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Aide-Memoire

Will the U.S. Pass a Point of No Return?

August 16, 2021 by sergneri Leave a Comment

In the Atlantic, James Fallows reports on the Ancient Rome and Modern American analogies. Now, chapter four: crossing the Rubicon. Schnurer argues that this is more than just a familiar phrase. And he says that a U.S. Rubicon moment is in view—which would be triggered by a possible indictment of Donald Trump. At the end … [Read more…]

Posted in: Climate Change, Environment, Ethical and green living, Faits Divers, Obituaries, Pandemic, Politics, Racism, Sea Stories, Trump Tagged: Augustus, Catiline, Donald J. Trump, immunity, Julius Caesar, Marc Antony, Roman, Roman Empire, Roman Republic, Rome, Rubicon

Inside America’s Covid-reporting breakdown

August 15, 2021 by sergneri Leave a Comment

Crashing computers, three-week delays tracking infections, lab results delivered by snail mail: State officials detail a vast failure to identify hotspots quickly enough to prevent outbreaks. In POLITICO is a look at how the information management for Health Departments country wide failed under pressure from COVID-19.

Posted in: IT Failures, Pandemic, Politics, Science Tagged: CDC, COVID-19, data, errors, federal health agencies, health department, HHS, Tracking

Belgian city puts brakes on deafening drivers by enforcing noise limits

August 12, 2021 by sergneri Leave a Comment

Ghent authorities threaten to impound noisy vehicles, as residents protest about engines and exhausts

Posted in: Environment, Ethical and green living, Politics Tagged: Belgian, Dutch, Ghent, noise limits, Noise pollution, noisy cars, Rotterdam

The Black Reporter Who Exposed a Lie About the Atom Bomb

August 9, 2021 by sergneri Leave a Comment

Charles H. Loeb defied the American military’s denials and propaganda to show how deadly radiation from the strike on Hiroshima sickened and killed. In the New York Times today is an account of the work of Charles Loeb, an American war correspondent in the Pacific in World War II.

Posted in: Environment, Faits Divers, Obituaries, Politics, Racism, Science, the Anthropocene Tagged: Atom Bomb, atomic age, Black journalist, Charles H. Loeb, Hiroshima, Japan, Maj. Gen. Leslie R. Groves, Manhattan Project, Nagasaki, National Negro Publishers Association, Propaganda, radiation, The Atlanta Daily World, U.S. Army, war correspondent, World War II

Spain bans small boats from stretch of water after orca encounters

August 8, 2021 by sergneri Leave a Comment

In today’s Guardian, an article about the recent spate of encounters between small sail boats and Orca’s off the coast of Spain.

Posted in: Climate Change, Environment, Ethical and green living, Faits Divers, Science, Sea Stories, the Anthropocene Tagged: Cape Trafalgar, cetaceans, ferries, fishing, Galicia, Gibraltar, Orca, sailboats, Spain, whale watching

Ilona Royce Smithkin, Improbable Muse in Fashion and Art, Dies at 101

August 7, 2021 by sergneri Leave a Comment

Over at the New York Times is a obituary about Ilona Royce Smithkin who lived a unique life.

Posted in: Faits Divers, Feminism, Obituaries, Thinking about Tagged: Ari Seth Cohen, entertainers, filmmakers, Ilona Royce Smithkin, muse, nonagenarian, orange-haired, photographers

Why Isn’t the FOP Outraged?

August 5, 2021 by sergneri Leave a Comment

Over on the Atlantic, Adam Serwer writes about the Fraternal Order of Police and their reaction to the January 5th insurrection. The Capitol Rioters Attacked Police. Why Isn’t the FOP Outraged? Police unions aren’t usually bashful about defending officers, but they’ve been conspicuously subdued in discussing the January 6 attacks. … What you won’t find … [Read more…]

Posted in: Politics, Racism, Trump Tagged: activist judges, Black Lives Matter, Black-rights activists, Capitol rioters, Colin Kaepernick, Donald Trump, Fox News, January 6 attacks, law enforcement, looting, National Fraternal Order of Police, Newsmax, Police union, progressive policies, rogue prosecutors, trespassing

Modern Times Playlist

August 3, 2021 by sergneri 1 Comment

Alan Chapman hosts Modern Times On Saturday nights between 10 and 12 P.M., on KDFC radio (and www.kdfc.com), Alan Chapman hosts Modern Times, his curation of modern “classical” music. I’ve been logging the titles played over the course of the last 18 months and present them here as a “Playlist” one can use to explore … [Read more…]

Posted in: Faits Divers, Modern Music, Thinking about Tagged: Alan Chapman, classical, KDFC, Modern Times, music, Playlist, radio, streaming

NUCLEAR BOMBS CAN CAUSE GEOMAGNETIC STORMS

July 31, 2021 by sergneri Leave a Comment

Over on spaceweather.com is this interesting recap of the impact of Starfish Prime, a 1962 low orbit nuclear test.

Posted in: Climate Change, Environment, Ethical and green living, Nuclear Industry, Politics, Science, Sea Stories, Thinking about Tagged: electromagnetic pulse, EMP, high-altitude, high-altitude nuclear blast, magnetotelluric, magnetotelluric survey, nuclear blast, nuclear warheads, Starfish Prime, thermonuclear, thermonuclear warhead, warhead

Roberto Calasso, Renaissance Man of Letters, Dies at 80

July 31, 2021 by sergneri Leave a Comment

In the NY Times: Roberto Calasso, Renaissance Man of Letters, Dies at 80 A Florentine by birth, he was a polymath as an author and publisher (Kafka, Verdic philosophy, Greek mythology) who reached a wide international readership. In “The Art of the Publisher,” his reflections on his decades in publishing, Mr. Calasso was diffident about … [Read more…]

Posted in: Faits Divers, Obituaries, Sea Stories, Thinking about Tagged: 2021, Adelphi Edizioni, ancient human consciousness, author, civilization, Greek mythology, Ka, Kafka, Milan, myths, polymath, publisher, rituals, Roberto Calasso, shared stories, The Marriage of Cadmus and Harmony, translator, Verdic philosophy
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