All posts by BP

The “Magpie Bridge,”dark side of the moon & Trump

International, , ,

Today the guardian.com reports the  Chinese government launched a communications relay satellite that is an integral part of their effort to be the first country to land a space craft on the dark side of the moon.

The Queqiao relay satellite was launched from Sichuan province, according to Chinese state media. With Queqiao in place, China will be able to send a lunar probe to the side of the moon that never faces the Earth. No space program has ever reached that part of the lunar surface because of communications difficulties.

Queqiao – which means “Magpie Bridge” and comes from a Chinese folk story in which an arc formed by birds reunites two lovers separated by the heavens – will then act as a bridge between ground stations and the lunar probe.

Trumpoddity2001

Meanwhile here in America the orange haired buffoon in the White House is a long way from making science great again in the U.S. Despite the fact that President Trump claims he wants to send astronauts back to the moon he has not budgeted any additional money for that undertaking – planned for his second term!

In fact the future success of U.S. space exploration or any science-related initiative (other than his EPA ignoring climate science) from the Trump administration is looking distinctly poor.

An article in gov.exec.com, Science in the age of Trump, explores at length Trump’s science policies. The authors note that despite being in office over a year Donald still hasn’t even bothered to name a White House science advisor. The person handling those duties through default is a 31-year-old Michael Kratsios, a former political science major who had been chief of staff for PayPal founder and Libertarian futurist Peter Theil. I imagine the Trump administration would argue with typical incoherent bravado that Kratsios therefore has a science background.

Physicist Rush Holt, CEO of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, explains his observations about Trump and his science policy:  The administration does not have an overall science policy “that I am able to discern,” Holt said. “Some areas seem pretty clear, as in the ideological position on climate change, some matters related to space, and some aspects of education, such as sex education. But there’s no clear policy on science education.”

What has been perhaps most visible to the news-consuming public appears as a combination of proposed budget cuts, removal of climate change materials from agency websites, recasting of scientific advisory panels to bring more industry input, and a contentious proposal from the Environmental Protection Agency to ban the use of “secret science” in rule-making.

Trump did announce that sending American astronauts back to the moon (by his second term) is a priority. But that looks like another hollow promise: budget cuts, censoring of climate science, and allowing climate change deniers a voice sure doesn’t sound like a successful scientific formula for anything but failure.

In the meantime via the “Magpie Bridge” we will hearing from the Chinese on dark side of the moon.

Alabama Congressman: “…less space in those oceans because the bottom is moving up”

National, , ,

“Sponges grow in the ocean. That just kills me. I wonder how much deeper the ocean would be if that didn’t happen.” So said comedian Steve Wright, who as most people can tell was joking!

GOP climate change denier  Alabama Congressman Mo Brooks (GOP Tea Party) was not joking when in a Congressional committee he  expressed his skepticism that ocean levels were rising due to human activities — in terms similar to those of comedian Steve Wright. A jackass

Said Alabama’s finest about rising ocean levels due to warming temperature and ice melt: “What about erosion?” Brooks offered during the exchange. He added: “Every time you have that soil or rock, whatever it is, that is deposited into the seas, that forces the sea levels to rise because now you’ve got less space in those oceans because the bottom is moving up.”

There was speculation Brooks might again try to run for one of Alabama’s US Senate seats. Should he do so and win, the bottom would truly be moving up. But it is evident the level of the US House will never move up if it remains filled with GOP tea party jackasses like Alabama’s Mo Brooks.

Winter sports advocates target politicians on climate change issue

Business, International, National, , ,

Governor Scott’s blue sky comments late last year about how he believes Vermont is a sort of climate change “Mecca” came to mind when I read about a climate activist group called Protect Our Winters(POW) a national group made up of winter sports enthusiasts, resorts and outdoor gear retailers. The ten-year-old organization based in the Western US has formed a political wing that, according to McClatchey.com, will in 2018, be: “targeting politicians to take seriously the threat of climate change, and working to vote them out of office if they don’t.”

In 2018 POW will be concentrating their effort on gubernatorial and congressional races in the west but they plan to expand educational outreaches in the Eastern states such as Vermont. Organizers note: “[…] places with large snow-sports industries and tourism economies that depend on snow and winter […] have constituencies in those states who really care about climate change and where it is crucial to elect climate-friendly officials.”

