Showing posts with label Bad Ideas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bad Ideas. Show all posts
Friday, January 25, 2019
Monday, January 21, 2019
CovCath, Twitter, the Trump Presidency and a Nation Unhinged
Saturday afternoon and evening, I got sucked into the apparently fake controversy in which a kid in a MAGA hat appears to be standing in the path of a Native American protester from the Indigenous Peoples march, while his classmates surround them laughing and jeering. I watched the video, and my initial reaction was, "man, these MAGA folks are assholes." Then I saw this video from another angle.
My reaction to the second video perspective was a little different. It hit a little closer to home. First off, seeing the guy in the Covington Catholic sweatshirt made me realize these kids were from the local area, and also Catholic. Secondly, I saw a kid in the background wearing a Notre Dame cap. That is my alma mater. Finally, assuming these kids were ultra-conservative Trump supporters spouting racist crap about foreigners (build that Wall), I felt like I was looking at myself in high school.
I tried to write a post late Saturday night entitled, "In Partial Defense of the Worst Kid In America." The gist of it was going to be that, I, like that kid, was once a super-conservative supporter of the GOP who held some pretty racist beliefs, so there is the real possibility that the kid will grow up to hold totally different views as an adult. That pretty well describes my arc from high school kid who listened to WLW around the clock and believed the United States was being taken over by the Japanese, to an adult who finds conservative politics to be generally racist arguments that Democrats and minorities are moochers, and that social welfare programs should be slashed so that tax cuts can be given to the wealthy. I gave up on it because it was late, I was tired and half-drunk, and I wasn't sure how in-depth I wanted to be about a few of the things I'm most ashamed of from my youth.
Come Sunday, when additional video came out, and it now appears that the supposed showdown was staged by the handful of Native American protesters, I ended up feeling bad that I was quick to assume the kids were being assholes, and that the furor raised by the Twitter mob could end up benefiting Trump's bid for re-election. It is a pretty good example of how easily we can be swayed to believe the worst in our fellow citizens who happen to be in the opposite political camp, and how we can dramatically overreact. Even on Saturday afternoon and evening, when I assumed the kids were being assholes, I felt bad for the school administrators who were caught up in this political firestorm. They were suddenly being overwhelmed with terrible publicity and national media attention because a group of kids were involved in a public incident, and the school was being overwhelmed with vitriol. The administrators had to try to get out in front of the news even though they didn't really have any idea what had happened. After the additional footage came out, the case for feeling bad for the administrators and students is overwhelming.
I am absolutely no fan of President Trump, and I hope he suffers a landslide defeat in two years. I equate MAGA hats with racism. When I saw stories that the additional video showed the kids to be innocent and the Native American protester sparked the incident, I didn't want to believe it. And yet, at the height of the Twitter freakout, when I thought the kids were the assholes in the situation, I was feeling badly for the school administrators and could look at the kid in the center of the incident and empathize with him. If I was feeling that then, you can imagine how Trump supporters will see all of this. It is a massive own-goal for everyone who wants to see Trump defeated.
Yesterday was the second anniversary of Trump's inauguration. We have two more years of this pressure-cooker political environment which will be played out in a brutal election campaign. The events of this weekend will most likely not be the most divisive we'll see. It is going to be miserable, and I'm afraid the wounds to our civil society are going to be even deeper than I believed before. Everyone, myself included, needs to take a deep breath and try to back down the rhetoric.
My reaction to the second video perspective was a little different. It hit a little closer to home. First off, seeing the guy in the Covington Catholic sweatshirt made me realize these kids were from the local area, and also Catholic. Secondly, I saw a kid in the background wearing a Notre Dame cap. That is my alma mater. Finally, assuming these kids were ultra-conservative Trump supporters spouting racist crap about foreigners (build that Wall), I felt like I was looking at myself in high school.
I tried to write a post late Saturday night entitled, "In Partial Defense of the Worst Kid In America." The gist of it was going to be that, I, like that kid, was once a super-conservative supporter of the GOP who held some pretty racist beliefs, so there is the real possibility that the kid will grow up to hold totally different views as an adult. That pretty well describes my arc from high school kid who listened to WLW around the clock and believed the United States was being taken over by the Japanese, to an adult who finds conservative politics to be generally racist arguments that Democrats and minorities are moochers, and that social welfare programs should be slashed so that tax cuts can be given to the wealthy. I gave up on it because it was late, I was tired and half-drunk, and I wasn't sure how in-depth I wanted to be about a few of the things I'm most ashamed of from my youth.
Come Sunday, when additional video came out, and it now appears that the supposed showdown was staged by the handful of Native American protesters, I ended up feeling bad that I was quick to assume the kids were being assholes, and that the furor raised by the Twitter mob could end up benefiting Trump's bid for re-election. It is a pretty good example of how easily we can be swayed to believe the worst in our fellow citizens who happen to be in the opposite political camp, and how we can dramatically overreact. Even on Saturday afternoon and evening, when I assumed the kids were being assholes, I felt bad for the school administrators who were caught up in this political firestorm. They were suddenly being overwhelmed with terrible publicity and national media attention because a group of kids were involved in a public incident, and the school was being overwhelmed with vitriol. The administrators had to try to get out in front of the news even though they didn't really have any idea what had happened. After the additional footage came out, the case for feeling bad for the administrators and students is overwhelming.
I am absolutely no fan of President Trump, and I hope he suffers a landslide defeat in two years. I equate MAGA hats with racism. When I saw stories that the additional video showed the kids to be innocent and the Native American protester sparked the incident, I didn't want to believe it. And yet, at the height of the Twitter freakout, when I thought the kids were the assholes in the situation, I was feeling badly for the school administrators and could look at the kid in the center of the incident and empathize with him. If I was feeling that then, you can imagine how Trump supporters will see all of this. It is a massive own-goal for everyone who wants to see Trump defeated.
Yesterday was the second anniversary of Trump's inauguration. We have two more years of this pressure-cooker political environment which will be played out in a brutal election campaign. The events of this weekend will most likely not be the most divisive we'll see. It is going to be miserable, and I'm afraid the wounds to our civil society are going to be even deeper than I believed before. Everyone, myself included, needs to take a deep breath and try to back down the rhetoric.
