Mr. Catoggio doesn't have a newsletter tonight at The Dispatch. I hope he hasn't had an incapacitating conniption.
For as little as I really did today, it's been exhausting. Brenda, the science team boss, had a fuss about Cherisse, one of the parents, because Cherisse was gathering information about Service Learning Projects without running it through Brenda. I mediated the whole shebang - to summarize, Cherisse was right - because I knew Brenda was really in a tizzy about other, unrelated stuff.
I don't have a lot of children at home any more, but I remember what it was like, and her 4-year-old is a nightmare. She told me a whole tale of having to get the bakery manager and then the store manager involved in a situation regarding ordering doughnuts, and I was thinking "Karen" but just said, "Uh-huh, that's totally understandable," because somehow I've turned into a "Peace Out!" hippie in my late 50s.
Anyway, it seems like everyone is still speaking, or at least emailing, you're welcome. I made pumpkin mini-muffins for the meeting tomorrow. Should have been 48, according to the recipe but it turned out to be 72. Well, 70, after "testing." Maybe there will be some to bring home to Fang and Vlad.
Why do you think Net Zero is unrealistic? Have you talked or listened to any experts in the field? This country has reduced its CO2 emissions by 20% since 2005 and because of the IRA is projected to reach reductions of 43 - 48% by 2035, https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adg3781 . 2050 may be optimistic but I see no reason to believe that it is not possible.
I don’t believe it’s possible, necessary, or particularly desirable—not with our current understanding of physics.
We might have a chance of getting closer if we gave up so-called renewables and went full-tilt into nuclear and nuke successor technologies. And even there, the amount of CO2 released by all the cement production for building power plants…we don’t really have CO2-free replacements for Portland cement.
We could cut our energy consumption, but that would likely be by some catastrophic event that brought human population levels to a few hundred million. Our energy consumption as a species is only going to increase otherwise.
There’s no way we can give up fossil fuels in the foreseeable future, by my guesstimation. They’re too practical in their properties and abundance. “Renewables” are only thinkable as long as there are natural gas plants available to match their rated output capacities Watt for Watt. If they aren’t there, the grid necessarily collapses.
It’s a long story, but that’s a preface to the intro to my views. Caveat, as always, I could be completely wrong and off my rocker and Net Zero may be right around the next corner.
I think it comes down to trust and people seem to have lost trust in experts especially scientists and energy system experts and engineers. Beyond climate scientists, the consensus runs deep through the science community including the American Physical Society as well as the National Academy of Sciences and similar organizations around the world. "Science is never partisan but always political."
Trying to figure out how to identify truth is the topic of the Econtalk podcast this week, in case you’re an enjoyer of intellectual podcasts. It hasn’t had anything to do with climate or environment so far—I’m about halfway through.
Cut and pasted from today's The Atlantic interview with Charles Mann....
"My personal opinion is that there are holidays you celebrate—July 4, yay, the U.S. was born!—and holidays you observe: Memorial Day, for instance. The fact is that when Columbus landed, that inaugurated a series of enormous changes that rippled all over the world.
So if the day were about the implications of those changes, then it would seem to me that Columbus Day could work. The weird thing is that Columbus Day was intended to be a celebration of Italian Americans, and Columbus was a terrible Italian American.
Now, if we wanted to celebrate Indigenous People’s Day, I personally think we could be doing a better job. There are a ton of Indigenous notables. If you ask me to pick someone from the Americas side of the encounter: There’s this Taíno leader, Guacanagaríx, who attempted to negotiate peace and was incredibly generous. We could be putting this day in his name."
Hmm. Not sure he's a good representation of Indigenous peoples as he worked with the Spaniards apparently.??
In the Dominican Republic, the term Guacanagarix complex [es] (Spanish: complejo de Guacanagarix) has been used to describe a Dominican who is considered more interested in foreign culture than in his own country.
Mann’s 1493 has an extensive and quite gripping account of how radically the Columbian Exchange changed China. Corn / maize was the biggest component, since it radically increased caloric intake leading to a massive population boom, crazy transformation of the geography from excessive corn farming, and so on. That’s not to mention the upheaval caused by gold and silver swamping East Asia via the Spanish Philippines.
The “Our World in Data” originals she posted were quite good.
The bit about people succumbing to moderate cold was the biggest surprise.
