week, and on all the shows that matter ahead of that - but I think I'll wait a bit before pulling the trigger on Amazon Prime.

I can't help thinking that the book and the tour and the interviews will serve to somehow overshadow the people who are working to get things done, and that focusing attention on what didn't happen is much less important than focusing on what will.

TGIF.

OrangeVerse XIV: The Apprentice

The working vacation at Bedminster has been a goldmine for poetry lovers. Here's one exercise in free verse, on jobs and women and stuff. With Trump were Labor Secretary Rene Acosta, Secretary of (destroying) Education Betsy DeVos, and the First Daughter.  

This Stuff is Very Hard

Thank you...for joining us today.

And thank you 

all because we 

have been working

very hard on being sure that

Americans have the training

they need for

the jobs in the future.

Namedropping

I also want to thank Ivanka,

my daughter,

for her leadership

on workforce training

and her efforts.

You're working very

very hard

to create new economic opportunities

for women across America

and, actually

for women across the world.

You've been working with the 

Chancellor of Germany

on helping women all over the world.

Enormously Optimistic

In the past seven months

we've made enormous gains

in getting Americans

back to work.

The stock market is

at record highs

Unemployment is at a 16-year low

And manufacturers have never

expressed more optimism about the future.

The optimism

has been incredible.

Moving on Back

We have a lot of companies

moving back to our country.

You're probably seeing that.

Two major automobile companies

just announced they're moving back...

and they're going to build

major plants.

They're looking for the site.

They're putting it out

to seven or eight

different states

and they're going to be

very happy

building in the United States.

It's going

to work out

very well for them.

Who More Than Me?

That's why...

we began a historic initiative

to expand apprenticeships and

workforce training programs

in all industries. 

We're expanding

pathways to success.

So important.

And apprenticeships are one of the

many avenues that lead to the great jobs

completely debt free.

And who knows more about 

the work 'apprentice' 

than Donald Trump?

The Best Part of Waking Up

In fact, under the apprenticeship

you earn while you learn.

So important and so great.

And you love getting up

in the morning

and going to work

and a lot of great things

involved here.

Grab the Brass, er, Ring 

We're also here today

to discuss additional steps

we will be taking to

expand apprenticeship programs,

especially for women and minorities

in STEM fields where

women have been 

truly under-represented - really

I guess you could say

under-represented

for many, many decades.

 You Go, Girls!

Technology has become a part

of nearly every industry

from manufacturing

to retailing.

And we want

all of our citizens

every single citizen

including women and minorities

to have access to 

high paying tech jobs and

other STEM related jobs.

You Are Aware, Right?

American workers are the best

there is anywhere in the world

and we're finding work for them.

They built the

skyscrapers of our cities

the roads and bridges

across our land

and we'll be building plenty of

new roads and bridges

by the way - 

the technology that has

revolutionized the glob

and so much more,

as you're well aware.

 I Like it on Top...

Their skills, talent and grit

have always put America on top.

And we're going to 

remain on top

at a much higher level

than we are right now.

And speaking of now

it is our job

to make sure that

they have the training

immediately!

to lead us to the future.

And I Like it Down Low

We have

great, great hope

We have a

great, great future

in this country.

There's never been

more optimism.

And again, unemployment at

a 16-year low.

Any Questions?

So we're honored to have all of you.

Mr. Secretary, thank you

very much.

Betsy, thank you

very much.

We appreciate it.

And Ivanka,

congratulations on

working

so hard. 

We really do

appreciate it.

Thank you.

Any questions?

OrangeVerse XI: To Infinity + Beyond (part 2)

Picking up where we left off on our new space program Executive Order.

Deeply
Our vice president cares
very deeply about space policy and
for good reason - space
exploration is not only 
essential to our character
as a nation
but our economy
and our great
nation's security.

  Without Space?

Our travels beyond the Earth

propel scientific discoveries that

improve our lives

in countless ways here

right here at home

powering vast new industry 

spurring incredible new technology

providing the space security 

we need to protect

the American people.

And security is going to be a very big factor

with respect to space

and space exploration. At some point

in the future we're going

to look back and say

how did we do it 

without space?

Private People

The council will 

also draw the expertise

of other White House offices

as well as insights from

scientists

innovators

and business leaders...

Many business leaders

that want to

be a part of this.

I think the privatization of certain

aspects is going to play

a very crucial role,

don't you think?

And the Vice President, 

myself,

and a few others

are going to pick some

private people

to be on the board.

I will say 

that's not easy

because everybody wants

to be on this board.

People you wouldn't have believed

loved what we're doing

so much they want to

Yearning

The human soul

yearns

for discovery...

Our journey into space

will not only make us 

stronger

and more prosperous

but will unite us

behind grand ambitions

and bring us

all closer together.

Wouldn't that

be nice?

Can you believe

that space

is going to do that?

Signing

America will 

think big

once again.

Important Words;

Think Big.

We haven't been thinking

so big for along time

but we're 

thinking big again

as a country.

We will inspire millions 

of children to carry

on this proud tradition

of American space leadership 

- and they're excited...

we are now going to sign

an executive order...

And people are very 

excited... and 

I can tell you

I'm very excited

about it. 

Buzz Aldrin

(Infinity -  and beyond!)

This is infinity here.

It could be infinity

We don't

really know.

But it could be.

It has to be something

but it could be

infinity,

right?

Sidebar: Trump in Transition (v6)

In my most recent Trump in Transition (TiT) post, I talked about the POTUS-elect tapping Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt to dismantle, er, I mean, to head the EPA. At about the same time that news came out, there was another bit of news regarding the EPA and what we can expect during the Trump Administration.

