Views as of 2018

The Pew Research Center is a major producer of polls. The following are what they consider their most interesting findings of 2018. 

1. Post-Millennials – today’s 6- to 21-year-olds, also known as Generation Z – are on track to be the most racially and ethnically diverse generation yet.

2. There were 10.7 million unauthorized immigrants in the U.S. in 2016, down from a peak of 12.2 million in 2007.

3. Younger Americans are better than their elders at separating factual from opinion statements in the news.

4. Americans generally agree on the democratic ideals and values they see as important for the U.S. – but they say the country is falling short in living up to them.

5. About six-in-ten women in the U.S. (59%) say they have been sexually harassed.

6.Young adults who use Facebook are particularly likely to have deleted the Facebook app from their phone at some point in the past year.

7. A declining share of U.S. Catholics say Pope Francis  is doing a good or excellent job addressing the church’s sex abuse scandal.

8. The number of refugees resettled in the U.S. decreased more than in any other country in 2017.

9. A majority of U.S. teens ages 13 to 17 (57%) fear a shooting could happen at their school, and most parents of teens share their concern.

10. A majority of U.S. teens (59%) have experienced some form of cyberbullying.

11. Most people around the globe say China plays a more important role in the world today than it did a decade ago – but most also say it’s better for the U.S. to lead the way.

12. Democrats are far more likely than Republicans to favor making it easy for every citizen to vote.

13. Almost seven-in-ten Americans (68%) feel worn out by the amount of news there is these days.

14. Income inequality in the U.S. is greatest among Asians.

15. Nine-in-ten Americans believe in a higher power, but just a slim majority (56%) believes in God as described in the Bible.

16. Most Americans (59%) say climate change is affecting their local community at least some, especially those who live near a coast.

17. Most Central and Eastern Europeans oppose same-sex marriage, while most Western Europeans favor it.

18. “Bots” on Twitter may be behind more link sharing than human beings.

Meet John Carter

Who are the big users of carbon?

This is not a painting

It's the actual sky. It became blue when a Con Edison transformer exploded.

Moving to an Apocalypse

Dahr Jamail thinks so. Here are ten things he's worried about.

1. Arctic Sea Ice. The Arctic sea ice is close to historic lows in both extent, volume, and mass. The annual minimum Arctic ice volume, based on observations (not projections), is following a trend that shows we should expect periods of an ice-free Arctic Ocean in the summer by 2023, and possibly sooner.

2. Increasingly Warm Oceans. Earth’s oceans have already absorbed 93 percent of the warmth humans have generated since just the 1970s.

3. Methane. One extremely worrying development in the Arctic came in the form of bubbling lakes. A report showed that large numbers of lakes across the region were leaking methane, a far more potent greenhouse gas than CO2.

4. Wildfires. Wildfires, amped up by climate change, ravaged many regions of the world in 2018.

5. Insect Apocalypse. Insects, and hence the global food web, are in crisis, according to several studies, one of which was published earlier this year.

6. A Broken Global Food System. The global food system is already broken, according to the 130 of the world’s science and medicine academies.

7. Uninhabitable and Permanently Altered Regions. Still suffering from the impacts of a devastating Hurricane Maria, Puerto Rico was officially left to its own devices to recover.

8. Great Barrier Reef. A record heat wave in Queensland, Australia, in November shattered the previous high temperature record by a stunning 5.4°C. The heat wave alarmed scientists, raising fears of another bleaching event that could further weaken the already beleaguered Great Barrier Reef, the largest coral reef in the world.

9. UN Report: Only 12 Years Left to Limit Warming. A landmark UN report released in October served as an imminent warning that if governments fail to act swiftly and dramatically (and within the next dozen years), droughts, flooding, and increasingly extreme heat waves will increase drastically.

10. Nowhere Near Meeting Climate Change Goals. While many world leaders met in Poland for the COP24 climate talks in December, it was already clear that we are nowhere near on track to attain the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5°C.

One look at U.S. demographics

These are Aviva Rutkin's conclusions: 

1. Americans aren’t living as long This was the third year in a row with falling U.S. life expectancy.

2. Americans aren’t having as many kids It’s a baby bust: This year, the national fertility rate fell by 2 percent, to just 1.76 children per women. That’s the lowest the rate has been in 30 years.

3. Americans are getting older The declining birth rate and the rising death rate go hand in hand. Some counties are experiencing “natural decrease,” a demographic phenomenon where the number of deaths actually outweigh the number of births. Meanwhile, the country’s average age has shot up, from 28.1 years old in 1970 to 37.9 in 2016.

4. Americans are struggling with new racial dynamics

5. Americans are moving to the suburbs Over the last 50 years, Americans have gradually moved away from rural regions, drawn largely by urban economic opportunity. Today, more than 80 percent of Americans live in an urban or suburban area.