It makes sense in the context of an aging population, though. It’s well known that our bodies get worse at homeostasis as they age, as well as at fighting disease and infection, and so on.
Modern European folkwisdom says that air conditioning is very unhealthy, as are ceiling fans—one suspects mainly because they’re all associated with Americans, and therefore uncouth and nouveau riche…
That will change eventually, because once people get used to conditioned air year round, they tend not to want to go back. People, like other animals, would rather be comfortable all day in terms of temperature and humidity than bungle around in mildly humid heat or dry cold.
Except....if we're talking ground source heat pumps...always incorrectly described as geothermal heat pumps... then there is the simple matter of their being VERY expensive to install in addition to all sorts of limitations due to the ground conditions, lot size, etc. Installation cost by itself will limit or eliminate their widespread adoption. (Geothermal indicates taking heat directly from the Earth's core, possible in Yellowstone, Iceland, and a few other remote areas, a non-starter in most locations.)
There's a thing nowadays where everyone thinks they've got the silver bullet. They don't.
Consider oil drilling as the methodology. Naturally sedimentary rock is significantly easier than metamorphic rock. But this is a Capital expense ie like solar, wind, oil refinery, fracking.
These could charge batteries as well. And are not dependent on solar days or wind.
It's an odd characteristic of the American building industry wherein everyone that's not in the gig have all the answers. I don't argue any of this stuff.
It's true, especially now with the housing crisis.. All the economists have the answers for building affordable, unaware that this stuff is as much about how we build as it is about the legislative and regulatory components.
There's the recently discovered DNA evidence showing those folks that crossed over the Bering land bridge being Chinese/Mongolian/Jurchen/etc..clearly indicating the Chinese discovered America.
I recall from my childhood that we pretty much all accepted that the original inhabitants of the Americas came from east Asia. We know more about Beringia now, though.
Well, we had a wonderful day at the Renaissance Festival. I wore a Jacobin shirt and a kilt, with mismatched argyle socks. Although Katie noted to family the socks are what I normally wear if I am not wearing black ankle socks.
The best part? I didn't stand out in the crowd whatsoever. There are people who invest serious time in their outfits! Me, 30 seconds. Although this year it took longer because Katie wasn't sure if I had the kilt on font to back or back to front. So I turned it, she decided I should turn it back, so I did.
We wandered about the festival, munched on food (we split a frozen "cheesecake on a stick"). A guy wearing a Hoop dress (he had shoulder length hair) asked if the cheesecake was good or not. I told him I liked it, but he wanted more info. I explained it depended on your perspective. It was far better than any ice cream bar one could get, but merely average for a cheesecake. He thought about that, added that made sense, and decided he'd get one later.
There was a guy in a full Lord Farquad outfit. Someone walked up to him and asked "excuse me, but do you know the Muffin man"? And the two bantered about a bit. It was charming. A big hit this year were large mushroom hats, although if Aaron Rodgers were there he might try to eat your hat.
The shows were crowded, but fun. the falconry was just flat out fun to watch, the equestrian riders who shot arrows were clearly talented, the wheelwalker of death is always fun.
We spent about four hours there, the six of us, just enjoying ourselves. My youngest is thinking next year he might get a costume, although he wants to go as the dread pirate Roberts, mostly because he wears a mask. That way no one will know it is him. I told him I'd buy him a black Jacobite shirt.
Friday night was frustrating. I had faculty meetings until 5pm. Our meeting wanted to have a "story telling" program at 5 (it's an hour away). I agreed to present a story, but I explained I needed to leave before 7pm, was gonna take Katie to dinner. Long story short, they were so disorganized that at 7:01 they announced "Doug will lead us in a song or two, and then Jay will share a story", to which I stood up and announced I would not be, then I walked out. Technically, the 11th was the anniversary of my proposing to Katie, and I had written a fun story about it, thinking the timing would work. A few people were offended I left early. So during joys and concerns Sunday I expressed my joy for Friday being the anniversary of my proposal, and how I took Katie to dinner that night. For those there that night, yeah, they got the message. I also explained we went to the Renaissance Festival, where we "partied like it was 1399", although I reassured folks I didn't bring back the black death virus with me, cough cough.
Yesterday I did laundry, and worked on collecting more names for the research project. I have 12 to go, I am 94% complete on this stage of the process. I was pleased, because the last 25 are all difficult ones. initials only, women (is it their married name or maiden name), highly common names (jones, smith). But I knock them out... I have only three (of 238) where I've admitted defeat and marked them CNF.