Monday, January 7, 2019
Early January Links
It looks like the National Championship game might end up 54-52 or something. Here are a few links for your reading pleasure:
The Ball Family Circus Comes To Ohio - Deadspin
Chicago Catholics struggle to build future with fewer priests as parishes shrink, cash dwindles – Chicago Tribune. Not surprising, but kind of sad anyway.
St. Louis city and county: Divorced in 1876. Remarried in 2020? – St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The massive number of municipalities in St. Louis County is crazy. One only has 13 residents.
Wettest-Year Records for 2018, Take Two – Weather Underground. So much rain.
Scientists Have 'Hacked Photosynthesis' In Search Of More Productive Crops - The Salt
Putin says Russia will supply soy beans, poultry meat to China – Reuters. Probably just bullshit to rock the boat politically, but we really are shooting ourselves in the foot.
The Farm Bureau: Big Oil’s Unnoticed Ally Fighting Climate Science and Policy – Inside Climate News
Fracking’s Secret Problem—Oil Wells Aren’t Producing as Much as Forecast – Wall Street Journal
Trump Has Promised to Bring Jobs Back. His Tariffs Threaten to Send Them Away. - New York Times. The steel and aluminum tariffs just punish metal consuming manufacturers. More foot-shooting.
How Mark Burnett Resurrected Donald Trump as an Icon of American Success – The New Yorker
Donald Trump Was Never Vetted - New York Magazine. When people are voting for him because The Apprentice convinced them that Trump is a genius businessman, I'm not sure more vetting was going to convince them he's a fuckup.
American Exceptionalism Is a Dangerous Myth – New York Magazine.
The Businesspeople Who Have Helped Enable Steve King’s Rise - Iowa Informer. Looks like a who's who of Iowa business.
This Map Shows Where in the World the U.S. Military Is Combatting Terrorism – Smithsonian. It would almost be easier to show where the U.S. military isn't.
The Ball Family Circus Comes To Ohio - Deadspin
Chicago Catholics struggle to build future with fewer priests as parishes shrink, cash dwindles – Chicago Tribune. Not surprising, but kind of sad anyway.
St. Louis city and county: Divorced in 1876. Remarried in 2020? – St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The massive number of municipalities in St. Louis County is crazy. One only has 13 residents.
Wettest-Year Records for 2018, Take Two – Weather Underground. So much rain.
Scientists Have 'Hacked Photosynthesis' In Search Of More Productive Crops - The Salt
Putin says Russia will supply soy beans, poultry meat to China – Reuters. Probably just bullshit to rock the boat politically, but we really are shooting ourselves in the foot.
The Farm Bureau: Big Oil’s Unnoticed Ally Fighting Climate Science and Policy – Inside Climate News
Fracking’s Secret Problem—Oil Wells Aren’t Producing as Much as Forecast – Wall Street Journal
Trump Has Promised to Bring Jobs Back. His Tariffs Threaten to Send Them Away. - New York Times. The steel and aluminum tariffs just punish metal consuming manufacturers. More foot-shooting.
How Mark Burnett Resurrected Donald Trump as an Icon of American Success – The New Yorker
Donald Trump Was Never Vetted - New York Magazine. When people are voting for him because The Apprentice convinced them that Trump is a genius businessman, I'm not sure more vetting was going to convince them he's a fuckup.
American Exceptionalism Is a Dangerous Myth – New York Magazine.
The Businesspeople Who Have Helped Enable Steve King’s Rise - Iowa Informer. Looks like a who's who of Iowa business.
This Map Shows Where in the World the U.S. Military Is Combatting Terrorism – Smithsonian. It would almost be easier to show where the U.S. military isn't.
Thursday, January 3, 2019
Deep Tunnel, Deep Trouble?
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| credit: Lisa Larson-Walker |
Slate has a nice piece which takes a look at the Chicago Deep Tunnel sewer project (formerly the TARP), and the challenges it faces keeping up with the greater intensity rains which appear to be a part of climate change. The project scale is massive:
Altogether, 109 miles of subway-size tunnel lie beneath Chicago and its suburbs, covering more miles than the L, culminating in three suburban reservoirs (not the kind you drink from)...The gist of the project is that many of Chicago's sewers handle both sewage and stormwater. When the city would get almost any rain, the sewers would be overwhelmed, basements would be flooded with sewage, and untreated waste would be dumped in the rivers. So the city came up with this crazy project to build giant tunnels a couple hundred feet underground to divert the excess flow to giant reservoirs to hold it until it could be pumped through the treatment plant, where it would be treated and released. Obviously, the cost of such a program is astronomical. On top of the cost, the changing climate has been a game-changer:
Fitzpatrick drives me to McCook Reservoir, the mammoth holding pen, opened in late 2017, for the tunnels that run beneath the Chicago and Des Plaines rivers. We stand on the edge of a pit that can hold 3.5 billion gallons of wastewater, enough to fill the Empire State Building and then some. It doesn’t smell terrible, thanks to floating aerators and because the pool has dwindled to 30 feet deep—Friday’s leftovers from a half-inch of rain on Tuesday. At the far end we can see the circular tunnel mouth leading downtown. The city’s wastewater netherworld has its own Chicago-centric measurement system. Lake Michigan is elevation 0. The pumping-station control room, on a little hillock, is +25, or 25 feet above the lake. The roaring motors that empty McCook after the rain sit at -297, 30 stories below ground.Behind us, the second section of McCook—which will more than double the holding capacity of the Mainstream Tunnel—is being excavated by gigantic mining trucks. Vulcan Materials, the country’s largest vendor of crushed rock, is digging millions of cubic yards of limestone out of the ground.