The first person to cross the Antarctic alone and unassisted

That's what Colin O'Brady just did. He walked 921 miles in 53 days. And he was dragging a 375-pound sled all the way as well as all of his food. This is not his first extreme adventure. He has also skied to both the north and south pole and hiked to the highest point in every US state.

Antarctica is the coldest, highest and driest continent on Earth. The cold freezes all moisture, technically making the landscape a desert.

Disappearing Rings

Our president talking to a 7-year-old

The Daily Beast ✔ 
@thedailybeast Donald Trump, answering phone call from 7-year-old on Christmas Eve: "Are you still a believer in Santa? Because at seven it's marginal, right?" 31.5K 8:26 PM - Dec 24, 2018 

Coal is decreasing in generating electricity

Don't "Buy one, Get one free"

He must have drugs in his body

Syracuse police found a bag of marijuana and cocaine residue in Torrence Jackson's car. They were convinced that he had more drugs in his rectum. They arrested him and took him to the hospital for a detailed body search. X-rays found nothing. So, the police obtained a court warrant to perform a sigmoidoscopy, which is defined as examination of the sigmoid colon by means of a flexible tube inserted through the anus. This procedure found nothing as well. Jackson was set free. 

But the hospital wanted to get paid for its services. It billed Jackson $4,595.12 although he was forced to take the examination. He refused to pay and eventually the hospital relented and did not charge him.

A Republican Senator speaks

Charles Grassley in today's NY Times writes, "Over the past few months alone, the Defense Department has had to explain why it’s been paying $14,000 for individual 3-D printed toilet seat lids and purchasing cups for $1,280 each. These are just the latest examples on a long list of unacceptable purchases made by the department, including $436 for hammers in the 1980s, and $117 soap dish covers and $999 pliers in the 1990s".

Cashing a check could put you in jail

We need more midwives

Where do we stand in time

From Visual Capitalist

Is this good for the economy?

A unique sentence

David Berry, of Missouri was sentenced to a year in jail for a poaching operation believed to have killed hundreds of deer. The judge added a slight fillip to the sentence. Berry must watch the movie "Bambi" every day in jail. Then, the judge said, "I hope when you get to the part where Bambi’s mother dies, it makes you think."

The jail is going to have a hard time executing the sentence. The Lawrence County jail has only one dayroom for 52 inmates. “The problem is we only have the one room,” the jailer said. “We have to run everybody out except for one person.”

Fighting ISIS from the sky

Return of the Great Recession?

What's wrong with this song?

There is a fair amount of talk about "Baby,it's cold outside." Some see it as another negative toward women. Some radio stations will not play it anymore, although it has been a staple of holiday music for almost 70 years.

What do you think?

Do miracles occur?

Another oldie. I wrote this in 2003.

I’m the only person I know who has bathed in the waters of Lourdes, where the Blessed Virgin appeared to St. Bernadette almost 150 years ago and where 5,000,000 annually flock, many looking for a miracle. Bathing in the waters of Lourdes is something that I’ve looked upon as virtually a unique experience, and it is - at least in the circles in which I’ve traveled. How many people do you know who have had a miraculous experience, whether successful or not?

I was born with a club foot plus additional complications. It was these additional complications – a leg of stunted growth, a knee that didn’t bend – that made me a candidate for a miracle. My parents had been told by the orthopedist that a portion of my leg would be amputated when I reached puberty so that I could be fitted with a “normal” prosthesis. My mother, a firm believer in the teachings of the Church, felt that God could be called upon to prevent the amputation and render me whole. It was natural for her to put her beliefs into practice, so off to Lourdes we went in the summer of my eleventh year.

The heart of the shrine then as now was the grotto, the site of the first miracle (the discovery of a spring where none had existed). It is the water from this spring that has miraculous powers. Naturally, the area surrounding the grotto was filled with the infirm in wheelchairs, on crutches, lying on stretchers, leaning on their companions. People of all ages and with all sorts of maladies had come, as we had, to be made healthy. Hundreds of crutches enveloped the small chapel that had been built into the grotto; they had been left by those who were cured at Lourdes.

The grotto still housed the miracle spring, but the water was now piped into a building where there were rooms containing bath tubs. It was to one of these tubs that my mother accompanied me and watched and prayed as I sat in the miraculous waters. Most bathers must have found the experience very moving. But I did not. Perhaps, I was too young, too wrapped up in my daily life, too eager to get on to the next experience, not enough of a believer. Who knows why? My strong feeling then and my vivid memory all these years later is that the water was cold. That’s it! No thoughts of a miracle and what that might mean. No prayers. No appreciation of what my parents had gone through to bring me there. Just the typical self-centeredness of a pampered child.

One could conclude that, in addition to being a spoiled brat, I was also a child of the scientific century, where miracles did not occur, where science could explain everything, and, thus, it was right and fitting that my reaction was primarily physical. The scientist would say that my parents were superstitious and simply grasping at straws to help their child.