Vermont.gov notes the trend toward a snow challenged future: Changes in precipitation patterns and seasonal average temperatures are altering Vermont’s normally snowy winter landscape. In addition to shorter lake ice over and rising minimum temperatures, the number of days each year with snow on the ground is also diminishing. Vermont’s winter sports industry did have a good season in 2017-2018, but they are heavily relying  on costly snow-making equipment  (with the state having subsidized up to $5 million worth of rebates on nearly 2,400 energy-efficient snow guns in 2014) and were very lucky with several well-timed storms.

Vermont.gov chart
Vermont.gov chart

For voters, concern over the effects of climate change is not a party-line issue. For Protect Our Winters, the good news is that Republican millennials tend to be more worried about a warming planet than other Republicans, and young people in general are more politically engaged than they were in recent elections according to Yale University research scientist Anthony Leiserowitz, who has analyzed public opinion on climate change for a decade.

It’s snow secret: warmer winters, less snow and maybe a little more heat on the way should wake up anyone who has deceived themselves into thinking Vermont can be an environmental “Mecca” magically isolated from climate change challenges.

Simply Donald Trump and a good razor*

National,

You may ask yourself, “Where is that beautiful United States?”

And you may ask yourself, “Am I right? Am I wrong?”

And you may say to yourself, “My God! What have they done?”**

Or… you may ask: What makes Donald Trump run — other than junk food and golf ?

John Stoehr argues in washingtonmonthly.com that focusing on the trauma of globalization, rise in authoritarianism, and Russian election collusion in order to understand the Trump presidency may cause us to miss its most obvious feature — corruption and creed.

He’s a wannabe dictator but he could be golfing, not pretending to be responsible with power. My point is about incentives. Putin had good reason for Trump to be president. So did autocrats the world over who are busy undermining liberal democracy in their countries. For them, it’s about power. But for Trump?

Trumpchows

After all is said and done, money. That’s gotta be it. As Bloomberg’s Tim O’Brien noted, it’s no secret the Trump family, after moving into the White House, put a “For Sale” sign on the front lawn. Fortune 500 companies could see that access to the president was simply a matter of decoding the price tags.[…]

My point here is that collusion, treason, white supremacy, political legitimacy — these are major themes that will preoccupy our minds as much as they have dominated our understanding of Donald Trump. But let’s remember the simplest explanation is always the best, that this presidency may be best characterized by corruption.

After all it’s the money and corruption that Robert Mueller’s investigation is locked on to — as if Trump were a mob boss — follow the money trail.  Why not keep it simple?

*That’d be Occam’s Razor .

** Once in a lifetime apologies to Talking Heads

DOJ & DHS Trumpster termites are eating away at American values

National, ,

There are termite nibblers in the Trump cabinet. Name any agency and you’ll notice that like termites, Trumpsters are nibbling away at a wide variety of norms and freedoms. The Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Education may be two of the most obvious — one eating away at scientific standards and the other devouring civil rights enforcement.trumpites

A little out of the limelight, the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security are doing their share of nibbling. The Department of Justice is overhauling a standard manual used by federal prosecutors.

 Buzzfeed.com explains that the manual, called the “US Attorneys’ Manual” but referred to as “Main Justice,”  features high-level statements about department policies and priorities as well as practical guidance on every facet of legal work that comes through the department.

And what’s in and out with “Main Justice”?  In:  Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ tough-on-crime policies. Out: A section titled “Need for Free Press and Public Trial.” References to the department’s work on racial gerrymandering are gone. Language about limits on prosecutorial power has been edited down.

The manual’s last version was published in 1997, so under normal circumstances it might seem innocent enough to update it now. But there is nothing normal with Trump and his termite henchmen.

Despite having been in office for over a year Trump has nominated no one to fill the third ranking associate attorney general position at the DOJ. And: The review is taking place while the Justice Department is still missing several Senate-confirmed officials, including heads of the Criminal Division, the Civil Division, the Civil Rights Division, and the Environment and Natural Resources Division. Nominees for those posts are waiting for a final vote in the Senate.

While Jefferson Beauregard Sessions’ DOJ is re-working “Main Justice,” the Department of Homeland Security is chewing away at press freedoms.

From Bloomberg.com: The DHS wants to track more than 290,000 global news sources, including online, print, broadcast, cable, and radio, as well as trade and industry publications, local, national and international outlets, and social media, according to the documents. It also wants the ability to track media coverage in more than 100 languages including Arabic, Chinese, and Russian, with instant translation of articles into English.

One amazing thing here is that the DHS plan drew attention because they put out a request for a private contractor to help. The DHS requested contractor bids to monitor traditional news sources and social media

According to Bloomberg.com, DHS requires that [t]he data to be collected includes a publication’s “sentiment” as well as geographical spread, top posters, languages, momentum, and circulation. No value for the contract was disclosed.

