Coming up with anything to post about has been a challenge lately. The reasons are various including some of the things people are talking about incessantly are of little interest to me, on some I’ve commented to death, and on many we’re waiting for new developments and holding our collective breath. Life isn’t like television or the movies and some things just don’t resolve themselves over the course of an hour or two.
I see a common thread running through many of these stories: denial. I mean it in the clinical sense of avoiding uncomfortable truths by denying reality.
Our political parties are greatly polarized—more polarized than at any previous time in my lifetime. They are polarized to the point that each party reflexively rejects what the other party wants, frequently just because that’s what the other party wants.
It’s bad enough when one of our political parties is in denial but both of our political parties seem to avoiding uncomfortable truths.
Take the whole kerfuffle over Donald Trump’s indictment. Will he or won’t he? Should he or shouldn’t he? I maintain the view I have held for some time: that President Trump should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law but those to whom that is a critical matter of saving the republic will be disappointed that extent isn’t particularly far. Furthermore, there is a strong element of battlespace preparation in the whole matter.
One of our political parties is in denial that there’s anything at all to prosecute over; the other is in denial that their primary interest is battlespace preparation.
While I understand the appeal that Donald Trump had for some I didn’t agree with it. I agree even less with maintaining loyalty to him at this point. It’s hard for me to imagine something more discouraging than a rerun of the 2020 presidential election.
There is similar denial about the war in Ukraine, what may or may not be an incipient banking crisis, the grave differences of opinion being called “the culture wars”, the U. S.’s relationship with China, and a h0ost of other issues. It’s not that they’re not important, it’s that they won’t be resolved in a way to satisfy the 24/7 news cycle and the realities of all of them are uncomfortable.
Denial, eh?
Not only do the dire warnings, starting with warnings about a coming ice age back in the 1970’s, to NYC and Miami being under water by now, never come true. But:
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/eminent-oxford-scientist-says-wind-power-fails-every-count
Drew’s comment makes obvious the denial people stick with. First, on the predictions of the Ice Age that hs been reviewed. The majority of papers on climate in the 70s either supported warming or didnt take a stand. There was some popular press stuff pushing it, accompanied by pictures of scantily dressed girls in fur.
Wind? It, along with solar, already provides for about 1/3 of electricity in Australia. Iowa and Oklahoma already produce more than 30% of their electricity from wind.
https://commodity.com/blog/states-wind-energy/
Remember that I said there is a pattern in who writes these things believed by people who dont keep up on climate issues. It is almost always some emeritus professor. Allison is 82.
Steve
Is the connecting thread denial or hubris leading to denial? I lean towards the latter.
EU is spending more money. Trump, Obama, Bush couldn’t get them to spend more. Putin did. Also, Turkey now OK with Finland joining NATO.
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/eu-agrees-plan-send-million-artillery-shells-ukraine-2023-03-20/
Steve
Do you like having crowds of people lollygagging at the Christmas lights in your neighborhood or is it just a hassle, or is it not exactly your area where the action is? I always have this in the back of my mind when reading your blog.
Politics, economics, and wars may be played out mines. Every once in a while new neo runs a music or ballet post. Evidently, she has some ballet training. Also, once upon a time she was in a relationship with Van Der Leun (RIP). Wow! was that a surprise. I really liked Van Der Leun’s literary posts. We were both fans of Robinson Jeffers and Gerald Manley.
You don’t have to go full Five Guns West, but maybe you some sort of artsy fartsy interests that we would like.
How about Chitown’s coyote problem? The for legged ones. Prof. Gehrt at Ohio State says you have 2,000 coyotes living among you. And then there is the Big Ten expansion issue.
I think we can ignore Armageddon for a while.
“EU is spending more money. Trump, Obama, Bush couldn’t get them to spend more. Putin did.”
They are spending marginally more. The 1 million shells are already bought and paid for and sitting in stockpiles. The 2 billion Euros is roughly what it will cost to replace them, which will take several years. So this is, in reality, a rounding error in terms of actual increased spending.
The US is providing the vast majority of military assistance, and Europe continues to free ride on that, despite the proximity of Russia and the war to their countries. 1 million shells – finally – a year after the war started is better than nothing, but hardly any kind of sea change in terms of Europe’s priorities. And we’ll have to see how quickly this promise is actually fulfilled.
Last weekend when jack and I were on our Saturday morning walk we saw a coyote running between the houses. More precisely, I saw him. I suspect if Jack had seen him he would have been very interested.
Behind our house is an “open space” (technically an easement for stormwater drainage), and there is a coyote family there every spring. One of our dogs, our Goldendoodle, figured out how to jump the fence and tried to go and make friends. Unfortunately, I didn’t have my camera ready as it was a fun show. The coyote was pretty aloof and trotted into a copse.
We also have a herd of deer that frequently pass through – we need to get a taller fence.
re: Ice Age “There was some popular press stuff pushing it, accompanied by pictures of scantily dressed girls in fur.”
Is that right, steve.
Center for Atmospheric Research – James Lodge and Stephen Schneider
Aeronautics and Space Administration – Dr Si Rasool
Brown University Department of Geological Sciences
NOAA
International Federation of Climate Sciences
And now, for something completely different
James Hanson
1988 – “by 2050 temperatures will be 7 degrees higher”
1988 – “the Maldive Islands will be covered in 30 years”
1989 – “in 20 years the West Side Highway will be under water”
2008 – “in 5-10 years the Arctic will have no ice”
I could go on, but its clear, steve. You’re full of shit.
University of East Anglia Dr David Viner – “by 2000 our children won’t know what snow is”
Actually, there is a coming Ice Age, and after that, there will be a warming period followed by an Ice Age. Rinse and repeat.
In a few billion years, the Sun will expand and engulf the Earth, and the cycle will end.