Fifty-five years later, there is a certain truth to these conclusions. But, in these same fifty-five years, there have been times where the truly unexplainable did happen to me and people I know. Perhaps, the world doesn’t move solely and at all times to the laws of science. Science has yet to fully explain the power our minds and spirit can exert over our bodies. Maybe I was wrong in 1948 and after. Had I been blessed or more receptive, a miracle might have occurred to me as it did, according to Lourdes’ records, to Maddalena Carini who visited the shrine a month after me.

I acknowledge that man is gullible and can be easily deceived by others or his own wishful thinking. Mass hallucinations have occurred. Pious frauds have existed. Closer, more comprehensive and independent examinations have explained away a number of claims of the miraculous. And, yet, there remains a doubt in my mind that questions the certitude of those who assert the impossibility of miracles.

Have miracles occurred at Lourdes? I’m not sure, but the process of verifying that a miracle happened there is fairly conservative. There are two levels of medical investigation. The first level, it is true, is that of the Medical Bureau at Lourdes. One could argue that, being based in Lourdes, they have a vested interest in finding miraculous cures. But, there are some built-in safeguards to minimize this. The most important of these safeguards is time. The person claiming to be cured first has to demonstrate that he had a condition incurable by medical means before he visited Lourdes. Then, the claimant must return at least one and, often, many years later for subsequent examination. Only if 75% of the doctors agree is the case referred to the second level.

This second level, which was established in 1947, consists of thirty medical specialists from around the world. Again, time is the primary safeguard to prevent false claims. The claimant can be examined for several years before a decision is reached. This second level, the Lourdes International Medical Committee, has referred only 29 (2.2%) of the 1300 cases they have investigated up to the third level, the religious level.

This third level is comprised of priests, theologians and canonists, whom the skeptic would claim to be very prone to seeing miracles where none exist. However, of the 29 cases referred to them, they have rejected about one-third. So that since 1947, only 1½% (19 of 1300) of the claims of a miracle have been approved. That is, 19 of the cures ascribed to the waters of Lourdes have been found to be “certain, definitive and medically inexplicable”.  Furthermore, in the past 145 years, despite the hundreds of crutches arrayed around the chapel, only 66 miracles are claimed, or one every two  years or so. In fact, in the past fifty-five years, that average has increased to more than two years and eight months.

Yes, it does seem odd to be talking about miracles in the twenty-first century. But maybe these claims are justified. Have I been unable to explain a tiny percentage (1½) of events that have happened to me over the years? Do odd things happen once every two years or so? I’d have to answer “yes” to both questions. What would your answer be?

Have miracles occurred at Lourdes? You tell me.

Disabled?

Marrying Christ

There are about 4,000 Catholic women in the world who have become consecrated virgins. As such, they have given themselves as brides to God. This is a relatively new phenomenon in the Catholic Church.

During the consecration ceremony, the candidate - who wears a bride-like, white dress- makes life-long chastity vows and promises never to engage in sexual or romantic relationships. They also wear a wedding ring. Although married to Christ, they lead a normal secular life. The women have a range of day jobs - from nurses and psychologists to accountants, business women and fire fighters.

The shrinking IRS

In 2010 the IRS had almost 14,000 auditors; last year it had 9,510 auditors. The last time the IRS had fewer than 10,000 revenue agents was 1953, when the economy was a seventh of its current size. And the IRS is still shrinking. Almost a third of its remaining employees will be eligible to retire in the next year, and with morale plummeting, many of them will.

The IRS conducted 675,000 fewer audits in 2017 than it did in 2010, a drop in the audit rate of 42 percent.

In 2011 the IRS investigated 2,400,000 people who were thought to have not filed; last year the number was 362,000.

Collections from people who do file but don’t pay have plummeted. Tax obligations expire after 10 years if the IRS doesn’t pursue them. Such expirations were relatively infrequent before the budget cuts began. In 2010, $482 million in tax debts lapsed. By 2017, according to internal IRS collection reports, that figure had risen to $8.3 billion, 17 times as much as in 2010. The IRS’ ability to investigate criminals has atrophied as well.

ProPublica estimates a toll of at least $18 billion every year, but the true cost could easily run tens of billions of dollars higher.

What would you have done?

A cliff falls in Cornwall

Trump's view of Janet Yellen

From the Washington Post:

The president also appeared hung up on Yellen’s height. He told aides on the National Economic Council on several occasions that the 5-foot-3-inch economist was not tall enough to lead the central bank, quizzing them on whether they agreed, current and former officials said.

Does beach nourishment pay off?

More help for Saudi Arabia

Since March 2015 we have provided mid-air refueling for Saudi-led coalition aircraft that then flew missions related to the Yemen campaign. While this is quite expensive, I've not seen any dollar numbers, but we have given them at least 8.5 million gallons of fuel. Our laws require the recipient country to pay the costs, but that isn’t what happened here.

