In the Atlantic, James Fallows reports on the Ancient Rome and Modern American analogies. Now, chapter four: crossing the Rubicon. Schnurer argues that this is more than just a familiar phrase. And he says that a U.S. Rubicon moment is in view—which would be triggered by a possible indictment of Donald Trump. At the end … [Read more…]
In today’s Guardian, an article about the recent spate of encounters between small sail boats and Orca’s off the coast of Spain.
Over on spaceweather.com is this interesting recap of the impact of Starfish Prime, a 1962 low orbit nuclear test.
In the NY Times: Roberto Calasso, Renaissance Man of Letters, Dies at 80 A Florentine by birth, he was a polymath as an author and publisher (Kafka, Verdic philosophy, Greek mythology) who reached a wide international readership. In “The Art of the Publisher,” his reflections on his decades in publishing, Mr. Calasso was diffident about … [Read more…]
In the Guardian, Yep, it’s bleak, says expert who tested 1970s end-of-the-world prediction, A controversial MIT study from 1972 forecast the collapse of civilization – and Gaya Herrington is here to deliver the bad news
Chad Kalepa Baybayan Seafarer Who Sailed Using the Stars, Dies at 64 He was a torchbearer for the celestial navigation art known as wayfinding, which ancestral Polynesian sailors used to navigate the Pacific Ocean. From a NYT obituary, May 15,2021
Over at Ars-Technia, an interesting view on “Chamise is kind of a crystal ball for understanding how badly California might burn. ” And nothing scares a fire weather scientist quite like a year with dehydrated chamise. If it’s dry, then that’s a good indicator that everything is dry. “Right now, these are the lowest April … [Read more…]
There are many people who have names which suit their occupations. Here is a short list I’ve found so far in 2021. There are others who have slipped by in the past but are unverifiable. According to Frank Nuessel, in The Study of Names (1992), an aptonym is the term used for “people whose names … [Read more…]
The Rozz-Tox Manifesto Gary Panter (1980) tem 1: The avant-garde is no corpus. It merely lies in shock after an unfortunate bout with its own petard. It feigns sleep but one eye glitters and an involuntary twitch in the corner of the mouth belies a suppressed snicker. The giggle of coming awake at one’s own … [Read more…]
Our old anchor, Robert Charette at IEEE Spectrum starts off 2021 with 2021 Cybersecurity and IT Failures Roundup and a good long dose of hubris it is. The astounding amount of money involved (lost) will make your jaw drop.