What to say this week? The clock is ticking, in many ways. Certainly the news is dominated by the political scene in Washington DC, with the criminal allegations associated with the Trump-Russia morass. It seems that Mueller is operating with very sophisticated skill, creating massive anxiety. Essentially this is as it should be — an ineffective investigation would do more harm than good. But it is certainly complex.
The major difficulty is that such an investigation is slow, and the climate clock continues to tick. The report by Dahr Jamail is excellent and comprehensive (as usual), documenting the many ways, the increasing ways, in which we are in trouble. Meanwhile the Trump administration continues to dismantle the efforts to respond — sad. And all the more reason to sort the Trump-Russia muddle.
And on the lighter side, some interesting links concerning the complexity of our culture.
All of the this complexity would be fascinating, if the consequences were not so painful.
Global Warming
Dahr Jamail – Scientists Warn of “Ecological Armageddon” Amid Waves of Heat and Climate Refugees (20171030)
Jamail is a very reliable source, and here provides a summary of the current status of our planet. It is not good news.
New science suggests the ocean could rise more — and faster — than we thought (20171026)
Three new studies that indicate the dangers of continued fossil fuel usage, more and faster if we continue our present course. As usual, each report portrays more and more danger as we get better and better data.
Global warming is having major impact now, as well as in the future.
Trump to auction off a vast swath of the Gulf of Mexico to oil companies (20171024)
Continuing our present course, and a reminder of the BP disaster.
The Political Scene
The Daily 202: 10 takeaways from Mueller’s shock-and-awe gambit (20171031)
A comprehensive summary of the revolving issues as of 20171031. Overall, I find the issues difficult to follow, but this is fairly good in keeping me up to date.
Manafort and the Dominoes: Here’s Why Donald Trump Is Losing Sleep (20171031)
Fascinating the ways of shifting evidence and the intricacies of investigation.
Miscellaneous
Rabbi Sacks on Leonard Cohen and parsha Vayera (20161118)
Fascinating description of the last song by Leonard Cohen, and the search for love and peace.
The Improbable Origins of PowerPoint (20171031)
A fascinating history. I was very surprised to learn that PowerPoint was originally an Apple product.
A Very Old Man for a Wolf (20171030)
The complex story of mankind and wolves; sadly the wolves usually lose.
The Human Side of Global Warming 