Why does it have to be Columbus Day or Indigenous Peoples' Day? Life is messy, benefits and losses are not mutually exclusive. Let's celebrate both at one time!
I think it would be better to have a separate day for Indigenous Peoples and let the Italian-Americans have Columbus Day. We have two Italian, like came from Italy in the last couple of decades, families on my block.
My take is that many (not necessarily all) people who observe "Indigenous people's day" on this day are actually protesting Columbus Day, and would disagree with celebrating both at once.
This is a bit of a sore subject to me, both because I'm a proud member of the Knights of Columbus, and a resident of the largest North American city named after Columbus -- one that ignominiously took down a statue of Columbus (originally a gift from the city of Genoa Italy) that stood in front of City Hall.
There is actually a separate, designated "Native American Heritage Day" on the day after Thanksgiving, which seems much more appropriate and less political.
It's just one more step in humans evolution from wriggling weird thingie in the primordial muck to organic maintenance organism (similar to the symbiotic relationship of the remora to the shark) cleaning out dusty circuitry in the all knowing giant cosmic silicon wafer cruising between galaxies, that sheds excess humans (they keep reproducing so many!) like dead skin cells off onto friendly water planets.
Speaking of human and technological progress, I found this news item amazing too: https://youtu.be/wvZwwnybX_k?feature=shared. Starting from 6:20 you’ll see the rocket landing successfully. Regardless of what one thinks about Musk, he has some pretty impressive accomplishments on his resume.
Good morning. Happy Columbus Day! (Remember that holiday?). Cloudy here with predicted high in the upper 50s.
The mothership is reporting on the embattled (and indicted) Eric Adam’s, Mayr of NYC. The Front Page reports on the “gender gap” — men favor Trump while women favor Harris.
As to the article here, yes, AI is a power hog. The large language models that are the engines of modern AI are highlight compute intensive.
The article starts by referring to him as “the controversial explorer”. He probably wasn’t an Orthodox Jew, so I guess he was an Unorthodox Jew, right?
Commentaries today act as if he colonized the Americas because he had a giant space laser. According to many media pundits that would make him an orthodox Jew.
If he had one, that'd still be more way cool than Elon catching a rocket with his launching pad.
Accounts on Christians websites defending Columbus identify him as a faithful Catholic. it's possible he may have been a "conversos," either himself a convert from Judaism, or a descendant from a convert. "Conversos" were common in Spain, and unfortunately were often targeted in the Spanish Inquisition.
BTW, while I treated your comment seriously, it (and you) still deserve a 🚪
To be fair, Columbus was "controversial" in his time, too. I'll have to read the article, but just from the headline, my first question is whether he was "secretly" Jewish or "unknown to himself" of Jewish genetics.
'analysis revealed Columbus’s DNA was “compatible” with Jewish origin'
Here's your storytelling:
' “If there weren’t Jews in Genoa in the 15th century, the likelihood that he was from there is minimal." '
Why does this follow? There's no way someone from Spain with Jewish ancestry couldn't have wound up in Genoa at any point in the previous several centuries? Of course there is. I could plot out a novel about it in the next few hours, if I didn't have to go to Walmart.
"researchers believe Columbus either concealed his Jewish identity or converted to Catholicism to escape religious persecution"
Converting to Catholicism would not change his "Jewish identity" if you're a genetic purist like "researchers." And again, why exclude the possibility that he didn't know some of his ancestors were Jewish? Some people were obsessed with their genealogy back in the day, but a lot of others weren't.
I lobbied our licensing department to allow summarizing our inspection reports via big rubber stamp with red ink slammed onto the title page saying "Nope". I would also accept "NFW".
"We’re so accustomed to the steady rate of acceleration that we think of it as standing still."
Good insight. Regarding the electricity, we read an article last week for Current Environmental Issues about how electricity generation uses a lot of water, and getting water squared away uses a lot of electricity, and so the usage of each expands.
I expect the information in the article was accurate, but the tone was a little hysterical, with O NOES!!!! adjectives like "massive" and "deadly" and "catastrophic," and, on the other side, unscientific adjectives like "Earth-friendly" for the policies the author favored.