“The large and costly deep tunnel-reservoir system in Chicago is not adequate” to handle 50-year storms, Changnon wrote of the impacts from a September 2008 storm that caused the evacuation of more than 10,000 homes in the region. The Chicago Tribune reported that in the four years after the tunnels were completed in 2006, the MWRD released nearly 19 billion gallons of stormwater into Lake Michigan compared to 12 billion gallons in the preceding 22 years. Similarly, there have been 24 incidents of sewer overflow in the lake since the first tunnel came online in 1985, compared to about 21 in the previous 40 years. Then, in February 2018, after McCook had opened, tripling the capacity of the main tunnel, a big rainstorm filled the new 3.5 billion-gallon reservoir and sent another 3.8 billion gallons of sewage into local waterways....By the time I visited in November, McCook Reservoir had filled to capacity five separate times. Chicago’s multibillion-dollar anti-flooding system is already struggling to keep up with the region’s larger and more frequent storms.As the article notes, the change in storm intensity over the 50-year construction timeframe exceeded the designers' imaginations. The scary part is that the combined sewers were also a result of lack of foresight by their designers. They were glad at that time to get the sewage out of the gutters and away from the city. Later, they had to re-engineer the Chicago River so that the sewage wouldn't foul the water intakes and cause disease outbreaks. Then, development caused massive flooding because the sewers weren't able to handle the increases in runoff from all of the pavement laid over the formerly pervious soil. Now that they have designed a system to handle the overflows, climate change is causing more intense rainstorms with longer durations. None of our storm infrastructure is built for it. I've been out of the civil field for almost 10 years, so I'm not even sure if the powers-that-be have even tried to grapple with what our design standards should be under the new climate regime. That should terrify people. It sure does me.
Sunday, June 17, 2018
Mid-June Links, Part II
More stories for you, as I avoid working in the heat:
This ex-Detroit football player is vowing to become a nun - Detroit Free Press
Ashes of an industry: A Pennsylvania tradition is dying, one baseball bat at a time - Philadelphia Inquirer
No more cathode ray tubes from China, says Trump Administration - Asia Times
Philadelphia Shipyard Struggles to Survive on Order Drought - Wall Street Journal. Calling Donald Trump....
Billions in U.S. solar projects shelved after Trump panel tariff - Reuters. I guess if your goal is to bail out coal, this is a win. If your goal is to have a sane energy policy, this is idiotic.
When North Dakota Farmers Blew up Partisan Politics - Zocalo Public Square. Nonpartisan League. I knew North Dakota has a State Bank. I didn't realize they have an elevator and flour mill.
The Failed State of Franklin - ThoughtCo
The bishop and the brothels – Wellcome Collection
Farm Bill Targets Food Stamps -- But Not Handouts to Well-Off Farmers – Governing. For Republicans, that is a feature, not a bug.
Lone Star Rising - Fortune. Fracking in the Permian Basin. The avoidance of Peak Oil means we will probably drill until the climate is completely wrecked. It might be a good think I don't have kids.
T. Boone Pickens on Selling the Ranch - Texas Monthly
How Anna Delvey Tricked New York's Party People - The Cut
These Harvard Kids Got The Lesson of Their Lives in the Heartland - New York Post. A noble effort, but I don't know how much can be gleaned by these junkets.
The Strange Case of the Missing Joyce Scholar – New York Times. The line between genius and madness is often blurry.
America’s Largest Private Company Reboots a 153-Year-Old Strategy – Bloomberg
This ex-Detroit football player is vowing to become a nun - Detroit Free Press
Ashes of an industry: A Pennsylvania tradition is dying, one baseball bat at a time - Philadelphia Inquirer
No more cathode ray tubes from China, says Trump Administration - Asia Times
Philadelphia Shipyard Struggles to Survive on Order Drought - Wall Street Journal. Calling Donald Trump....
Billions in U.S. solar projects shelved after Trump panel tariff - Reuters. I guess if your goal is to bail out coal, this is a win. If your goal is to have a sane energy policy, this is idiotic.
When North Dakota Farmers Blew up Partisan Politics - Zocalo Public Square. Nonpartisan League. I knew North Dakota has a State Bank. I didn't realize they have an elevator and flour mill.
The Failed State of Franklin - ThoughtCo
The bishop and the brothels – Wellcome Collection
Farm Bill Targets Food Stamps -- But Not Handouts to Well-Off Farmers – Governing. For Republicans, that is a feature, not a bug.
Lone Star Rising - Fortune. Fracking in the Permian Basin. The avoidance of Peak Oil means we will probably drill until the climate is completely wrecked. It might be a good think I don't have kids.
T. Boone Pickens on Selling the Ranch - Texas Monthly
The preventable tragedy of D’ashon Morris – Dallas Morning News. Think of this when you hear Republicans say they are pro-life.
How Anna Delvey Tricked New York's Party People - The Cut
These Harvard Kids Got The Lesson of Their Lives in the Heartland - New York Post. A noble effort, but I don't know how much can be gleaned by these junkets.
The Strange Case of the Missing Joyce Scholar – New York Times. The line between genius and madness is often blurry.
America’s Largest Private Company Reboots a 153-Year-Old Strategy – Bloomberg
Tuesday, June 12, 2018
Mid-June Links, Part I
That's right, I'm not dead yet. I was just busy side dressing corn, baling hay, going to graduation parties, working at the town festival, celebrating my birthday and generally sitting around. Here are a bunch of stories to try to make it up to you, with more to come tomorrow (or maybe the next few days):
Why Canadian milk infuriates Donald Trump - The Guardian. After years of getting crushed, Canada's system probably sounds pretty appealing to U.S. dairymen.
Crisis on the High Plains: The Loss of America's Largest Aquifer - The Ogallala - University of Denver Water Law Review. U.S. agriculture creates so many of its own problems.
Plants repeatedly got rid of their ability to obtain their own nitrogen - Ars Technica
New tariffs spark fears in WNY: 'It makes me a lot less competitive' - Buffalo News
A Senior White House Official Defines the Trump Doctrine: ‘We’re America, Bitch’ - The Atlantic. I'm sure that'll work out well for us.
Trump’s Got a Crazy New Plan to Save the Dying Coal Industry - Mother Jones. There is never a shortage of terrible ideas in this administration.
Emails show cooperation among EPA, climate-change deniers - AP. Also, corruption.
‘He Pretty Much Gave In to Whatever They Asked For’ - Politico. Our Negotiator-in-Chief. You have to read about The Art of the Deal and The Apprentice.
Catholic sister's retirement marks end of Sisters of Charity affiliation with Sacred Heart - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. There is a lot of this going on.
Trump’s Right-Hand Troll - The Atlantic. America's most famous Duke alum.
America’s Boxcar Pool Has a Leak in CSX - Wall Street Journal
The Engines of the Largest Container Ships in the World, and Challenges their Manufacturers Face - Wolf Street. You have to click through to see the crankshaft photo.
