Opinion: The Man Who Predicted Nazi Germany
John Maynard Keynes foresaw the chaos that would follow from the Versailles peace treaty.,by Jonathan Kirshner, New York Times, Dec 7, 2019.
Politics
A Few Notes About the Future of Work
Seems that themes come in batches, the newest theme for me is the old Jetson’s promise of leisure time replacing work, somewhere in the future we’d all work at what we’re good at and there would be enough (food and other goods and money) to go around. I’m firmly convinced that since the dawn of … [Read more…]
Read Sacha Baron Cohen’s scathing attack on Facebook in full: ‘greatest propaganda machine in history’
The Guardian published the contents of a speech by Cohen: In a speech last night at the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), the actor and comedian Sacha Baron Cohen attacked Facebook and other social media platforms for enabling the proliferation of hate speech and misinformation. The speech was striking in its sincerity – Baron Cohen appeared as … [Read more…]
Wreck of the Slaver America – Pressed into the Slave Trade.
From the California Digital Newspaper Collection: Sacramento Daily Union 25 January 1861 https://cdnc.ucr.edu/ Pressed into the Slave Trade.— New York, December 30.—By the arrival of the steamer Canark, from Nassau, N. P., on the 24th, we have accounts of the wreck of the American ship America, on Cape Lobos, with 500 Africans on board, destined … [Read more…]
Could this be Major Duane Marvey from Gravity’s Rainbow?
In the November 2019 Smithsonian Magazine is a fine essay The Untold Story of the Secret Mission to Seize Nazi Map Data, about HOUGHTEAM headed by U.S. Army Maj. Floyd W. Hough. It explores the exploits of Major Hough and his team and I immediately thought of the parallels between him, Maj. Duane Marvey and … [Read more…]
The Observer: Climate change deniers’ new battle front attacked
The Observer: Climate change deniers’ new battle front attacked Robin McKie Science editor Sat 9 Nov 2019 ‘Pernicious’ campaign is unfair on well-meaning people who want to help – expert: The battle between climate change deniers and the environment movement has entered a new, pernicious phase. That is the stark warning of one of the … [Read more…]
Opinion: How Scientists Got Climate Change So Wrong
Few thought it would arrive so quickly. Now we’re facing consequences once viewed as fringe scenarios. New York Times By Eugene Linden Nov. 8, 2019 So far, the costs of underestimation have been enormous. New York City’s subway system did not flood in its first 108 years, but Hurricane Sandy’s 2012 storm surge caused nearly … [Read more…]
The Slave Ship Wildfire
In a series of articles found on the California Digital Newspaper Archive from U.C. Riverside, here is some of the story of the capture of the American Slaver Wildfire as reported in May, 1860, well before the Civil War. Sacramento Daily Union – 19 June 1860 Capture of a Slaver off the Coast of Africa.— … [Read more…]
Guardian: 20 firms behind a third of all carbon emissions
October 9. 2019 Revealed: the 20 firms behind a third of all carbon emissions New data shows how fossil fuel companies have driven climate crisis despite industry knowing dangers by Matthew Taylor and Jonathan Watts “The great tragedy of the climate crisis is that seven and a half billion people must pay the price – … [Read more…]
Attribution Science
An in-depth article in the Oct 22, 2019 Politico magazine on the emerging science of attribution: The new science fossil fuel companies fear – Researchers can now link weather events to emissions – and to the companies responsible. A string of lawsuits is about to give “attribution science” a real-life test – by ZACK COLMAN … [Read more…]