If you’re simply maintaining my narrative, which sounds pretty personal!, it’s still fascinating and a little mind boggling to think about the demands of all the computing power we expect on a steady and reliable basis. Good stuff, and happy Monday. BTW the Greta T’s of the world should realize that they’re not going to get in the way of all this human progress. It’s in our genes.
Mr. Catoggio doesn't have a newsletter tonight at The Dispatch. I hope he hasn't had an incapacitating conniption.
For as little as I really did today, it's been exhausting. Brenda, the science team boss, had a fuss about Cherisse, one of the parents, because Cherisse was gathering information about Service Learning Projects without running it through Brenda. I mediated the whole shebang - to summarize, Cherisse was right - because I knew Brenda was really in a tizzy about other, unrelated stuff.
I don't have a lot of children at home any more, but I remember what it was like, and her 4-year-old is a nightmare. She told me a whole tale of having to get the bakery manager and then the store manager involved in a situation regarding ordering doughnuts, and I was thinking "Karen" but just said, "Uh-huh, that's totally understandable," because somehow I've turned into a "Peace Out!" hippie in my late 50s.
Anyway, it seems like everyone is still speaking, or at least emailing, you're welcome. I made pumpkin mini-muffins for the meeting tomorrow. Should have been 48, according to the recipe but it turned out to be 72. Well, 70, after "testing." Maybe there will be some to bring home to Fang and Vlad.
Poor Kevin W. In Yesterday Wanderland had the conniption fit !
He was definitely in a taking.
Maybe he wore out his editor. 😬
I would be lying if I claimed I don’t miss all the sweet goodies this time of year. Enjoy the muffins!
They'll probably be gone before I can get one. The perils of putting on a hostess hat ...
Why do you think Net Zero is unrealistic? Have you talked or listened to any experts in the field? This country has reduced its CO2 emissions by 20% since 2005 and because of the IRA is projected to reach reductions of 43 - 48% by 2035, https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adg3781 . 2050 may be optimistic but I see no reason to believe that it is not possible.
I don’t believe it’s possible, necessary, or particularly desirable—not with our current understanding of physics.
We might have a chance of getting closer if we gave up so-called renewables and went full-tilt into nuclear and nuke successor technologies. And even there, the amount of CO2 released by all the cement production for building power plants…we don’t really have CO2-free replacements for Portland cement.
We could cut our energy consumption, but that would likely be by some catastrophic event that brought human population levels to a few hundred million. Our energy consumption as a species is only going to increase otherwise.
There’s no way we can give up fossil fuels in the foreseeable future, by my guesstimation. They’re too practical in their properties and abundance. “Renewables” are only thinkable as long as there are natural gas plants available to match their rated output capacities Watt for Watt. If they aren’t there, the grid necessarily collapses.
It’s a long story, but that’s a preface to the intro to my views. Caveat, as always, I could be completely wrong and off my rocker and Net Zero may be right around the next corner.
¯\_ (ツ)_/¯
I think it comes down to trust and people seem to have lost trust in experts especially scientists and energy system experts and engineers. Beyond climate scientists, the consensus runs deep through the science community including the American Physical Society as well as the National Academy of Sciences and similar organizations around the world. "Science is never partisan but always political."
Trying to figure out how to identify truth is the topic of the Econtalk podcast this week, in case you’re an enjoyer of intellectual podcasts. It hasn’t had anything to do with climate or environment so far—I’m about halfway through.
https://www.econtalk.org/misinformation-and-the-three-languages-of-politics-with-arnold-kling/
-or-
https://youtu.be/qXjKIheIKvk
Thanks. Francis Collins had a nice article in the NY Times about a month ago about how to identify truth, https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/20/opinion/covid-vaccines-truth-life-death.html . He discussed a similar theme with Kelly Corrigan on PBS, https://www.pbs.org/video/francis-collins-kle232/ .
Just saw again, Carl Sagans Cosmic Calendar. I love it! See it here. Got in my Screensaver folder now
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmic_Calendar
Sagan...only once every couple of generations does someone come along as well tuned as he was.
Cut and pasted from today's The Atlantic interview with Charles Mann....
"My personal opinion is that there are holidays you celebrate—July 4, yay, the U.S. was born!—and holidays you observe: Memorial Day, for instance. The fact is that when Columbus landed, that inaugurated a series of enormous changes that rippled all over the world.
So if the day were about the implications of those changes, then it would seem to me that Columbus Day could work. The weird thing is that Columbus Day was intended to be a celebration of Italian Americans, and Columbus was a terrible Italian American.