What Unites and Divides Urban, Suburban and Rural Communities - Pew Research Center
US rivers drawn to show average annual flow - Map Porn (via Lynn Sosnoskie)
Why Canadian milk infuriates Donald Trump - The Guardian. After years of getting crushed, Canada's system probably sounds pretty appealing to U.S. dairymen.
Crisis on the High Plains: The Loss of America's Largest Aquifer - The Ogallala - University of Denver Water Law Review. U.S. agriculture creates so many of its own problems.
Plants repeatedly got rid of their ability to obtain their own nitrogen - Ars Technica
New tariffs spark fears in WNY: 'It makes me a lot less competitive' - Buffalo News
A Senior White House Official Defines the Trump Doctrine: ‘We’re America, Bitch’ - The Atlantic. I'm sure that'll work out well for us.
Trump’s Got a Crazy New Plan to Save the Dying Coal Industry - Mother Jones. There is never a shortage of terrible ideas in this administration.
Emails show cooperation among EPA, climate-change deniers - AP. Also, corruption.
‘He Pretty Much Gave In to Whatever They Asked For’ - Politico. Our Negotiator-in-Chief. You have to read about The Art of the Deal and The Apprentice.
Catholic sister's retirement marks end of Sisters of Charity affiliation with Sacred Heart - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. There is a lot of this going on.
Trump’s Right-Hand Troll - The Atlantic. America's most famous Duke alum.
America’s Boxcar Pool Has a Leak in CSX - Wall Street Journal
The Engines of the Largest Container Ships in the World, and Challenges their Manufacturers Face - Wolf Street. You have to click through to see the crankshaft photo.
What Unites and Divides Urban, Suburban and Rural Communities - Pew Research Center
US rivers drawn to show average annual flow - Map Porn (via Lynn Sosnoskie)
Sunday, April 29, 2018
End of April Weekend Links
I was finally ready to start planting this afternoon, and wouldn't you know it, we had a technology malfunction and I didn't get a single seed in the ground. I did find these stories over the last few days, though:
The history of the song "Louie Louie" - Marketplace. An important FBI investigation.
EU agrees total ban on bee-harming pesticides - Guardian
Rural Lands At Risk As Ranchers Prepare For Retirement - The Salt
Rural Kansas is dying. I drove 1,800 miles to find out why - The New Food Economy. It goes a little over the top, but brings up some brutal statistics.
Rural Teachers Working Second Jobs, Struggling To Make Ends Meet – CBS Denver
The last man who knew everything – The Week
A High Schooler Has Upended a Fundamental Chemistry Theory - Inverse
Did Math Kill God? – The New Republic
There Are Holes In Elon Musk's Plans To Tunnel Through L.A. With Boring Co. - Forbes
The Myth That Markets Get Prices Right Won’t Die – Bloomberg. Goddamn vampire theory. Pound a wooden stake in its heart.
Life on the Oil Frontier - Longreads
Annual Figures Show Slight Rise in Rural Jobs, But Gap With Metro Widens – Daily Yonder
The history of the song "Louie Louie" - Marketplace. An important FBI investigation.
EU agrees total ban on bee-harming pesticides - Guardian
Rural Lands At Risk As Ranchers Prepare For Retirement - The Salt
Rural Kansas is dying. I drove 1,800 miles to find out why - The New Food Economy. It goes a little over the top, but brings up some brutal statistics.
Rural Teachers Working Second Jobs, Struggling To Make Ends Meet – CBS Denver
The last man who knew everything – The Week
A High Schooler Has Upended a Fundamental Chemistry Theory - Inverse
Did Math Kill God? – The New Republic
There Are Holes In Elon Musk's Plans To Tunnel Through L.A. With Boring Co. - Forbes
The Myth That Markets Get Prices Right Won’t Die – Bloomberg. Goddamn vampire theory. Pound a wooden stake in its heart.
Life on the Oil Frontier - Longreads
Annual Figures Show Slight Rise in Rural Jobs, But Gap With Metro Widens – Daily Yonder
Wednesday, April 25, 2018
Last of April Mid-Week Links
More stories for you:
The Mobster Who Bought His Son a Hockey Team – The Atlantic. This is as good as it sounds.
ESPN Fawns Over The Intelligence Of Trevor Bauer, Who Is A Big Dumb Asshole - Deadspin. I really have no opinion about Trevor Bauer, but this made me laugh, and the twitter exchange is amazing.
Yangxiang aims high with sows on many floors – Pig Progress. I have no idea if this is true, but if it is, it sounds like a horror show.
Remembering the ‘Spooky Wisdom’ of Our Agrarian Past – The American Conservative. I still don't think the phase of the moon has anything to do with setting fence posts.
Bosch Says It's Made a Breakthrough That Can Save Diesel Engines – Bloomberg
The Key to Everything - New York Review of Books
The Renegade Sheriffs – The New Yorker
Church of the Donald – Politico and Maybe It’s Time to Admit That The “Grotesque Caricature” of White Evangelicals is the Reality - Religion Dispatches. These bother me more than most things Donald.
Why Trump Gets Away With Lying – Bloomberg. This makes an important point. I have a hard time talking about Trump without saying, "dumbfuck" or "suckers," but that isn't going to sway any of his supporters, and probably will just make them dig in their heels deeper. That's a challenging situation that requires more of me (and is one of the reasons I haven't written much about Trump).
Mick Mulvaney Says the Quiet Part Out Loud – The Atlantic. Yeah, draining the swamp.
The Reinvention of America – James Fallows. He's more optimistic than I am, but that is a good thing (honestly, it is often hard to be more pessimistic than me).
This animal kills more people in a day than sharks do in a century – Gatesnotes. Trump is far from alone when it comes to freaking out about sharks.
The Mobster Who Bought His Son a Hockey Team – The Atlantic. This is as good as it sounds.
ESPN Fawns Over The Intelligence Of Trevor Bauer, Who Is A Big Dumb Asshole - Deadspin. I really have no opinion about Trevor Bauer, but this made me laugh, and the twitter exchange is amazing.
Yangxiang aims high with sows on many floors – Pig Progress. I have no idea if this is true, but if it is, it sounds like a horror show.
Remembering the ‘Spooky Wisdom’ of Our Agrarian Past – The American Conservative. I still don't think the phase of the moon has anything to do with setting fence posts.