“Services shall provide media comparison tools, design and rebranding tools, communication tools, and the ability to identify top media influencers,” according to the statement.

Sure, the DOJ and DHA are just taking a little nibble here. But it’s worth noting that an average termite colony can eat about one foot of a 2×4 in six months, but certain species of termite can tear through homes at a much faster pace. In eating wood, termites are also making tunnels inside the wood in order to help foster and grow their colonies, each of which contains about 60,000 termites.

Typically, the damage is hidden until it’s too late. Maybe we need some DIY termite eradicators to get to work.

 

VT, NH, ME opt out of regional gun research coalition?

National, ,

It looks as if Vermont has not joined a group of northeast states and Puerto Rico that according to CBS/AP recently  have announced they will join together to conduct research into gun violence. As of now participating states are Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Delaware. The goal is for academics and law enforcement officials to collect data in order to supply legislators with accurate information with which to formulate policies to reduce gun violence.

The new consortium announced Wednesday [4/25/18] will bring together researchers from the partnering states and territories […] They’ll analyze different types of gun violence and collect data in the hopes of gathering information policymakers can use to decrease gun violence.

Data on this issue is scarce because at the federal level, since 1996 the gun lobby successfully worked through Congress to prohibit the Centers for Disease Control from using any funds to study gun violence as a public health issue. This prohibition was altered in the latest budget, but left without funding, researchers are skeptical any serious changes are coming soon.

 In our neck of the woods you’ll notice that along with Vermont, Maine and New Hampshire have not joined the group. Live free and die New Hampshire sitting this out one may not be particularly surprising, and as for Maine, well you know Governor LePage. oddonesout

However, Governor Scott’s absence is a little puzzling. As we all know, Scott made headlines by his generally well-received shift from opposing to supporting some limited gun control measures. Shortly after that change Scott was unanimously elected to serve as chair of the bipartisan Coalition of Northeastern Governors (CONEG). For those who may not know what CONEG does, there’s this from their website:  CONEG is a forum through which the Governors and their senior advisors keep abreast of national and regional policy and program initiatives important to the economic, environmental, energy and social well-being of the Northeast.  CONEG works with the governors and their staff and policy advisors to examine current and emerging regional issues, develop effective solutions, and undertake cooperative actions that benefit the individual state and the region.

Governor Scott often speaks about the desirability of state-to-state regional co-operation on environmental and healthcare issues. I wonder if sooner or later as head of CONEG he will have to come around to support the nation’s first consortium to conduct gun violence research and recommend policy changes. But for now Governor Scott seems to be keeping Vermont among the odd ones out.

Gather ‘round Scott Pruitt’s EPA bonfire

National,

EPA head Scott Pruitt will be testifying before two Congressional committees today. He will face questions about his efforts to roll back Obama-era environmental rules and regulations as well as about a sizable list of ethical problems. These complaints include Pruitt’s costly first-class travel, outlandish security expenses, and allegations that he accepted a sweetheart condo rental from an oil industry lobbyist. The NYTimes.com is reporting Pruitt’s defense strategy will be “[…] to blame both career and political staff members as well as his security detail for myriad spending decisions.”

Scott Pruitt Tosses Another PVC Tube On Campfire
Scott Pruitt Tosses Another PVC Tube On Campfire at TheOnion.com

For those who wish to follow along CNN has thoughtfully compiled a list of Pruitt’s controversial regulatory actions and his alleged ethical lapses. The one ethical question most people have heard of — which in a pre-Trump political universe would have been more than enough to trigger his firing — is of course Pruitt’s sound-proof booth. Dubbed “the cone of silence,” it was created in his office at cost of $43,000, even though secure telecommunications facilities are available in the same building a few floors below.

So, follow along but don’t let the toxic smoke get in your eyes given that Trump and company are still determined to gut the EPA.

Now showing: Burlington Free Press unfortunate juxtaposition

local/regional, , ,

Friday’s online Free Press has an unfortunate placement of headlines.stupid troopers too

That’s right, USA Today’s Burlington Free Press is not only pimping out Super Troopers 2 but as if it was part of a quirky Vermont double feature they also headline : new video Montpelier fatal police shooting That’s the all too real and tragic shooting by police of a robbery suspect outside Montpelier High School.

What do we call the movie, “the lighter side of policing?” And how many “police-involved” shootings have there been in the past year?

Uh-huh.