Now, if we wanted to celebrate Indigenous People’s Day, I personally think we could be doing a better job. There are a ton of Indigenous notables. If you ask me to pick someone from the Americas side of the encounter: There’s this Taíno leader, Guacanagaríx, who attempted to negotiate peace and was incredibly generous. We could be putting this day in his name."
Guacanagaríx. Interesting man.
Hmm. Not sure he's a good representation of Indigenous peoples as he worked with the Spaniards apparently.??
In the Dominican Republic, the term Guacanagarix complex [es] (Spanish: complejo de Guacanagarix) has been used to describe a Dominican who is considered more interested in foreign culture than in his own country.
He did work with the interlopers. He was naive and mistaken. And, his name is hard to pronounce.
Also, it's pretty unpronounceable.
Mann’s 1493 has an extensive and quite gripping account of how radically the Columbian Exchange changed China. Corn / maize was the biggest component, since it radically increased caloric intake leading to a massive population boom, crazy transformation of the geography from excessive corn farming, and so on. That’s not to mention the upheaval caused by gold and silver swamping East Asia via the Spanish Philippines.
Also potatoes and chili peppers. Everyone thinks chilis are part of the ancient culture.
Hannah Ritchie is another bright and informative read.
https://open.substack.com/pub/hannahritchie/p/heat-cold-deaths
My simple answer is easy. GigaGeoThermal Heat Pumps.
The “Our World in Data” originals she posted were quite good.
The bit about people succumbing to moderate cold was the biggest surprise.
It makes sense in the context of an aging population, though. It’s well known that our bodies get worse at homeostasis as they age, as well as at fighting disease and infection, and so on.
Modern European folkwisdom says that air conditioning is very unhealthy, as are ceiling fans—one suspects mainly because they’re all associated with Americans, and therefore uncouth and nouveau riche…
That will change eventually, because once people get used to conditioned air year round, they tend not to want to go back. People, like other animals, would rather be comfortable all day in terms of temperature and humidity than bungle around in mildly humid heat or dry cold.
Except....if we're talking ground source heat pumps...always incorrectly described as geothermal heat pumps... then there is the simple matter of their being VERY expensive to install in addition to all sorts of limitations due to the ground conditions, lot size, etc. Installation cost by itself will limit or eliminate their widespread adoption. (Geothermal indicates taking heat directly from the Earth's core, possible in Yellowstone, Iceland, and a few other remote areas, a non-starter in most locations.)
There's a thing nowadays where everyone thinks they've got the silver bullet. They don't.
Kurt.. drill baby drill!
Consider oil drilling as the methodology. Naturally sedimentary rock is significantly easier than metamorphic rock. But this is a Capital expense ie like solar, wind, oil refinery, fracking.
These could charge batteries as well. And are not dependent on solar days or wind.
It's an odd characteristic of the American building industry wherein everyone that's not in the gig have all the answers. I don't argue any of this stuff.
Everyone who has ever lived in a house is an automatic expert.
It's true, especially now with the housing crisis.. All the economists have the answers for building affordable, unaware that this stuff is as much about how we build as it is about the legislative and regulatory components.
There's the recently discovered DNA evidence showing those folks that crossed over the Bering land bridge being Chinese/Mongolian/Jurchen/etc..clearly indicating the Chinese discovered America.
The DNA thing is real. The rest of it is a joke.
I recall from my childhood that we pretty much all accepted that the original inhabitants of the Americas came from east Asia. We know more about Beringia now, though.
Well, we had a wonderful day at the Renaissance Festival. I wore a Jacobin shirt and a kilt, with mismatched argyle socks. Although Katie noted to family the socks are what I normally wear if I am not wearing black ankle socks.
The best part? I didn't stand out in the crowd whatsoever. There are people who invest serious time in their outfits! Me, 30 seconds. Although this year it took longer because Katie wasn't sure if I had the kilt on font to back or back to front. So I turned it, she decided I should turn it back, so I did.
We wandered about the festival, munched on food (we split a frozen "cheesecake on a stick"). A guy wearing a Hoop dress (he had shoulder length hair) asked if the cheesecake was good or not. I told him I liked it, but he wanted more info. I explained it depended on your perspective. It was far better than any ice cream bar one could get, but merely average for a cheesecake. He thought about that, added that made sense, and decided he'd get one later.