Bosch Says It's Made a Breakthrough That Can Save Diesel Engines – Bloomberg
The Key to Everything - New York Review of Books
The Renegade Sheriffs – The New Yorker
Church of the Donald – Politico and Maybe It’s Time to Admit That The “Grotesque Caricature” of White Evangelicals is the Reality - Religion Dispatches. These bother me more than most things Donald.
Why Trump Gets Away With Lying – Bloomberg. This makes an important point. I have a hard time talking about Trump without saying, "dumbfuck" or "suckers," but that isn't going to sway any of his supporters, and probably will just make them dig in their heels deeper. That's a challenging situation that requires more of me (and is one of the reasons I haven't written much about Trump).
Mick Mulvaney Says the Quiet Part Out Loud – The Atlantic. Yeah, draining the swamp.
The Reinvention of America – James Fallows. He's more optimistic than I am, but that is a good thing (honestly, it is often hard to be more pessimistic than me).
This animal kills more people in a day than sharks do in a century – Gatesnotes. Trump is far from alone when it comes to freaking out about sharks.
Friday, April 20, 2018
Sunday, April 8, 2018
Early April Weekend Links
Here are a few stories from the last few days:
Playing for Pop - San Antonio Express-News
The Broncos’ Futures program saved football in Denver Public Schools. But an even bigger impact of the feeder teams might still be seen- Denver Post
“The Clock Is Ticking”: Inside the Worst U.S. Maritime Disaster in Decades – Vanity Fair. I highly recommend this article.
So 2 Goats Were Stuck On A Beam Under A Bridge ... - Goats and Soda
Iowa producers say ethanol limits would be 'war' on rural U.S. - Des Moines Register
The Great Lakes Are Filling Up With Giant Green Blobs - Mother Jones
AP sources: EPA chief spent millions on security and travel - Associated Press. Scott Pruitt is an asshat.
Humankind’s Most Important Material - The Atlantic
How Congress Used the Post Office to Unite the Nation – Bloomberg
The Future of America's Economy Looks a Lot Like Elkhart, Indiana - Wall Street Journal. People are crazy, and this boom will end in tears.
Have we reached peak English in the world? - The Guardian and Brits are in denial about their diminishing importance – Handelsblatt
A Betrayal - ProPublica. This is an awful mess.
There's no good reason to stop felons from voting - George Will (?!)
How One Man Got Rich Selling Machine Guns – Bloomberg. Another terrible investment idea.
Playing for Pop - San Antonio Express-News
The Broncos’ Futures program saved football in Denver Public Schools. But an even bigger impact of the feeder teams might still be seen- Denver Post
“The Clock Is Ticking”: Inside the Worst U.S. Maritime Disaster in Decades – Vanity Fair. I highly recommend this article.
So 2 Goats Were Stuck On A Beam Under A Bridge ... - Goats and Soda
Iowa producers say ethanol limits would be 'war' on rural U.S. - Des Moines Register
The Great Lakes Are Filling Up With Giant Green Blobs - Mother Jones
AP sources: EPA chief spent millions on security and travel - Associated Press. Scott Pruitt is an asshat.
Humankind’s Most Important Material - The Atlantic
How Congress Used the Post Office to Unite the Nation – Bloomberg
The Future of America's Economy Looks a Lot Like Elkhart, Indiana - Wall Street Journal. People are crazy, and this boom will end in tears.
Have we reached peak English in the world? - The Guardian and Brits are in denial about their diminishing importance – Handelsblatt
A Betrayal - ProPublica. This is an awful mess.
There's no good reason to stop felons from voting - George Will (?!)
How One Man Got Rich Selling Machine Guns – Bloomberg. Another terrible investment idea.
Wednesday, April 4, 2018
4/4 Mainly Ag Links
I've had some time at work to find links, so I've got some more today:
GMO Yeast Mimics Flavors Of Hops, But Will Craft Brewers Bite? – The Salt
A Novel Virus Killed 24,000 Piglets In China. Where Did It Come From? – Goats and Soda
Lawsuit Targeting Smelly Hog Feces Pits in North Carolina Moving Forward – Modern Farmer
When the Death of a Family Farm Leads to Suicide – NYT
What this Silicon Valley VC learned on the ‘Rust Belt Safari’ – Recode
Scott Walker Dismayed That Wisconsin Apparently Smarter Despite Cuts in Education – Borowitz Report. A little humor for you.
The Whitewashing of King’s Assassination - The Atlantic
The Dynamite Cruiser Was Nearly as Dangerous to Her Crew as She Was to the Enemy – War Is Boring
Turning Poultry Poop and Scrap Wood Into Electricity - Bloomberg
Trump and His Tariffs - Counterpunch
Trump Tariffs Stick It to U.S. Manufacturers - Bloomberg and Midwest Farmers Have Trump to Thank for Their Latest Export Woes – Bloomberg. I'm getting the feeling that Bloomberg thinks the tariffs are stupid policy.
GMO Yeast Mimics Flavors Of Hops, But Will Craft Brewers Bite? – The Salt
A Novel Virus Killed 24,000 Piglets In China. Where Did It Come From? – Goats and Soda
Lawsuit Targeting Smelly Hog Feces Pits in North Carolina Moving Forward – Modern Farmer
When the Death of a Family Farm Leads to Suicide – NYT
What this Silicon Valley VC learned on the ‘Rust Belt Safari’ – Recode
Scott Walker Dismayed That Wisconsin Apparently Smarter Despite Cuts in Education – Borowitz Report. A little humor for you.
The Whitewashing of King’s Assassination - The Atlantic
The Dynamite Cruiser Was Nearly as Dangerous to Her Crew as She Was to the Enemy – War Is Boring
Turning Poultry Poop and Scrap Wood Into Electricity - Bloomberg
Trump and His Tariffs - Counterpunch
Trump Tariffs Stick It to U.S. Manufacturers - Bloomberg and Midwest Farmers Have Trump to Thank for Their Latest Export Woes – Bloomberg. I'm getting the feeling that Bloomberg thinks the tariffs are stupid policy.
Locations of U.S. Elevators
Monday, April 2, 2018
NCAA Championship Mini-Links
Notre Dame won the women's championship in dramatic fashion last night. Villanova and Michigan battle for the men's title tonight. Here are a few more interesting stories for your enjoyment:
How Loyola Chicago's Last Final Four Appearance Changed College Basketball – All Things Considered. Interesting detail on the 1963 championship team.