Say good-by to Cadiz

Those who will be saying good-by to the Spanish city will be pigeons, about 5,000 of them. The city is moving them to a small town in Spain 375 miles away. They are being moved because Cadiz believes that the pigeons are driving away tourists from the terraces of cafes in the most visited part of the southern port city.

Another strong choice for representing our country

Protecting our kids?

Memories of the Big War

This is something I wrote  on December 7, 2004.

Do you know where you were at about 7 p.m. sixty-three years ago today? I certainly do. December 7 always triggers memories of my youth, a youth where war and the likelihood of war were constantly in most people’s minds. And now it seems that, in my dotage, war and the likelihood of war is becoming a constant again.

But, let me tell you of the last good war. I say ‘good’ because it was the last war where we, the United States of America, were truly united because, I believe, we were correct in believing and doing the right thing, the just thing and (although many will disagree) the moral thing.

The last good war, World War II, was a totally different war than just about all we have fought since, including the one against terrorism that we are fighting today. First of all, everyone knew in their innermost selves that we were at war – and knew it virtually every waking moment. There was no way to avoid it; the newspapers, magazines, radio, movies were full of it (think of CNN on steroids). We all had ration books and, most importantly, we all had brothers, uncles or cousins who were in the armed forces.

For a kid physically removed from any possible danger the war was an exciting time. The movies were filled with gallant Americans fighting the dirty enemy. “The FBI in Peace and War” and similar radio programs warned us constantly of the chicanery of the enemy. Posters, such as the famous “Loose lips sink ships” one, appeared in many public and private places. Thoughts of death and mutilation were far from my mind until the big brothers of the kids down the street came home damaged or dead. And even then the excitement remained. They were not family. I was not close to them.

Even the newspapers were exciting:  the huge headlines, the maps of places with exotic names, photos and stories of the heroes in combat. My reading skills and knowledge of geography improved considerably during the war.

The war was central to my growing up and had significant impact on my family. I was almost five years old when we entered WWII. And, in some ways - since it is the first memory I can recall – it was the beginning of recorded time for me. It was a Sunday night around 7. The kitchen had not yet been divided in two; it was still a very big room. I was playing on the floor. The radio was tuned to the news as it always was when Aunt Jennie visited. Then, the interruption – the Japanese have bombed Pearl Harbor. As with the 9/11 actions, America was stunned. They had attacked us directly. True, it was not the mainland and Hawaii was not yet a state; but they had destroyed American ships and killed Americans. As with 9/11, we should not have been surprised. In fact, the Pearl Harbor attack should have been less of a surprise since the war had been going on in the rest of the world for more than two years. But, then as now, we found it hard to accept that we have enemies, real, flesh-and-blood people who hate us.

Despite our being 3000 miles from the front, the war became our life. It was our constant companion. It so captured America’s imagination, thoughts, fears and dreams that even kids did their bit to help. It united America as little has since.

Some background

I don’t want to delve into politics too much but some background is necessary. Although my mother was born in the States, we were very much a first generation Italian immigrant family. My father had come here in 1912, my mother spent some of her youth in Italy. While there was a strong love of Italy and things Italian, the primary drive for them and their children was toward assimilation. English was the language they used most of the time; however, Italian dialect was also spoken often around the house. My father’s mother, brother and sister remained in Italy, so there were family ties to the homeland as well. Nonetheless, being a US citizen was the sine qua non of those days for an immigrant. My father served in the army in the first war and during the second he was on the draft board and was an air raid warden.

Since Italy was now one of the enemy, my parents and other Italian-Americans were in a difficult spot. Their children were fighting Italians, their blood brothers. Other Americans were skeptical of the loyalty of Italians. During Mussolini’s rise, he was praised by many Italian-Americans, my family included. In fact, for many years there in the living room was a photograph of my brother, Eddie, dressed in the uniform of the Fascist youth; it was taken while he was a guest of the Italian government for a month in the 1930’s.

Although my mother came from a family of seven girls, we were closest to Aunt Jennie, her sister, and Uncle Musty, my father’s brother. Both Jennie and Musty were strong personalities. I don’t know whether they were always politically conservative or not, but during the war they were definitely anti-Roosevelt. My aunt’s hatred of Roosevelt stemmed from a campaign promise he had made in 1940: “Mothers, your sons will not go to war”. When young men, her son included, began to be drafted, she went ballistic. While my parents may have disagreed with her, they did not often voice it as she was the older sister and quite powerful in her beliefs, which she shared with us almost every evening as she listened to Fulton J. Lewis, an arch-conservative, read and comment on the news.

