Tuesday morning links

Michael Mann Adjusts the Climate “Turning Point” Out to 2020.... and that alien spaceship is parked out there behind Comet Hale-Bopp to evacuate us from this earth.

#1 BillH on 2017-04-11 10:08 (Reply)

Trump so much like Hitler: Both men defied old norms and invented unprecedented ways of waging their political campaigns. Both men developed a charismatic relationship with their “base” that centered on large rallies. Both emphasized their “outsider” status and railed against the establishment, privileged elites, and corrupt special interests.

Except for the fact that Jews had every legal right to be in Germany before Hitler twisted the law to murder them. Well, that and the Mexican rapists that Trump talked about have no legal reason to be here or rape. There IS that difference.

As far as rallies and charisma, then I guess that Obama is Hitler, too. Some of Obama's 2008 rallies to celebrate his "chosen one" status were YUGE. And I remember that he railed against Bush's corruption and said he was the one who could stop the oceans from rising. So maybe this reviewer should be retroactively freaked out that Obama was Hitler all along.

#2 Dangerous Dean on 2017-04-11 10:15 (Reply)

"I spent a week exploring how we'll have to live in post-water America..."

Hello from the Ottawa Valley countryside where, after a tremendous rainstorm combined with snow melt, I am pumping out three great lakes on my property and dealing with persistent ground water seepage into the west corner of my basement. My sump has been running and running...

So, if you want water, America, I've got plenty!

#3 JJM on 2017-04-11 10:57 (Reply)

"To begin I would stipulate emphatically that Trump is not Hitler and the American Republic in the early twenty-first century is not Weimar."

And that's where that NYRB article should have ended.

Yet one more indication of the decline of history at schools I suppose.

#4 JJM on 2017-04-11 11:04 (Reply)

The roads & bridges article is very misleading. It describes the miles of road per person...but fails to discuss the situation outside of big cities and suburbs. There are many roads near me that are still gravel because there is no money to pave them or maintain the paving. Every spring, the county has to put up weight limit signs to keep these roads from being damaged by heavy trucks and delivery vehicles that use them regularly.

A town about 35 miles from me just got cut off last weekend due to a huge mudslide across the only major road (2-lane highway) and the trucks have damaged the alternate routes, which were gravel roads.

We also have two bridges that should be either refurbished or replaced. One is a mile long and is the only direct route to get to the rest of the state. The other is a side road that is heavily traveled (it takes you to the ski resort) and it is so in need of repair that it has hit 'emergency' status and is only at 5 or 10% life left according to the inspector.

Rural places with fewer residents and less attention from state transportation dollars desperately need help bringing their infrastructure into the 21st century. Just because my neck of the woods only has 20,000 residents, does it mean we aren't worthy of decent roads and bridges?

#5 MissT on 2017-04-11 11:15 (Reply)

Re Michael Mann.
Read the book "When Prophecy Fails" by Leon Festinger.
Festinger wrote:

"A man with a conviction is a hard man to change. Tell him you disagree and he turns away. Show him facts or figures and he questions your sources. Appeal to logic and he fails to see your point. "We have all experienced the futility of trying to change a strong conviction, especially if the convinced person has some investment in his belief. We are familiar with the variety of ingenious defenses with which people protect their convictions, managing to keep them unscathed through the most devastating attacks. "But man's resourcefulness goes beyond simply protecting a belief. Suppose an individual believes something with his whole heart; suppose further that he has a commitment to this belief, that he has taken irrevocable actions because of it; finally, suppose that he is presented with evidence, unequivocal and undeniable evidence, that his belief is wrong: what will happen? The individual will frequently emerge, not only unshaken, but even more convinced of the truth of his beliefs than ever before. Indeed, he may even show a new fervor about convincing and converting other people to his view. "

#6 Ray on 2017-04-11 11:57 (Reply)

Re: UNITED AIRLINES

Oh boy--what a mess this gonna be! Here are some thoughts:
1. ALL employees must be booked into a flight and show up one hour prior to boarding! No last minute scoot ins. Is that too much to ask of those little dears?