There was a guy in a full Lord Farquad outfit. Someone walked up to him and asked "excuse me, but do you know the Muffin man"? And the two bantered about a bit. It was charming. A big hit this year were large mushroom hats, although if Aaron Rodgers were there he might try to eat your hat.
The shows were crowded, but fun. the falconry was just flat out fun to watch, the equestrian riders who shot arrows were clearly talented, the wheelwalker of death is always fun.
We spent about four hours there, the six of us, just enjoying ourselves. My youngest is thinking next year he might get a costume, although he wants to go as the dread pirate Roberts, mostly because he wears a mask. That way no one will know it is him. I told him I'd buy him a black Jacobite shirt.
Friday night was frustrating. I had faculty meetings until 5pm. Our meeting wanted to have a "story telling" program at 5 (it's an hour away). I agreed to present a story, but I explained I needed to leave before 7pm, was gonna take Katie to dinner. Long story short, they were so disorganized that at 7:01 they announced "Doug will lead us in a song or two, and then Jay will share a story", to which I stood up and announced I would not be, then I walked out. Technically, the 11th was the anniversary of my proposing to Katie, and I had written a fun story about it, thinking the timing would work. A few people were offended I left early. So during joys and concerns Sunday I expressed my joy for Friday being the anniversary of my proposal, and how I took Katie to dinner that night. For those there that night, yeah, they got the message. I also explained we went to the Renaissance Festival, where we "partied like it was 1399", although I reassured folks I didn't bring back the black death virus with me, cough cough.
Yesterday I did laundry, and worked on collecting more names for the research project. I have 12 to go, I am 94% complete on this stage of the process. I was pleased, because the last 25 are all difficult ones. initials only, women (is it their married name or maiden name), highly common names (jones, smith). But I knock them out... I have only three (of 238) where I've admitted defeat and marked them CNF.
You had a really fun time some of the time, it seems.
I just went to Walmart. Things are expensive.
Did you mean Jacobite?
AutoCorrect. Jacobite! 🤦
They need to stop calling that any kind of "Correct."
Does Edith "Edit" Burton have a comment?
That was a paraphrase of something she communicated to me. She may have used the word "pshaw."
Or Jacobean?
Here's what I think of when I think Jacobean: https://thefabricco.com/collections/fabric-floral-fabric-jacobean-floral?srsltid=AfmBOopym7bWxQmYxx95GOCzL6HclrOGh1659wMpaJrfhxJ6xsanpRns
I'd put it right up there with paisley and toile when it comes to stylized textile patterns.
Hmm…
https://fashion-era.com/english-sotume/jacobean-era
I'm discovering multiple glitchy stuff in the Substack comments....that's why all the deleted posts...
Progress......by Julie Cadwallader-Staub
I did not just drag and drop.
I did not just haul a burden so heavy
that my hands, arms, and shoulders
gave way
and I had to let it go.
Neither did I just browse.
I did not get on my hands and knees
and join the gentle cows
to slowly sample
whatever the open field had to offer.
Instead, I sat here at my desk
manipulating a mouse
which is not, in fact, a mouse
and I searched
for something on the web
that is not, in fact, a web.
And isn't this how we move forward: with horsepower for jet engines
and candlepower for light bulbs
we take what we understand from one era
to describe what we don't in the next.
Happy Monday, all.
Why does it have to be Columbus Day or Indigenous Peoples' Day? Life is messy, benefits and losses are not mutually exclusive. Let's celebrate both at one time!
I think it would be better to have a separate day for Indigenous Peoples and let the Italian-Americans have Columbus Day. We have two Italian, like came from Italy in the last couple of decades, families on my block.
Good point. I was in a "can't we just get along" mood yesterday.
My take is that many (not necessarily all) people who observe "Indigenous people's day" on this day are actually protesting Columbus Day, and would disagree with celebrating both at once.
This is a bit of a sore subject to me, both because I'm a proud member of the Knights of Columbus, and a resident of the largest North American city named after Columbus -- one that ignominiously took down a statue of Columbus (originally a gift from the city of Genoa Italy) that stood in front of City Hall.
There is actually a separate, designated "Native American Heritage Day" on the day after Thanksgiving, which seems much more appropriate and less political.
I was thinking "celebrate both!" might defang the protestors but you have a point.