The economy

Today, Bush cuts taxes and urges us to go out and spend as a way to beat the enemy. This approach was totally opposite to what happened in the war years. We couldn’t buy many things without a book of ration coupons. Getting a new book of coupons was like getting a pay check. When we went to the grocery store, we took along our ration books. When my father bought gas for his car, he needed his ration book. Of course, new cars were not seen, as the production of all the car companies went for military purposes. The names of airplanes were as well known then as the names of cars today – Flying Fortress, P-47, Stuka, Spitfire, Zero; I can still see them in my mind. Miniature planes came along with your box of cereal.

Price controls were also in effect. Our wartime economy was a government-run economy. And, it really had to be as the economies of our allies were in shambles and this war really had the potential to destroy Western Civilization.

Air Raid Drills and other wartime activity

What could be more exciting to a little kid than an air raid drill? The sirens blaring, the closing of the curtains, the dowsing of the lights. But, maybe because you were a kid you knew it was only a drill. It couldn’t be real; the Krauts and the Japs were very far away. Yet, when the horns blew, my father, who was an air raid warden, put on his helmet, picked up his flashlight and went out to check that there were no lights shining from any homes or businesses in the neighborhood. We, of course, shut all the lights, drew the curtains and then peeked out to see whether anyone had their lights on.

The only way to communicate with the troops was via the mail. (Unless of course, your son was wounded or killed; in that case you’d get a telegram.) So, my mother would write letters to her sons and, for some reason, she felt that I should do so also. My sisters were exempt from this task, but I was not. It was a real pain for me as I had no idea what to write and would be frustrated by my inability to do so.

After Italy fell, my parents were able to send packages to my father’s family. Perhaps once a month my mother would create these huge care packages filled with the basics. She would sew them up in heavy cotton and my father would lug them to the post office after filling out the appropriate forms.

We spent days rolling the aluminum foil in which gum sticks were wrapped into a giant ball. Where this ball went I know not, but it was a patriotic thing to do. As it was patriotic for the females to knit sweaters and assemble bandages.

Daily entertainment was largely over the radio; periodically, we would go to the local movie house when they were giving out free dishes. Movies then were accompanied by newsreels which largely reported the US view of the war. Even movie stars were dragooned into the war. Some saw combat, many sold war bonds. Contrast that with today’s volunteer army.

While before the war kids played “cops and robbers”, we, the kids of the early ‘40s, played war games. There was no escaping the real world, not even in play.

Hiroshima and Nagasaki

Even now, almost sixty years later, I find it hard to comprehend the power of the atom bombs we dropped on Japan. (And those bombs were tiny compared to today’s generation!) At that time we really didn’t get a complete picture of how horrific the damage was, or at least I didn’t. The strong impression drilled into my Catholic mind was that the second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, a Catholic city. The nuns saw it as another attempt to persecute Catholics and drilled it into our heads. They ignored the catastrophic effect of the bomb, as did most of America. We were just happy that the war was finally ending.

VJ Day

VJ Day was the day the Japanese surrendered. It so happened to also be the Feast of the Assumption (a fact noted by the religious among us). My sisters, cousins and I spent the day cutting up newspapers which we threw from the window when the formal announcement was made. The whole country was a bedlam. Even Cambridge Street was crowded unlike any other time before or since. You could cross the street only with great difficulty and with a degree of risk. Drivers and others were drunk. I can still see the guy down the street playing the bagpipe. The blaring of car horns was constant. It was an unbelievable day across the country.

Back to “normalcy”

The return to the life we led before the war never happened. The Cold War began virtually immediately. In many ways this was even scarier than the hot war that had just ended. But, that is the subject of another day.

Another use for plastic bags

Ranked Choice Voting

I grew up in Cambridge, MA. While the home of Harvard, MIT and Lesley College, Cambridge was also, I think, the first city in the U.S. to use ranked voting. It wasn't called that then; we called it Plan E. It was a fairly simple system. You voted for candidates in the order you preferred. For example, when I voted for my cousin for City Council, I listed him as my #1 choice. I then proceeded to list my second, third, fourth,... ninth choice. When the votes were counted, a quota had been established that specified the necessary number of votes needed to be elected. If your #1 candidate did not make the quota and there were seats still to be filled, then the authorities counted #2 votes and added them to your #1 votes. Again - If your #1 candidate did not make the quota and their were seats still to be filled, then the authorities counted #2 votes and added them to your #1 votes. Etc. Eventually all seats would be filled.

The system is gradually making its way into more and more elections. The state of Maine is the first state to adopt it. I suspect that other states will join Maine. With ranked choice voting, voters can rank as many candidates as they want in order of choice.  When used as a form of fair representation voting to elect more than one candidate like a city council, state legislature or even Congress, it helps to more fairly represent the full spectrum of voters.

An alien visitor?

Lower drug prices in the U.S.

Bernie Sanders and Ro Khanna have introduced a bill to change the way drugs are priced in the U.S. The bill would dramatically affect the patent monopoly that now dominates the pricing of drugs. The bill would effectively end the patent monopoly for any drug where the price in the United States is above the median of the prices charged in the next seven largest wealthy countries. This is likely to mean a reduction in the price of most brand drugs by around 50 percent.