Why Catholic Colleges Excel at Basketball – New York Times
How a Baseball Revolution Happens - Real Clear Life
Goodbye, Kansas Wheat? – Successful Farming. Farmers may not think humans are to blame for climate change, but it still is going to wreak havoc on agriculture:
How this tiny Iowa town banded together save rural homes - Des Moines Register
Robert Mercer’s Secret Adventure as a New Mexico Cop – Bloomberg
“They Could Have Made a Different Decision”: Inside the Strange Odyssey of Hedge-Fund King Eddie Lampert - Vanity Fair
Mobbed Up - Harper's. On the US misadventures in Afghanistan.
How Overbuilt Levees Along the Upper Mississippi River Push Floods Onto Others - ProPublica (h/t my sister)
How Loyola Chicago's Last Final Four Appearance Changed College Basketball – All Things Considered. Interesting detail on the 1963 championship team.
Why Catholic Colleges Excel at Basketball – New York Times
How a Baseball Revolution Happens - Real Clear Life
Goodbye, Kansas Wheat? – Successful Farming. Farmers may not think humans are to blame for climate change, but it still is going to wreak havoc on agriculture:
He owns land in southwestern Iowa near Glenwood, Red Oak, and Shenandoah where he grows corn and soybeans. The land is considerably more expensive, but he’s confident he can be profitable in Iowa vs. southwestern Kansas.A Dangerous Antibiotic-Resistant Gene Has Spread The World. We Now Know Where It Started - Science Alert
It’s not just an economics issue, he says. The area has become so arid and water is so scarce that it’s become a battle just to secure enough to grow even irrigated crops.
How this tiny Iowa town banded together save rural homes - Des Moines Register
Robert Mercer’s Secret Adventure as a New Mexico Cop – Bloomberg
“They Could Have Made a Different Decision”: Inside the Strange Odyssey of Hedge-Fund King Eddie Lampert - Vanity Fair
Mobbed Up - Harper's. On the US misadventures in Afghanistan.
How Overbuilt Levees Along the Upper Mississippi River Push Floods Onto Others - ProPublica (h/t my sister)
Friday, March 30, 2018
Good Friday Links
Here are the latest stories I found interesting:
What the Spending Bill Could Mean for Minor-League Baseball Players – The New Yorker
How Loyola used information and skill -- not luck -- to reach the Final Four – ESPN
Blackhawks Play 36-Year-Old Local Accountant As Emergency Goalie - Deadspin
Flint investigator says greed and fraud led to drinking water crisis – Detroit Free Press. I'm guessing the state attorney general (who is running for governor) won't find the wrongdoing on the state level that I think probably occurred.
A Prefabricated Tragedy - Slate. A bit simplistic in parts, but it makes some interesting points.
The best federal agency you've never heard of: It helps manufacturers and now Trump wants to kill it - Philadelphia Inquirer
The robots are killing Tesla – Business Insider. That's not all that's killing it, but the piece makes some very interesting points about automation.
New Ecological Economics: Superorganism and Ultrasociality-How the agricultural revolution changed the trajectory of our social and economic evolution - Evonomics
The End of Winter - The New Yorker
More Than 75 Percent of Earth’s Land Areas Are ‘Broken,’ Major Report Finds – Motherboard
Chicago's Awful Divide - The Atlantic
Scott Pruitt’s Dirty Politics – The New Yorker. I hate this man with the energy of a thousand suns.
The Brutal Origins of Gun Rights – The New Republic
Republicans Promised to Cut the Deficit. It’s Only Getting Worse – Bloomberg. Continuing a nearly 40 year tradition. There are some great charts about how "welfare reform" isn't going to close the deficit.
What the Spending Bill Could Mean for Minor-League Baseball Players – The New Yorker
How Loyola used information and skill -- not luck -- to reach the Final Four – ESPN
Blackhawks Play 36-Year-Old Local Accountant As Emergency Goalie - Deadspin
Flint investigator says greed and fraud led to drinking water crisis – Detroit Free Press. I'm guessing the state attorney general (who is running for governor) won't find the wrongdoing on the state level that I think probably occurred.
A Prefabricated Tragedy - Slate. A bit simplistic in parts, but it makes some interesting points.
The best federal agency you've never heard of: It helps manufacturers and now Trump wants to kill it - Philadelphia Inquirer
The robots are killing Tesla – Business Insider. That's not all that's killing it, but the piece makes some very interesting points about automation.
New Ecological Economics: Superorganism and Ultrasociality-How the agricultural revolution changed the trajectory of our social and economic evolution - Evonomics
The End of Winter - The New Yorker
More Than 75 Percent of Earth’s Land Areas Are ‘Broken,’ Major Report Finds – Motherboard
Chicago's Awful Divide - The Atlantic
Scott Pruitt’s Dirty Politics – The New Yorker. I hate this man with the energy of a thousand suns.
The Brutal Origins of Gun Rights – The New Republic
Republicans Promised to Cut the Deficit. It’s Only Getting Worse – Bloomberg. Continuing a nearly 40 year tradition. There are some great charts about how "welfare reform" isn't going to close the deficit.
Monday, March 26, 2018
More March Links
A few stories that caught my eye over the weekend and the first day of work this week:
For Cincinnati Reds star Joey Votto, spring is about the process, not the batting average - Cincinnati Enquirer
To Save Whales, Maine's Iconic Lobster Industry May Have To Change - The Salt
How Syngenta won the war over weedkillers - Politico
China needs more water. So it's building a rain-making network three times the size of Spain – South China Morning Post. You have to click through just for the pictures, and the description of the "rocket technology" in use. Looks crazier than hell to me.
Elon Musk Is the Henry Ford of His Age. That's Bad. – Bloomberg
Rural hospital shutdowns force communities to take care of their own – CNBC
Can the Most Hated Man in West Virginia Win? – Politico. This dude is too ridiculous to be a cartoon villain. Why do Republican voters flock to the biggest pieces of shit and believe every ridiculous lie they tell?
The Battle For Paradise – The Intercept. Rich assholes versus Puerto Ricans.
