Blog Changes
Important news to pass along, everybody should already know about this, but if not, be advised of what is happening:
Silenced Federal Agencies Violating Their Own Policies
Trump Revives Keystone XL, Dakota Access Pipelines
Trump signs five more orders on pipelines, steel and environment
USDA Scientists Have Been Put On Lockdown Under Trump
Badlands National Park tweeted some climate change facts today. It didn’t end well.
Clearly (if you read the links), there is a rebellion developing against Trump’s concept of “free speech” and against science.
Hard to say how long it will last (not long if my personal experience is any indication). Most employees will submit to their management directors and shut up in fear of their jobs. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) already cancelled a major meeting of scientist and researchers scheduled for February.
But that’s within government – external to that, out here among the peons and piss-ants that Trump is taking a giant dump on, anger is growing. Rapidly.
Trump is an arrogant, stubborn fool of a man who will probably take his anti-science, anti-climate asinine attitude to the bleeding edge. People are going to die.
Not going to detail much on the news as I recently said – it is time to move on to much more important things. Things are bad, they’ll get worse, expect it, prepare for it. Do something about it. Bitching and whining online is however, pointless. I’ve done my fair share and then some.
I’ve no doubt we’ll be shocked at future developments. This is just the tip of the iceberg Trump intends to flood upon the low-lying peons he now lords over. Politico had an expose of sorts on who this man really is: a vindictive, rash, thin-skinned intemperate sod who is terribly ill-equipped for the job. He will seek to “win” at any cost, so expect that. He’ll sacrifice Jesus on the cross if it keeps him popular or advances his personal agenda. He also won’t listen to anyone but Jared and Ivanka (“Javanka”) so the country is going to be a family run business corporation from here on out. And everything is on sale (including you).
Some humor (give it a few moments to get to the English section):
Moving on is necessary because we’re stuck with this unfolding disaster. Grin and bear it, if you can.
The proposed and tried blog changes are being rolled back.
I applaud your decision on mandatory participation. It’s time for the back row in the classroom to contribute or go warm some seats elsewhere.
So I have something I’d like to understand. Google “Trump will destroy the planet” and there’s pages and pages of hysterical ranting about how the brief time span of EIGHT YEARS of Trump’s policies will do just that.
So why does an eminent and super-intelligent physicist like Stephen Hawking not seem worried about the near future under Trump in that time period?
Speaking to the U.K.’s Radio Times, Hawking said it’s a “near certainty” that we’ll destroy our planet beyond repair in the next few millennia. Although the chance of a disaster on planet Earth in a given year may be quite low,” Hawking said, “it adds up over time, becoming a near certainty in the next thousand or ten thousand years.” And what will be the nail in our global coffin? Hawking cites climate change, nuclear war, and genetically engineered viruses as the most likely causes of our downfall. (Previously he’s argued that artificial intelligence and robots could be the end of us all.)
http://fusion.net/story/257185/stephen-hawking-destruction-of-planet-near/
So he thinks we have a thousand years minimum before we need to worry. WTF?
I do not recall seeing any evidence that Hawking’s was aware of the full predictions of climate change. He’s always spoken about this in a non-specific way; no mention of abrupt changes; excessive heating or wet-bulb temperatures and so on. Which means it is not possible to answer what he knows or is thinking.
Many scientists do not agree with short-term time spans for climate change. Once you read what they do support, however, they usually base their own opinions on pretty limited knowledge of existing feedbacks.
Most models for example are incomplete, most assessments (and reports) are inadequate and dated, etc. and many of the claims you will read about do not take all of this into account. It’s a very big and serious disconnect.
Intelligence does not mean you understand everything or even topics outside of your experience and specialty. But it generally does mean that given the right data, you’ll figure it out.
Relevant link: Trump admin tells EPA to take down its climate change webpage: report
President Trump Wants to Kill These 17 Federal Agencies and Programs. Here’s What They Actually Cost (and Do)
No more IPCC. No more Office of Violence Against Women. He’s just getting started.
“a vindictive, rash, thin-skinned intemperate sod who is terribly ill-equipped for the job.” Yep. Trump makes Kim Jong-un look like a statesman.