The reason is that, while other countries also grant patent monopolies and related protections to drugs, they don’t allow the manufacturers to exploit these monopolies to the same extent as in the United States. They have some sort of price negotiation with drug companies, which is intended to place a limit on the price that can be charged when people’s health or life is at stake.

I'd say he's doing well

Ryan is eight-years-old and reviews toys on YouTube. Forbes Magazine has named him YouTube's highest-earning star. His site grossed $22m in the year ending in June. This is double what he did last year. Asked by NBC why kids liked watching his videos, Ryan replied: "Because I'm entertaining and I'm funny."

Since the channel was set up by Ryan's parents in March 2015, its videos have had almost 26 billion views and amassed 17.3 million followers.

Should we follow Singapore's lead?

Do we need more oil?

The Trump administration thinks we do. And they think we should get it from Alaska, specifically from the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. This despite the fact that Alaska is the site of the National Petroleum Reserve and already produces oil. Plus, the world's supply of oil is reaching the glut stage and climate change is becoming more dangerous.

And we have the usual questions about treating the occupants. On its 19.6 million acres the Refuge currently houses polar bears, black bears, 200 species of birds, hundreds of thousands of caribou, wolves, muskoxen, and a multitude of other species of wildlife.

Climate change is not good for our forests

The latest U.S. National Climate Assessment shows that winters have warmed three times faster than summers in the Northeast in recent years. This means less snow. And less snow - particularly in snow packs - has been found to impair tree health and reduce forests’ ability to filter air and water, which affects water and air quality. Trees don't grow as well and less carbon is stored.

All species need insulation when winter comes. Tree roots and soil organisms like insects rely on deep snow packs for protection from cold. Even in sub-zero temperatures, if snow is sufficiently deep, soils can remain unfrozen.

When roots decompose, carbon dioxide leaves the soil. Trees take up fewer nutrients from soil, accumulate the toxic element aluminum in their leaves and produce less branch growth. Nitrogen, a key nutrient, can wash out of soils. Soil insect communities become less abundant and diverse.

Another thing to worry about today.

He couldn't fit the photo in his house

Thanks to a Duncaster correspodent

Such a contrast to the present incumbent

A TRUE WONDERLAND

It's come to Argentina

It's not a mammal but gives milk to its children.

The Toxeus magnus is a jumping spider, a group generally known for being loners. But they apparently live in family groups, where the mothers care for their young — another rarity among spiders. The spiderlings stay in their home nests for at least three weeks after hatching. Here, they get well fed, i.e. milked.

Their mother secretes a liquid very much like milk from her epigastric furrow, a fold on her underside that she also uses to lay eggs. For the first week, she dabs the droplets onto the walls of her nest, and the youngsters scurry over to suck these up. After that, they drink from the furrow directly. During their crucial early period, the spiderlings rely on the milk as their only source of sustenance. It doesn’t have a lot of fat or sugar, but it’s loaded with proteins—four times as much as the equivalent amount of cow milk.

Meet Knickers

A very strange - and inhuman - prison system

Trying to save her country

Dirty air, shorter life

The World Health Organization recently reported that nine out of 10 people breathe polluted air, and that 7 million people die each year due to these hazards. At the country level, India has some of the worst air anywhere — when you look at ranking of particulate pollution in cities, 11 of the 12 cities with the highest levels are in India.

A 2015 study found that India’s air pollution trimmed 3.2 years from the life expectancy of 660 million people living in the country.

Life is getting shorter in the U.S.

Or, at least, life expectancy is! The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention measures this every year and publishes a report. Their latest report said that Americans could expect to live 78.6 years at birth in 2017, down a tenth of a year from the 2016 estimate. Men could anticipate a life span of 76.1 years, down a tenth of a year from 2016. Life expectancy for women in 2017 was 81.1 years, unchanged from the previous year.

The data continued the longest sustained decline in expected life span at birth in a century, an appalling performance not seen in the United States since 1915 through 1918. That four-year period included World War I and a flu pandemic that killed 675,000 people in the United States and perhaps 50 million worldwide.

A good part of the problem is death from drug overdoses. They set another annual record in 2017, cresting at 70,237 — up from 63,632 the year before. The opioid epidemic continued to take a relentless toll, with 47,600 deaths in 2017 from drugs sold on the street such as fentanyl and heroin, as well as prescription narcotics. That was also a record number, driven largely by an increase in fentanyl deaths. Since 1999, the number of drug overdose deaths has more than quadrupled. Deaths attributed to opioids were nearly six times greater in 2017 than they were in 1999.

Farms having problems

Over the last 12 months ending in June, 84 farms have declared bankruptcy in Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and Montana, more than doubling the number of bankruptcies over the same stretch in 2013/2014, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis.

Does the trade war help or hurt the situation?