It's just one more step in humans evolution from wriggling weird thingie in the primordial muck to organic maintenance organism (similar to the symbiotic relationship of the remora to the shark) cleaning out dusty circuitry in the all knowing giant cosmic silicon wafer cruising between galaxies, that sheds excess humans (they keep reproducing so many!) like dead skin cells off onto friendly water planets.
So, relax. Enjoy the ride.
Speaking of human and technological progress, I found this news item amazing too: https://youtu.be/wvZwwnybX_k?feature=shared. Starting from 6:20 you’ll see the rocket landing successfully. Regardless of what one thinks about Musk, he has some pretty impressive accomplishments on his resume.
Okay, he attached a roomba to a space rocket, big deal!
just kidding, that is some serious engineering chops there.
Good morning. Happy Columbus Day! (Remember that holiday?). Cloudy here with predicted high in the upper 50s.
The mothership is reporting on the embattled (and indicted) Eric Adam’s, Mayr of NYC. The Front Page reports on the “gender gap” — men favor Trump while women favor Harris.
As to the article here, yes, AI is a power hog. The large language models that are the engines of modern AI are highlight compute intensive.
Regarding Columbus: Turns out he wasn’t an Italian who sailed for Spain—but a Sephardic Jew!
https://www.msn.com/en-us/lifestyle/mind-and-soul/christopher-columbus-was-secretly-jewish-new-dna-study-reveals/ar-AA1scxNN
The article starts by referring to him as “the controversial explorer”. He probably wasn’t an Orthodox Jew, so I guess he was an Unorthodox Jew, right?
Commentaries today act as if he colonized the Americas because he had a giant space laser. According to many media pundits that would make him an orthodox Jew.
If he had one, that'd still be more way cool than Elon catching a rocket with his launching pad.
Stop it.
Accounts on Christians websites defending Columbus identify him as a faithful Catholic. it's possible he may have been a "conversos," either himself a convert from Judaism, or a descendant from a convert. "Conversos" were common in Spain, and unfortunately were often targeted in the Spanish Inquisition.
BTW, while I treated your comment seriously, it (and you) still deserve a 🚪
I feel chastened somehow…
As well you should.
Atta boy!
To be fair, Columbus was "controversial" in his time, too. I'll have to read the article, but just from the headline, my first question is whether he was "secretly" Jewish or "unknown to himself" of Jewish genetics.
Here's your actual fact:
'analysis revealed Columbus’s DNA was “compatible” with Jewish origin'
Here's your storytelling:
' “If there weren’t Jews in Genoa in the 15th century, the likelihood that he was from there is minimal." '
Why does this follow? There's no way someone from Spain with Jewish ancestry couldn't have wound up in Genoa at any point in the previous several centuries? Of course there is. I could plot out a novel about it in the next few hours, if I didn't have to go to Walmart.
"researchers believe Columbus either concealed his Jewish identity or converted to Catholicism to escape religious persecution"
Converting to Catholicism would not change his "Jewish identity" if you're a genetic purist like "researchers." And again, why exclude the possibility that he didn't know some of his ancestors were Jewish? Some people were obsessed with their genealogy back in the day, but a lot of others weren't.
In summary, humph.
Good summary.
Thank you. I'm known for my summarizing ability.
I lobbied our licensing department to allow summarizing our inspection reports via big rubber stamp with red ink slammed onto the title page saying "Nope". I would also accept "NFW".
I didn't get a response.
"We’re so accustomed to the steady rate of acceleration that we think of it as standing still."
Good insight. Regarding the electricity, we read an article last week for Current Environmental Issues about how electricity generation uses a lot of water, and getting water squared away uses a lot of electricity, and so the usage of each expands.
I expect the information in the article was accurate, but the tone was a little hysterical, with O NOES!!!! adjectives like "massive" and "deadly" and "catastrophic," and, on the other side, unscientific adjectives like "Earth-friendly" for the policies the author favored.
Morning!
I’m conflicted as to whether reporting is mainly narrative maintenance or groupthink policing. 🤔
If you’re simply maintaining my narrative, which sounds pretty personal!, it’s still fascinating and a little mind boggling to think about the demands of all the computing power we expect on a steady and reliable basis. Good stuff, and happy Monday. BTW the Greta T’s of the world should realize that they’re not going to get in the way of all this human progress. It’s in our genes.
Usually both, but with more emphasis on one or the other at any given time.
Good morning. Happy Monday!