 

GOP State Rep. “Burma-Shave Bob” Frenier will not seek re-election to VT House

local/regional, Uncategorized, , ,

Orange County GOP Rep Bob Frenier will not run for re-election. Frenier, an aggressive conservative newcomer from Massachusetts, entered Vermont politics with a splash and is now calling it quits with a bit of a thud. For his first race in Orange County he set his sights high. He challenged and lost to longtime incumbent Sen. Mark MacDonald (D). frenierburmashaved

He did manage to make a name for himself. Armed with a bucket load of money from the Koch-funded Republican State Leadership Committee (RSLC) he blanketed the rural county roads with a series of Burma-Shave style campaign signs with a misleading fear-mongering message about Medicare.

Following up in 2016, after winning a GOP primary write-in campaign, he took aim at and won a seat in Vermont House. However, Frenier beat incumbent Progressive Susan Hatch Davis by a razor-thin margin of just over half a dozen votes-in the final count. And that came after a bitter recount and several vigorous legislative debates about it in early 2017.

Now, not much more than a year later he’s thrown in the towel. The Valley News reports part of the reason for quitting his hard-won seat is his frustration with the recent passage of three gun regulation bills-all of which he voted against. “I thought it was an insult to traditional Vermont culture … and so was the coyote bill,” said Frenier, referring to a bill that passed the Vermont House that bans coyote-killing tournaments.

As a resident of Orange County I couldn’t be happier than to see him head down the road. But it sounds like Burma shave Bob may not be done making waves in Vermont politics. From the Valley News: he [Frenier] may try to bring a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of some of the legislation that has passed, and said it would be easier to do once he is no longer a lawmaker. No word at this early stage where he might get funds for such expensive legal actions-maybe his Burma shave pals at Koch’s RSLC.

But for now: Bye – Bye – Bob

“Visitors are an ideal captive audience” VT. Commissioner of Tourism and Marketing

Business, local/regional, National, , , ,

Stay to Stay — the Vermont state tourism agency’s planned series of four weekends in different locations designed with the intent of turning tourists into full-time residents — got off to a “chilly start” this weekend according to Vtdigger.com: Like the recent weather, the first-blush level of commitment for the state’s campaign to entice nonresidents to move to Vermont has been cool.

Organizers note, however, that this is but the first of four scheduled weekends for people interested in becoming Vermonters to be formally welcomed as part of the Stay-to-Stay initiative.

Think! Vermont, Scott’s Department of Economic Development promotional webpage slogan, describes the events in terms not unlike a vacation timeshare real estate sales pitch weekend. Vermont commissioner of Tourism and Marketing Wendy Knight says her inspiration for the promotional campaign happened when: “I got to thinking; visitors are an ideal captive audience,”

Sure sounds like timeshare pitch, only (befitting the Vermont brand) a bit more refined — sweetened with real maple syrup: [Stay to Stay] gives tourists the opportunity to relax and also to network with business leaders and tour Vermont communities with real-estate experts to learn more about relocating to Vermont.

It is all part of Governor Scott’s unproven million-dollar effort to boost Vermont’s population and address the state’s worker shortage. But attendance at the Department of Tourism’s weekend premier in Brattleboro, Bennington, and Rutland is expected to be less than even the modest numbers hoped for. Half of the dozen potential visitors signed up for the Rutland and Brattleboro areas cancelled and no one who signed up will be visiting Bennington.

Undaunted by the dismal turnout Knight noted one positive — the free media she had gotten nationally for the first event. Bloomberg.com does indeed have nice blurby press release style bit about “Stay to Stay” headlined:This Weekend, Aging Vermont Will Try to Make Tourists Into Residents.

But the thing about free media is you give up a certain amount of control of the whole message.Vermont taps tourists

The U S News piece about Stay to Stay starts with what I hope is unintentionally a funny headline: Vermont Taps Tourists to Bolster Workforce. That headline sounds to me as if Governor Scott, desperate to boost our workforce, intends to force visitors to pick apples, milk cows, turn cheese curds, or tend sugar houses.Vermont taps tourists2

But the “great” thing about the US News bit is the targeted sidebars, as you can see from the two screen shots, which all tout other states — Massachusetts best for women and children, Connecticut high school record graduation rate,  and a list of the U S News top five states not including Vermont.

Maybe it was just the weather that ruined this Stay to Stay, so spin it however you want. But you can’t spin away from the out-of-proportion amount of taxpayer-funded effort it took to get a half dozen out-of state “captive” visitors to sit still for a Think!Vermont sales pitch in April.

Maybe some nice sticky sugar-on-snow painted on the seats would help.