Some interesting charts

Converting hog manure to energy

That's what the world’s largest pork producer, Smithfield Foods, and utility company Dominion Energy will try to do. Pigs use a poop pond to defecate. These ponds produce tons of methane. Dominion thinks that it can convert this methane to biodiesel and increase its renewable gas to 4% of its total.

Courtesy of our Florida correspondent

Enjoying the air

Sinatra returns home

Words vs. Actions

The Commerce Department has a process whereby companies whose products are subject to tariffs can file for an exclusion on these products. That is, they don't pay the tariff. Guess what? Since March, when the tariffs of 25 percent on steel and 10 percent on aluminum went into effect, the Commerce Department has approved a higher share of exclusion requests that include imports from China than it has from American allies like Japan and Canada.
Thus far, the administration has granted nearly 3,000 requests that could exempt Chinese-made metal products from the tariffs, according to a congressional analysis.

We need a day off from Trump

He's been THE NEWS for a couple of years now. And that news has been primarily about his personality, not about what he has done or hopes to do. I can recall only one period in my life where a subject dominated the news for years. That period was World War II and it news dominance was essential to our lives. Why doesn't the media give us all a Christmas present and make December 25 NO TRUMP DAY?

Another UN report on Climate Change

It's the Emissions Gap Report, which is issued every year. It highlights the difference between the level of greenhouse gas emissions that the world can sustain to keep temperatures within safe limits, with the levels that are likely based on the promises and actions taken by countries. This latest report records the largest gap yet between where we are and where we need to be. In 2017 emissions went up by 1.2% pushed along by higher GDP.

The countries that are falling short of their goals include Argentina, Australia, Canada, the EU (including the UK), South Korea, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and the US. We're just not doing enough. Carbon taxes or carbon trading systems cover only 15% of the global carbon output, which could rise to 20% if China implements its planned market. half of the emissions from fossil fuels are not taxed at all and only 10% are priced at a level consistent with keeping warming to 2C.

Music in Hell

Surprisingly, Washington agrees with the UN

I'm talking about thirteen federal agencies, not the politicians. The agencies predict that if significant steps are not taken to rein in global warming, the damage will knock as much as 10 percent off the size of the American economy by century’s end. The UN produced a very similar report recently.

The US report lays out the devastating effects of a changing climate on the economy, health and environment, including record wildfires in California, crop failures in the Midwest and crumbling infrastructure in the South. It's possible that our exports and supply chains - especially trade and agriculture - could be disrupted, agricultural yields could fall to 1980s levels by mid-century and fire season could spread to the Southeast.

Climate change could slash up to a tenth of gross domestic product by 2100, more than double the losses of the Great Recession a decade ago. The report projects costs of $141 billion from heat-related deaths, $118 billion from sea level rise and $32 billion from infrastructure damage by the end of the century.

The change will affect every part of the country. More people will die as heat waves become more common, the scientists say, and a hotter climate will also lead to more outbreaks of disease.

What can be done? The report offers three main solutions: putting a price on greenhouse gas emissions, which usually means imposing taxes or fees on companies that release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere; establishing government regulations on how much greenhouse pollution can be emitted; and spending public money on clean-energy research.

Pay the hospital or........

....you won't leave

A new art form

Playing soccer in Texas

Courtesy of our Florida correspondent

The Debtor Countries

From the World Economic Forum

He doesn't like computers

Will the problems at the VA ever stop?

The Boston Globe and USA Today recently released a report of the VA's performance at a hospital in Brockton, MA. The report concluded that the hospital showed a “blatant disregard for veteran safety”. Some of the findings:

investigators found two nurses fast asleep during their shifts, even though the facility knew it was under scrutiny and inspectors were coming to visit.nurses and aides did not empty the bedside urinals of frail veterans, failed to provide clean water at night and didn’t check on the veterans regularly.care at many VA nursing facilities, according to the agency’s own secret internal ratings, was worse than at private nursing homes.

The VA has 133 nursing homes across the country that serve 46,000 veterans annually. Newly released VA data show that 95 of them — about 71 percent — scored worse than private nursing homes on a majority of quality indicators, such as rates of infection, serious pain and bed sores. Roughly the same number, 93, received one or two stars out of five for quality in the agency’s own ratings.

Midterms - Massive number of false claims

From The Star

"WE ARE THE FUTURE GIVE US A CHANCE"

That was the message of one poster placed next to Sweden's Aletsch Glacier. This was only one of 125,000 drawings and messages about climate change, which were created by children from all over the world. The mosaic is the largest in the world; it measures 2,500 sq m (26,910 sq ft). Seen from above, the whole picture reads: "STOP GLOBAL WARMING #1.5 DEGREES C".

He's not a relative of mine

I'd never heard of Purchase College, a part of New York's university system. It made Fox News a few days ago when some students revealed that the college has a shrine featuring Danny DeVito, who is not a relative of mine. 

