Decline of the Empire

The Flatland (Naive) View Of Corruption

One refreshing aspect of Bernie Sanders' candidacy is his continued emphasis on the fact that the Clintons (Bill and Hillary) are corrupt. In particular, they have been and are in thrall to Wall Street interests. There is a long, sordid history documenting their strong support of financial interests.

But what is corruption? And how does it work?

These questions arise from some revealing remarks Hillary made in her own defense.

Democratic presidential contender Hillary Clinton said a Treasury secretary doesn’t need to have a Wall Street pedigree to be successful, but stopped short of committing to appointing an outsider to the post should she be elected president.

It’s unclear what the term means to her Democratic opponent, Senator Bernie Sanders, Clinton said in an interview Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press” program.

Here's the key text.

“When you talk about Wall Street, are we talking about every bank or are we talking about a particular part of New York? That’s never really clarified.

What I believe is that there are good actors and bad actors in every part of our economy,” Clinton said.

“You have to have a Treasury secretary who understands the economy” in the U.S. and the world, said Clinton. “I think there are a lot more places where one can and should look for such a Treasury secretary”....

Right! Who are we talking about when we refer to "Wall Street" in this context? And what about those "good actors and bad actors" Hillary refers to?

DOTE Comment Policy

Here you go—

I will not write this blog if I continue to get comments by humans who are not potty-trained.

You can readily see that the vast majority of humans are not potty-trained by inspecting the comments at any major news site or popular website or blog.

For example, if I write a post about my doubts about a "good" anthropocene, and then get multiple comments about "doomers" and associated bullshit,  I will not be happy about that. 

Therefore, if I deem a comment from a human to be smart-assed and off-topic, I will delete that comment when I see it and ban the human in question from making comments ever again.

I assume this policy is clear. I assume my view of humans in general is also clear—they are making a mess, they are not potty-trained. Speaking to you humans in general, you could not possibly even begin to understand the contempt I have for you.

On the other hand, I highly value the good comments I get from the few good people who appreciate what DOTE is all about

As for me "deeming" comments to be smart-assed or off-topic or not, well, I am the owner of this website and my opinion is the only opinion that counts around here. Even saying that is far more justification than I am required to provide to the vast majority of humans (see above).

I will post this comment policy at the bottom of every post I write from now on.

Just so you can't say you weren't warned.

—Dave

A "Good" Anthropocene?

Yesterday I read Elizabeth Kolbert's What’s Causing Deadly Outbreaks of Fungal Diseases in World’s Wildlife? (Environment 360, January 18, 2015). The word "anthropocene" does not appear in Kolbert's report, but that's what the report was all about. Consider the causes of recent fungal outbreaks.

Still, the question arises: why now? Why are we seeing a growing number of fungal diseases of wildlife? Experts offer two possible explanations, both of which may be valid.

Here are the two explanations. Read Kolbert's essay for the details.

Dunno What To Say

Open thread.

Unlikely coin tosses. Bad Hair Man loses.

Single payer universal health care!
Free state college tuition!
Fairness! Justice! Right here on Earth!

Democracy in action, you betcha. At National Public Radio, it's better than sex.

Hillary turns out to be Hillary's worst enemy. Can Hillary defeat Hillary and go on to win the nomination?

Try these on for size — President Cruz, President Rubio

My fellow enlightened Americans, don't follow future trends; be a trendsetter — kill yourself now.

Remember, hope is not a bug, it's a feature.

The world is not devoid of entertainment — at least there's this 

 

The Next Ice Age Has Been Postponed

A new Nature study finds that the next ice age won't arrive for (at least) 100,000 years. You can take that off the list of things to get worked up about. Here's a summary from Carbon Brief.

Around 12,000 years ago, the Earth emerged from its last ice age. As the vast ice sheets that covered much of the northern hemisphere receded, human civilization blossomed, making the most of the relatively mild conditions that we still enjoy today.

In the new study, published in Nature, researchers have worked out a formula for what triggers an ice age to start. The timing is based on two principal factors, they say: the amount of the sun’s energy the northern hemisphere receives during summer [i.e., insolation at 65° north] and the levels of CO2 in the atmosphere.

The amount of energy the Earth gets from the sun fluctuates naturally over many thousands of years because of subtle variations in the Earth’s position and orbit around the sun. These are known collectively as Milankovitch Cycles.

Running simulations with an Earth System model, the researchers find that if atmospheric CO2 were still at pre-industrial levels, our current warm “interglacial” period would tip over into a new ice age in around 50,000 years’ time.

But CO2 emissions from human activity in the past, and those expected in the future, mean the next ice is likely to be delayed to 100,000 years’ time, the researchers say.

The interesting aspect of this study was the near miss in the mid-Holocene.