Land of the Lawless - Lapham's Quarterly
In California's rural, conservative north, there are big dreams for cleaving the state – LA Times. If rural voters are for it, it is probably a very bad idea.
How Trump's Protectionism Could Backfire - New York Times. Great maps.
Retirees Reshape Where Americans Live – Wall Street Journal. I don't really care about the retiree angle. I just wanted to show the map of where rural areas are declining in population. Downstate Illinois looks awful.
For Cincinnati Reds star Joey Votto, spring is about the process, not the batting average - Cincinnati Enquirer
To Save Whales, Maine's Iconic Lobster Industry May Have To Change - The Salt
How Syngenta won the war over weedkillers - Politico
China needs more water. So it's building a rain-making network three times the size of Spain – South China Morning Post. You have to click through just for the pictures, and the description of the "rocket technology" in use. Looks crazier than hell to me.
Elon Musk Is the Henry Ford of His Age. That's Bad. – Bloomberg
Rural hospital shutdowns force communities to take care of their own – CNBC
Can the Most Hated Man in West Virginia Win? – Politico. This dude is too ridiculous to be a cartoon villain. Why do Republican voters flock to the biggest pieces of shit and believe every ridiculous lie they tell?
The Battle For Paradise – The Intercept. Rich assholes versus Puerto Ricans.
Land of the Lawless - Lapham's Quarterly
In California's rural, conservative north, there are big dreams for cleaving the state – LA Times. If rural voters are for it, it is probably a very bad idea.
How Trump's Protectionism Could Backfire - New York Times. Great maps.
Retirees Reshape Where Americans Live – Wall Street Journal. I don't really care about the retiree angle. I just wanted to show the map of where rural areas are declining in population. Downstate Illinois looks awful.
Friday, March 23, 2018
Late March Weekend Links
Well, I forgot to make my NCAA hockey predictions (and saved myself from demonstrating my ignorance), but I did read a few interesting stories in the last few days (and I forgot a few links that I was planning on including in the last links):
How Charles Koch Turned Wichita State into a College-Basketball Powerhouse – The New Yorker
Sisters of Sister Jean Embrace Her Loyola Team and Marvel at Her Fame – New York Times. The Times has been all over the Sister Jean story. I guess I'm not the only one who thinks cultural Catholics love a good nun story.
How $42K-a-year priest built mansion worth millions - Detroit News. And this is one of the reasons there are so many cultural and not practicing Catholics.
Robots Are Trying To Pick Strawberries. So Far, They're Not Very Good At It - The Salt
Offutt's former SD farm goes all-organic for General Mills - Ag Week. Even if farmers think it is garbage, the corporate titans are buying into organic. In other words, the consumer is steering the ship.
The last whalers - Aeon
American History for Truthdiggers: Were the Colonists Patriots or Insurgents? - Truthdig. This is a question. I have considered similar thoughts when reading about the nation's birth.
Tom and Jerry – why they’re a cat and mouse double act for the ages - The Conversation
The Intellectual We Deserve - Current Affairs. I've generally avoided the Jordan Peterson hype, but this seems like an epic takedown.
Dearborn mayor backs Ford expansion to Michigan Central Station - Detroit Free Press. It would be amazing if this comes to fruition.
How One Houston Suburb Ended Up in a Reservoir – New York Times. Mainly it is that the Corps didn't buy all the ground they should have, and nobody had the balls to tell developers to GTFO.
Radar images show large swath of West Texas oil patch is heaving and sinking at alarming rates - SMU Research. This may be nothing, or it may end up being very significant.
The Democrats’ Rural Voter Problem (and How to Fix It) - The New Republic. The argument is interesting, if flawed, but it gets at the central issue with the Democratic party: how have they ceded economically populist voters to the party of Oligarchs (it is because they have become the party of socially progressive Oligarchs)?
Everyone Tries To Dodge The Tax Man, And It Keeps Getting Easier - FiveThirtyEight. The perfect chart for the week of National Ag Day.
How Charles Koch Turned Wichita State into a College-Basketball Powerhouse – The New Yorker
Sisters of Sister Jean Embrace Her Loyola Team and Marvel at Her Fame – New York Times. The Times has been all over the Sister Jean story. I guess I'm not the only one who thinks cultural Catholics love a good nun story.
How $42K-a-year priest built mansion worth millions - Detroit News. And this is one of the reasons there are so many cultural and not practicing Catholics.
Robots Are Trying To Pick Strawberries. So Far, They're Not Very Good At It - The Salt
Offutt's former SD farm goes all-organic for General Mills - Ag Week. Even if farmers think it is garbage, the corporate titans are buying into organic. In other words, the consumer is steering the ship.
The last whalers - Aeon
American History for Truthdiggers: Were the Colonists Patriots or Insurgents? - Truthdig. This is a question. I have considered similar thoughts when reading about the nation's birth.
Tom and Jerry – why they’re a cat and mouse double act for the ages - The Conversation
The Intellectual We Deserve - Current Affairs. I've generally avoided the Jordan Peterson hype, but this seems like an epic takedown.
Dearborn mayor backs Ford expansion to Michigan Central Station - Detroit Free Press. It would be amazing if this comes to fruition.
How One Houston Suburb Ended Up in a Reservoir – New York Times. Mainly it is that the Corps didn't buy all the ground they should have, and nobody had the balls to tell developers to GTFO.
Radar images show large swath of West Texas oil patch is heaving and sinking at alarming rates - SMU Research. This may be nothing, or it may end up being very significant.
The Democrats’ Rural Voter Problem (and How to Fix It) - The New Republic. The argument is interesting, if flawed, but it gets at the central issue with the Democratic party: how have they ceded economically populist voters to the party of Oligarchs (it is because they have become the party of socially progressive Oligarchs)?
Everyone Tries To Dodge The Tax Man, And It Keeps Getting Easier - FiveThirtyEight. The perfect chart for the week of National Ag Day.
Wednesday, March 14, 2018
Pi Day Mini-Links
I hope you had a great Pi Day. I figured I would throw a few links up, especially since the first one involves a high seed that might not be in the tournament very long:
The Nun in Loyola-Chicago’s Huddle Has a Few Things to Say – New York Times
Why No. 1 Virginia’s Plodding Pace Makes It Ripe for an Upset – Wall Street Journal
The EU Is Going After the U.S. Cranberry Industry – Bloomberg. Targeting Paul Ryan's home state.