The shrine is hidden behind the paper towel dispenser in one of the bathrooms. A photo shows an image of DeVito’s face hanging on the wall and a cutout of DeVito standing in the corner. A note is placed in front of the cutout, which reads “Leave An Offering For Our Lord and Savior Danny DeVito, Patron Saint of Trashmen” — a nod to DeVito's role on the hit FX series. Other items include a commuter card, a package of Pop Rocks, a whoopee cushion and an Apple iTunes gift card, all sprawled across the floor at the cutout of DeVito’s feet.

DeVito has been made aware of it and has written, "Your shrine honors me. My heart is filled with love and garbage. Tomorrow, as you may know, is my name day. Do something that makes you feel good. Above all be kind to each other. Pick up trash, recycle, and be aware of plastics in the ocean." 

This little-known school has invited DeVito to visit it.

A Police Department with a Record

And it's not a record to be proud of. Of the 34 supervisors in the Elkhart, Indiana, Police Department, 28 have been disciplined; the reasons range from carelessness to incompetence to serious, even criminal, misconduct.. Fifteen, including the chief, have been suspended. Seven have been involved in fatal shootings. Three have been convicted of criminal charges.

Elkhart is not New York City. From 2013 to 2017, Elkhart police shot and killed six people while New York City police killed 43. However, Elkhart’s population is 53,000 — New York City’s, 8.6 million. The NYPD had about seven times more police shootings — in a city with more than 160 times the people.

History of Chocolate

Is this something to be proud of?

I don't think so. Plus, the presidential elections draw only 60%.

Another hell on earth

South Sudan, a country of 12.5 million people, has been engaged in a civil war since 2013. Just about everyone has been dramatically affected. Nearly 400,000 people have died in the war. 2 million people have been internally displaced and more than 2.5 million have fled the country. About 6 million people, or about 60% of the population, are severely food insecure, and another 1.7 million people are facing a looming famine.

Under Obama, we got involved by supporting one side of the civil war, that of the president. Trump has largely ignored it until recently when  the United Nations Security Council voted to finally impose an arms embargo on the country.

More problems at the VA

We've read about the VA's problems handling medical claims. Now, we learn it has problems paying college tuitions. Earlier this year the VA changed the way education claims are processed. Payments were tied to campus Zip codes to eliminate many overpayments. It also changed some calculations to offset costs of additional education programs. 

These changes sound pretty straightforward, but they are extraordinarily difficult for the VA. They are either underpaying, not paying or late paying the veterans' educational claims. About 450,000 veterans are affected.

The VA had the time (almost a year) and the money ($30,000,000) to update their system, but failed to do so. Will heads roll?

Gas-powered leaf blowers make us deaf

A Scary Document

Last year Congress created the Commission on the National Defense Strategy for the United States. Its goal was to provide an independent, nonpartisan review of the 2018 National Defense Strategy and issues of U.S. defense strategy and policy more broadly. The commission, made up of Republicans, Democrats and Independents did tons of research. Its conclusions are not encouraging. Here are a few of them. There are many more.

The security and wellbeing of the United States are at greater risk than at any time in decades. America’s military superiority—the hard-power backbone of its global influence and national security—has eroded to a dangerous degree. Rivals and adversaries are challenging the United States on many fronts and in many domains. America’s ability to defend its allies, its partners, and its own vital interests is increasingly in doubt. If the nation does not act promptly to remedy these circumstances, the consequences will be grave and lasting.

The United States has lost its military edge to a dangerous degree and could potentially lose a war against China or Russia, according to a report released Wednesday by a bipartisan commission that Congress created to evaluate the Trump administration’s defense strategy.
Today, however, our margin of superiority is profoundly diminished in key areas.

There are urgent challenges that must be addressed if the United States is to avoid lasting damage to its national security.

Are we spending our money wisely?

Is he afraid of the rain?

On Saturday Trump would not visit military graves in France because of the rain. Today it's Arlington National Cemetery that is too rainy for him. The Saturday excuse was "the president’s Marine One helicopter cannot fly in rain or fog." But the cemetery is only 55 miles from Paris. How long would it take to drive there?

A lovers quarrel?

At one of Trump's recent campaign rallies he said that he and Kim Jong-un “fell in love.” Well, maybe Kim doesn't feel the same way, as it appears as though North Korea has not stopped its ballistic missile program. Recently new commercial satellite images identified sixteen hidden missile bases.

The base above is a little more than 50 miles north of the Demilitarized Zone. It is one of the closest to South Korea. Seoul, the capital, is about 80 miles away, as are American troops. 

Furthermore, the North has yet to take the first step toward denuclearization: providing us with a list of its nuclear sites, weapons, production facilities and missile bases. It is estimated that the North has about 40 to 60 nuclear warheads. And we can't do a good surveillance job as our missiles are effective only 30% of the time.