Stuff is coming at me from all directions these days, shields up! The phone is ringing off the hook, though not literally, though in ToonTown it really might (we could market this as a feature?).
I'm not whining though, am actually pleased with the higher level of buzz, glad Harvard is sitting up and paying attention for a change. Why should Princeton be the only player?
True, those New Englanders have been lazy, non-industrious, leaving their best heritage to rot on a shelf, but why waste a lot of time pointing that out? We've got museums for that. It's American Transcendentalism we care about now.
Thanks to some of these fun developments, I'm late to Wanderers, barging in on Duane's presentation about nuclear waste, other energy issues. Gad what a mess.
We have a lot of first person corroboration coming from engineers in attendance, i.e. some of us have had direct contact with Los Alamos, Hanford and like those.
He's covering Chernobyl now. Picture of Iranian centrifuges (yawn).
Global grid talk: Barry holding forth, Glenn asking me if Bucky had some ideas. The state of long lines transmission isn't in the press a whole lot, but sometimes we get stories.
Stuff I wrote recently, to the Wanderers list:
Tried to get that national conversation going with Palin et al but she rightly realized more recently that Lower48 politicos are waaaaay too stupid to discuss anything that intelligent intelligently, so for the most part we let 'em watch their idiot boxes and bliss out on fake cop shows (fake math shows (NUMB3RS), fake doctor shows, fake lawyer shows....).Julian and family were here earlier. I regret not getting to say good bye in person. His picture is here next to me on the left, a famous photo by now, with Doug Strain and Terry Bristol. Doug shoulda lost the jacket for this one, but we can't always afford a fashion consultant at every turn.
Phony baloney is what's in most peoples' heads, very small footprint intersection with reality (or even US policy), except at the level of hanging out with the local yokels and visiting the DQ now and then (gotta watch that "waste" line).
Plutonium is ridiculously toxic isn't it? People like to play god don't they? Sometimes they do so responsibly, as like medical doctors. Other times... Hey, Deb is right, we need more ethics requirements (she's a medical doctor I know, not in Portland).
Stuff I wrote recently, to the Wanderers list:
Engineers are always coming up with these goofy ideas, wanting to "try stuff". Of course we don't let 'em.I like Leslie's idea of a Peace Resource Center, like in Wilmington College, Ohio. My sister worked there some. I'm too old to start over though, am already maxed out on think tank connections (ISEPP, Greenpeace... PSF), have no plans to join new ones. Tara just joined WILPF, is pleased with her welcome packet.
But then people did get away with nuking two cities, think they have recourse to that solution again if they need it, thinking no learning occurred from wrestling with that devastating anti-civilization (now bankrupt and extinct, praise Allah, memorialized every Aug 6, coming right up again).
Hey, Jon Bunce is here! Sam Lanahan too. Way cool.
Hey, big eclipse coming up, might be the most viewed in human history given the population centers with a front row seat. It'll be the longest in my lifetime. Many religious conversions expected says NASA (people become eclipse chasers after seeing one, witness Buxton).