2. Last to be booked on to a flight--is the first off in extreme cases. Lazy--late arrival employees are not an emergency!

3. How does the corporation really think about their clients? Well being in bed with the Chicago Union bosses and Boeing for all of these years--you should expect to see their contempt constantly! Why would that be a surprise?

#7 another one on 2017-04-11 12:11 (Reply)

Curious why they didn't figure out these crew members needed seats before people got on the plane. The minute the doctor started to fuss, I would have left the one crew member behind. Not worth it.

Heard on Fox Business this morning that Ashley Webster, the co-host on Varney & Company, had been traveling home on Christmas Eve. He and his wife were seated, the plane had pulled away from the gate, and they were on the tarmac.

The plane actually went back to the gate, kicked Webster and his wife off the plane to seat another family who'd arrived at the gate!? I've never heard of this in my life.

He said just remembering it got his dander up. They were now at the airport on Christmas Eve with NO luggage.

So, I just do not believe United and its excuses. They treat people like crap all the time. This time it was just on video for all the world to see.

#7.1 MissT on 2017-04-11 12:26 (Reply)

Airlines in the People's Republic of China treat their passengers better than such flagship American carriers as United, Delta and American. Seriously. American airlines are unbelievably bad, especially compared to such airlines as JAL, Korean Air, Asiana and Singapore Air.

#7.2 Jim on 2017-04-11 14:01 (Reply)

Ask the "cultural diversity" champions why they seem to have no problem condemning the red-neck culture of casual racism, sexism, dislike of homosexuals, hippies, Muslims, Jews, Catholics, Yankees, and anybody with a college degree. Where's the tolerance of other cultures now?

#8 Jerryskids on 2017-04-11 13:43 (Reply)

The public school I attended in the 70s and 80s was about 25% black, 10% Latino and the rest white. I can tell you from experience that redneck whites do NOT have a monopoly on dislike of homosexuals (or young men who are accused of homosexuality because they are smarter than the one throwing the insults). I suppose if I voted for the liberal bloc more often, I would get a pass on my assumed racism, sexism and supposed dislike of homosexuals. It worked for Jesse Jackson, Bill Clinton and too many liberal jocks to count.

#8.1 Dangerous Dean on 2017-04-11 15:41 (Reply)

In truth, it looks like African Americans are culturally far less tolerant of homosexuals than whites. I suspect the same is true of Hispanics.

Polls indicated as many as 75 percent of blacks supported California Proposition 8 in 2008.

#8.1.1 JJM on 2017-04-11 16:21 (Reply)

I wonder if those who persistently arrive late for work or meetings would mind being paid persistently late? Say anywhere from a day or two up to a couple of weeks? I mean, isn't part of the fun not knowing when something or someone will arrive?

#9 JorgXMcKie on 2017-04-11 17:35 (Reply)

The "Institute of Medicine" thinks we don't need vitamin D. Dozens of legitimate health institutions disagree. There are a ton of resources--may I suggest vitamindwiki as a good launching point.

I spent the past winter huddled next to a warm stove, reading study after study claiming health benefits of vitamin D. (I began my research by clicking a link claiming to relate [my] rheumatoid arthritis to vitamin D.) I became a believer.

I won't need supplement for the next several months, though. At my New England latitude, there are from 2 to 3-1/2 hours of mid-day sun that will provide the necessary UVB rays until early September. Y'see, the sun has to be at an angle of 50 degrees or more or the UVB rays bounce off the atmosphere into space. Here's the chart I use:

http://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/docs/AltAz.php

Problem is, us old-timers produce three to four times LESS vitamin D than youngsters for the same sun intensity. So I intend to bare as much skin as possible for as much of the UVB window as possible this summer. If you show up unexpectedly at my back patio in the middle of the day, prepare to be shocked. (And I would appreciate it if you don't snicker.)

The saddest part of this whole vitamin D/sunlight question is the possibility that well-meaning parents are slathering their children in sunscreens that will block beneficial vitamin D (UVB) rays, but won't block the dangerous cancer (UVA) rays.

#10 Gene on 2017-04-11 22:52 (Reply)

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Tuesday, April 11. 2017

Tuesday morning links