The Number of Monarch Butterflies Wintering in Mexico Is Down Again – Modern Farmer. For what it's worth, I've been avoiding the milkweed when mowing waterways and scrubland. I've noticed more Monarchs the last couple years than I saw in previous years.
When Twenty-Six Thousand Stinkbugs Invade Your Home - The New Yorker
Stephen Hawking Is Still Underrated – The Atlantic
Pi Day 2018: the math of pi explained, as simply as possible - Vox
Trump's mining giveaway – Politico. There is no better example of the ineptitude and corruption of Congress than the fact that a law as shitty as the General Mining Act of 1872 is still the law of the land after 146 years.
Canadian Amateurs Discovered a New Type of Aurora. It’s named Steve. - The Atlantic
The Nun in Loyola-Chicago’s Huddle Has a Few Things to Say – New York Times
Why No. 1 Virginia’s Plodding Pace Makes It Ripe for an Upset – Wall Street Journal
The EU Is Going After the U.S. Cranberry Industry – Bloomberg. Targeting Paul Ryan's home state.
The Number of Monarch Butterflies Wintering in Mexico Is Down Again – Modern Farmer. For what it's worth, I've been avoiding the milkweed when mowing waterways and scrubland. I've noticed more Monarchs the last couple years than I saw in previous years.
When Twenty-Six Thousand Stinkbugs Invade Your Home - The New Yorker
Stephen Hawking Is Still Underrated – The Atlantic
Pi Day 2018: the math of pi explained, as simply as possible - Vox
Trump's mining giveaway – Politico. There is no better example of the ineptitude and corruption of Congress than the fact that a law as shitty as the General Mining Act of 1872 is still the law of the land after 146 years.
Canadian Amateurs Discovered a New Type of Aurora. It’s named Steve. - The Atlantic
Tuesday, March 13, 2018
I'm Getting a Bad Feeling About This
I have to say that my fear that we will end up in a war with Iran or North Korea or both increased significantly today. I can't say that Mike Pompeo is as dumb as Trump, considering his extremely impressive resume, but the fact that he agrees with Trump about North Korea, Iran, climate change and environmental regulation is absolutely terrifying. I didn't really think our country's future was tremendously bright before today, but it got quite a bit darker in this spin on the earth's axis.
Monday, March 12, 2018
Chart of the Day: Looming Farm Crisis Edition
From AgWeb:
I've said it before, and I'll say it again: unfortunately, it is going to get worse before it gets better. As the chart on the left shows, debt-to-income is at the highest level since the late '80s, and guys are still throwing $8,000-12,000 an acre at land in this area. This will not end well. Also, if you are looking for a stock to short, I'd suggest you take a look at Farmland Partners (I am not a financial advisor, and would recommend that you should never short a stock).
Sunday, February 4, 2018
Super Bowl Sunday Links
Here are some stories for you to check out in between commercials:
Jump on the Bandwagon of a Winning Super Bowl Team? Not These Cleveland Browns Fans - New York Times
The search for Jackie Wallace - NOLA
From Minneapolis to Inglewood, the shifting politics of NFL stadium design - LA Times
Why NFL Ratings Are Plummeting: A Two-Part Theory - The Atlantic
New Falcon Heavy Rocket Represents a Major Bet for SpaceX - Wall Street Journal
Inside Oil Giant Shell's Race to Remake Itself For a Low-Price World - Fortune
What It’s Like Inside the Trump Administration’s Regulatory Rollback at the EPA - ProPublica
This country has a lot of rules, but they're all there for a reason — right? - Marketplace
A Kingdom from Dust - California Sunday Magazine. This is a must-read on an agribusiness empire.
Turning Soybeans Into Diesel Fuel Is Costing Us Billions - The Salt
Farms with Biggest Financial Risk Get Least Government Support - Daily Yonder
Wheat 101: A Guide to Wheat - Big Sky FarmHer
Jump on the Bandwagon of a Winning Super Bowl Team? Not These Cleveland Browns Fans - New York Times
The search for Jackie Wallace - NOLA
From Minneapolis to Inglewood, the shifting politics of NFL stadium design - LA Times
Why NFL Ratings Are Plummeting: A Two-Part Theory - The Atlantic
New Falcon Heavy Rocket Represents a Major Bet for SpaceX - Wall Street Journal
Inside Oil Giant Shell's Race to Remake Itself For a Low-Price World - Fortune
What It’s Like Inside the Trump Administration’s Regulatory Rollback at the EPA - ProPublica
This country has a lot of rules, but they're all there for a reason — right? - Marketplace
A Kingdom from Dust - California Sunday Magazine. This is a must-read on an agribusiness empire.
Turning Soybeans Into Diesel Fuel Is Costing Us Billions - The Salt
Farms with Biggest Financial Risk Get Least Government Support - Daily Yonder
Wheat 101: A Guide to Wheat - Big Sky FarmHer
 |
| via - BigSky FarmHer |
Thursday, February 1, 2018
Chart of the Day-Rural Suicide Edition
Washington Monthly:
 |
| Included are suicide and undetermined deaths suspected of being suicides. Teenage rate is deaths under age 20 divided by population age 15-19; adult rate is for age 20+. |
Emerging analyses show rapidly rising suicide, firearms, and addiction-related “deaths of despair” afflict whites the most in rural and suburban areas where white populations are most concentrated. There are many more suicides among the seven million white rural 35-64 year-old men than among all 40 million American teenagers of all races and both sexes everywhere. Rural areas also tend to have higher rates of gun ownership and firearms mortality (correlated with men’s suicide) and lack the level of mental health services that have evolved in cities.There has been a spate of articles pointing out that farmers have a suicide rate about twice as high as the rate amongst veterans. The scary part of that news is that we are just coming off of a generational price boom that I probably won't see a return to for the rest of my (assumed actuarial) lifetime. Those of us in agriculture are facing much darker days going forward, at least in a financial sense. Meanwhile, rural areas continue their steady decline. Considering these factors, I fear the trend in suicide deaths will continue to worsen. I don't anticipate that either the public or private sector will work to change any of these trends. What I can say is that faithful readers of this blog do not have to worry about me, I'll be with you until the bitter end. I enjoy hating life way too much to ever consider cutting it short. Plus, there is this to consider:
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