As reported by the Washington Post and others, the Celebrity Transition Team is looking to do some data-mining over at EPA - sort of like their version of clean coal, or something:

Donald Trump's transition team has issued a list of 74 questions for the Energy Department, asking agency officials to identify which employees and contractors have worked on forging an international climate pact as well as domestic efforts to cut the nation's carbon output.

Brrrr.... that's a chilling howdy-do, don't you think?

Actually, it looks like there are only 65 questions (one page was included twice in the document) and some of them are logical questions an incoming administration, with limited 'in the weeds' knowledge would ask for, such as:

• a list of open positions
• a list of all Presidential employees requiring Senate confirmation
• a list of reports due to Congress or other external parties in 2017

Nothing too nefarious in that type of question, I don't think. Here are a couple of the ones that garnered attention:

• Can you provide a list of all Department of Energy employees or contractors who have attended any Interagency Working Group on the Social Cost of Carbon meetings? Can you provide a list of when those meetings were and any materials distributed at those meetings, emails associated with those meetings or material created by Department employees or contractors in anticipation or as a result of those meetings?
• Can you provide a list of Department employees or contractors who attended any of the Conference of Parties (under the UNFCCC) in the last five years? (Note: the UNFCCC is commonly referred to as the Paris Agreement, something Trump has said the US will withdraw from, not participate in.)
• Is there a readily available list of any products or technologies that have emerged from DOE  programs or the labs that are currently offered in the market without any subsidy?
• Which programs within DOE are essential to meeting the goals of President Obama's Climate Action Plan?
• Does the Department have any thoughts on how to reduce the bureaucratic burden for exporting US energy technology, including but not limited to commercial nuclear technology?

There are also questions that raise issues with the reliability and independence of reports coming from the Energy Information Agency (EIA), including these somewhat passive-aggressive ones:

• EIA is an independent agency within DOE. How has EIA ensured its independence in your data and analysis over the past eight years? In what instances do you think EIA's independence was most challenged?
• In the Annual Energy Outlook for 2016, EIA assumed the Clean Power Plan (CPP) should be in the reference case despite the fact that the reference case is based on existing laws and regulations. Why did EIA make that assumption, which seems to be atypical of past forecasts? (Note: implementation of the CPP was stayed by the Supreme Court in February 2016)
• EIA's assessments of levelized costs for renewable technologies do not contain back-up costs for the fossil fuel technologies that are brought on-line to replace the generation when those technologies are down. Is this a true representation of levelized costs?

There other questions seeking info on offshore wind generation, something we know Trump does not like (eagle-killing, ugly, China, monsters, etc.).

There are questions about Yucca Mountain, the nuclear waste repository outside Las Vegas; funding for that project was stopped by the Obama Administration. Now that Harry Reid is out of the Senate, there's opportunity for this issue to be pressed forward.

• Are there any statutory restrictions to restarting the Yucca Mountain project?
• Does DOE have a plan to resume the Yucca Mountain license proceedings?

There's more - some of the questions only a Department or Congressional insider, or an energy lobbyist, would understand. But it seems like the transition team is honing in on things that the current administration liked,  that are global in nature, or that are not fossil fuel and nuke friendly. 

Brrr, I say again. 

Throwback Thursday (v1)

Let's go back, this Thursday, to a simpler time.

When men were blissfully unaware of how a woman's body worked, except for two things: "that time of the month" and that a man would put his thingy in her nether region, and he enjoyed it, but only for religious purposes, or of course if the man wanted to assert his husbandly rights.  Men and women slept in separate beds, on television at least, and babies came from storks.

That must be the time where Republican men feel most comfortable.

First we had the one who reminded us that when he grew up, birth control had something to do with holding an aspirin between your knees.  And the guy who wondered if it was possible for a woman to swallow a tiny camera to allow a doctor to see inside her vagina and uterus, similar to how that works to allow a doctor to see a person's colon.  And of course we have all of the different versions of rape, which have been so carefully described by Republicans.

And now, joining them in the simpler time, we have Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker. Walker never went to college, we've been told, and there are some who think that should disqualify him from being President.

Me? I think his lack of sense is more disqualifying than his lack of parchment.

Walker blamed the media's 'gotcha' attitude in response to a question about social issues which some declared or exploring Republican presidential candidates (he's one of the latter) seem afraid to address.

And he said this:

I'll give you an example. I'm pro-life, I've passed pro-life legislation. We defunded Planned Parenthood, we signed a law that requires an ultrasound. Which, the thing about that, the media tried to make that sound like that was a crazy idea. Most people I talk to, whether they're pro-life or not, I find people all the time who'll get out their iPhone and show me a picture of their grandkids' ultrasound and how excited they are, so that's a lovely thing. I think about my sons, 19 and 20, you know we still have their first ultrasound picture. It's just a cool thing out there.

Seriously?

First of all, what the hell kind of conversations does Governor Walker have where "most people" he talks to, or "finds" will flash ultrasound pics at him? And does he really think that the one you get where they rub the gel and the wand on a woman's belly is the same as the one where they stick a condom-covered, gel-slathered probe into her vagina?

Ask any woman who has been forced, by a politician, to have a transvaginal ultrasound, and I'm guessing her description of the experience will not include the words "lovely" or "cool" -- no matter what the Rabid Badger believes. Because, when the test is done for medical purposes, as opposed to political purposes, it's usually to diagnose a problem with the fetus, not to add to a grandparent's brag book.

Can't we ask for better?  Please?