Mark J. Heinicke – Page 18 – Forecast: partly sunny with a chance of cataclysms

“I Was Given This Information” (So I’m Not Responsible)

Will It Ever Stop?!?

Sorry for yet another political post, but it’s hard not to comment on the totally extraordinary. Trump’s press conference on Feb. 16 veered from paranoia to grandiosity in a way not unfamiliar to Trump watchers for the last 20 months except for a new, unsurpassed level of narcissism—a level that gets ratcheted up higher and higher the greater the pressure he is under. (I’ll note here that many of his followers were thrilled by his performance; they believe he speaks for them. We’ll see if they believe this in 2019.)

There are so many bolts of craziness shooting from the mouth of the Complainer in Chief, that most of us feel incapable of even enumerating them, much less think of a larger context beyond “I CANNOT BELIEVE THIS IS HAPPENING!”

Continue reading ““I Was Given This Information” (So I’m Not Responsible)”

The Calculus of Fear

As of this writing the infamous Presidential executive order banning entry into the U.S. from seven predominantly Muslim countries has yet to get a final judicial ruling. But whether it succeeds or fails, its main purpose will have been achieved: to instill fear in those deemed undesirable by Trump, Bannon, & Co.

From that perspective, it’s all the worse if the ban is eventually determined to be constitutional. You can do more than just scare helpless undesirables, you can lawfully inflict pain on them. The undesirables could be any group—Muslims, Mexicans, Arabs, etc.—for which you can find some pretext to justify barring them from entry, throwing them out, or jailing them.

Much was made by Republicans that it was only a “temporary” ban. But of course once you have a “temporary” ban, what’s to keep it from being extended in the name of national security? The point is not about temporariness or permanence, the point is about power and intimidation.

Continue reading “The Calculus of Fear”

Why Court Russia? Look to the South China Sea.

If Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s belligerent approach toward China’s activities* in the South China Sea—as conveyed in his confirmation hearing—were to continue, getting on Vladimir Putin’s good side makes perfect Realpolitik sense: squeeze China between the U.S. in the Pacific Ocean and Russia on land.

It’s not clear if Tillerson’s tough talk was mainly to cheer up hawks in the Senate during the hearing. But there’s more than just strategic thinking going into confrontation with China in the area, namely, oil and gas.

Continue reading “Why Court Russia? Look to the South China Sea.”

Holy Coal

Who would have known that fossil fuels are a special gift to humanity from the Divine?

Fred Palmer, that’s who. The Heartland Institute’s ~~holy warrior~~ senior fellow has revealed his elegant chain of reasoning: “Because it’s easy to get to, it’s here and more people live better and longer for it,” therefore “fossil fuels [are] part of a divine plan.”.

This is a guy who says that global warming science is “sophistry. It’s an agenda driven by lawyers who make their own facts. . . . ”

I ought to note here that if you are a Deist—which is the most minimal religious belief this side of atheism—of course all Creation is divine by definition. No argument here. But that’s not the sense in which Palmer makes claims about fossil fuels. He means to elevate fossil fuels above other objects of Creation, special gifts to humankind. Which seems to me a bit dismissive of stuff like oxygen (without which, incidentally, coal, oil, and gas would not burn; oh, but oxygen is used by other animals, so it’s not so special).

Continue reading “Holy Coal”

Stop Pruitt, Zinke

If you’re reading this you’re probably a Democrat, and Senate Democrats are very likely to vote against the Scott Pruitt (EPA) and Ryan Zinke (Interior) nominees, but if you can give them a nudge to prevail upon their Republican colleagues to stop these enemies of environmental regulation, it might help.

I understand both of these characters are now out of committee and going to the Senate floor. Not sure when, maybe today.

“Due to the high volume of calls,” it’s difficult to get through to a senator’s phone at all today, much less speak to a staff member. But you can comment online. Find your senators’ websites by searching on their names. Use the official sites not something pushed on you by Wow or Yahoo.

Thanks!

Mark

Coping in the Data Ocean

Our Oceanic Data Environment and the Paradox of Choice

What is it like to be a bat? is the title of a paper by Thomas Nagel in the Philosophical Review in October 1974 that is widely quoted and discussed among philosophers. But you don’t have to be a philosopher to see that the question goes straight to the mystery of consciousness. Is the consciousness of a bat anything like ours? What about a wolverine, a gecko, a sea urchin?

How does an animal’s environment shape its consciousness? You’d expect that the consciousness of a wandering albatross, who spends months at a time on the wing without ever touching land, has to be wildly different from that of a mole who spends most of its time underground in the space of half an acre.

For more on wandering albatross flight, see this will blow your mind

It’s all very well to imagine yourself a wandering albatross. It sounds like a glorious life, untethered by our bonds to mere stationary places and to people who do not soar thousands of miles at a stretch.

But, what is it like to be a fish?

Continue reading “Coping in the Data Ocean”

Now for Pushback: “Indivisible”

Resistance is not Futile: Coordinated Nationwide Action Getting Traction

Just in case you are not aware of a coordinated national group gathering momentum to resist Trump & Co., check out the link at the end of this post. This group is for real and you can join: local chapters are springing up in places with potential for critical mass.

The emphasis for Indivisible is on pressuring your national-level legislators to. . . well, there are too many issues to enumerate here, but the priority at the moment is trying to save the ACA. For example, here in the Charlottesville area some of our members plan to meet at our (Republican) Congressman’s office Tuesday to make the case against repeal.

Continue reading “Now for Pushback: “Indivisible””

Another Disrupter: Prince Charles

British officials are all in a sweat about Prince Charles possibly confronting Trump over Climate Change when the latter visits UK. White House is telling UK that Prince Charles raising the issue would be “counterproductive.”

Counterproductive!?! Isn’t Climate Change counterproductive enough already without trying to sweep it under the diplomatic rug?

See http://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/trump-and-charles-in-climate-row-d2qwb7962

Giving up on Natural: Do We Need Intelligent (Human) Design?

A ‘State of Nature’ Has Been Lost Forever

[Source for this essay is a Washington Post article by Chris Mooney and Brady Dennis in June 2016: see here.]

“‘Let’s get back to that natural environment with humans out of the picture. . .’—that’s a chimera, a false hope. . . it’s too late for that,” declares Melinda Zeder. co-author of a paper published last year in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The paper, stuffed with anthropological, paleoecological and archaeological evidence, establishes that humans have been modifying the natural environment for many tens of thousands of years. Well, we knew that. . . and we’ve also been exposed to this line of thinking, if not for tens of thousands of years, for long enough to have drummed into our heads the idea that returning significant portions of the Earth to Nature is a doomed hope.

Continue reading “Giving up on Natural: Do We Need Intelligent (Human) Design?”