Uninhabitable

I just finished reading a very interesting book called The Uninhabitable Earth by David Wallace-Wells.

It has to do with the ongoing heating of planet Earth due to the burning of fossil fuels…something popularly known as “global warming”…and the ramifications that this has for human beings.

Climate scientists, for the past 60 years, have been estimating and measuring the presence of greenhouse gasses (i.e. they absorb infrared radiation and radiate heat) in the atmosphere. These gasses, as scientists have predicted, have increased in the atmosphere as the world has developed industrially, primarily driven by the burning of coal, oil, and natural gas.

As the amount of greenhouse gasses has increased, so has the earth’s atmospheric temperature.

Accurate, systematic thermometer readings of temperature have been kept in the United States since 1880. That’s going on 139 years. The five hottest years on record have all happened in the past five years. This is not an aberration, as it has happened all over the world. It is a trend, and not a good one. Climate scientists are not surprised; they predicted it would happen, but not this fast.

This does not bode well for the human species.

As this worldwide reality of atmospheric warming continues, we can expect: (a) higher mortality due to unlivable conditions in many areas; (b) failed crops in currently arable lands; (c) the resurgence of maladies such as malaria and Lyme disease; (d) mass migrations, as economies fail and lands become to hot to occupy; (e) an increase in severe weather events, such as tornadoes, hurricanes, flooding, and wildfires; (f) depletion of the earth’s freshwater stores; (g) unhealthful air to breathe; (h) the possible re-introduction of various diseases that have been trapped in ancient permafrost and polar ice caps, when they begin to melt; and, (i) the submergence of many seaside metropolises and all major ocean shipping ports.

It is an ironic and cruel fact that the industrialized nations in temperate climatic zones have led the way in atmospheric degradation, by burning fossil fuels to sustain their mega-economies and lifestyles of plenty, and, yet, the Third World countries in equatorial, tropical and sub-tropical zones, who have no margin for error with their basic existence, will feel the impact of climate change first.

And, they will be powerless to do anything about it.

Climate change is not a joke, a campaign slogan, or something to be scoffed at, just because it is unfathomable or so inconvenient that one must cover his or her ears to avoid contemplating it. This matter is existential, something that must be dealt with A.S.A.P. by the entire world, acting in concert. And, that is easier said than done.

Excuse the melodramatic pause, here, but our generation could determine if there is going to be a recognizable, inhabitable world in 100 years.

Human beings have existed, more or less in our current form, for tens of thousands of years. It was only during the past 200 years that our species began to significantly impact the earth’s atmosphere. It began with the Industrial Revolution, i.e with the burning of coal to power engines of manufacturing in Great Britain.

In the past thirty years, though, over half of all the carbon-based exhaust emitted to the atmosphere throughout human history has been generated. This has happened despite the knowledge by scientists and politicians alike that we human beings are poisoning our own atmosphere.

More carbon in the atmosphere equals higher atmospheric heat. Period. It’s basic atmospheric science.

In 1992, the United Nations established its climate change framework. In 2016, with the signing of the Paris Agreement, the vast majority of the nations of the world, agreed to work toward holding the atmospheric carbon concentration to 400 parts per million.

The United States government, under Donald Trump, repudiated the Agreement shortly after he was elected.

The current monthly average of carbon concentration in the atmosphere is 411 ppm, and rising.

The Paris Agreement established a 2 degree global warming by 2100 goal. It was a “best case” scenario, given the unlikely prospect of industrialized nations rapidly curbing their insatiable appetites for fossil fuels.

Humanity has caused, in 170 years, about a 1.2 percent increase in atmospheric temperature. We have already noticed, in recent years, dramatic increases in the melting of polar ice, increases in the frequency and intensity of hurricanes, and an increase in the frequency and intensity of devastating wildfires in the the western states of America.

At 2 percent atmospheric warming, fresh water scarcity will be a problem for 400 million humans, and major cities in equatorial climate zones will become unlivable. Carbon concentration in the atmosphere would be 500 ppm or more. The last time this was the case, sixteen million years ago, the atmosphere was somewhere between 5 to 8 degrees hotter, and sea level was 130 feet higher.

Under that scenario, London, New York City, Singapore, Tokyo, Stockholm, Rome, Hong Kong, and Washington D.C. would be underwater, just to name a few cities, as would all current seaside ports throughout the world.

Unfortunately, the 2 degree warming goal will not be met. At the current rate of degradation, the United Nations is estimating that the atmosphere will heat by 4.5 degrees by the year 2100. If this occurs, it would be catastrophic for the human race.

According to the geologic record, there have been several extinction level events in the earth’s history. The last one was 65 million years ago, when the dinosaurs went extinct. This event also occurred when the earth’s atmospheric temperature increased rapidly over a short period of time due to volcanic pollution, an asteroid hitting the earth, or other natural phenomena.

The current polluted state of the atmosphere is, however, of man’s doing. Therefore, unless things change dramatically in the next couple of generations, human beings face the prospect of engineering their own extinction.

No one wants to hear or believe this. This is why global warming “deniers” are replete on Fox News and in the Trump Administration, telling people that global warming is “fake news”, and diverting attention to other matters.

Most deniers are shills for the oil and coal industries, which are major political campaign contributors.

President Trump this past week announced the establishment of a task force to, again, review global warming. Trump’s proposed chairman of this supposedly-objective committee is not a climate scientist but, you guessed it, a denier. Does anyone doubt what the conclusions of this “study” will be? I’m sure that the conclusions have already been written (by energy lobbyists).

Global warming is a problem contributed to by everyone. Surely, “green” lifestyle choices by every human being, such as minimizing energy use, recycling, dietary changes, etc. would help minimize the problem to a degree.

However, most of the carbon-based air pollution in the atmosphere is generated by industry (agriculture and manufacturing), the exhaust of motorized vehicles, and the biological consequences of elective de-forestation. The only way to significantly modify the carbon footprint of these actors is for governments throughout the world, working in concert, to adopt stringent regulations and work toward “green” alternatives to current practices.

And, do so immediately.

This is easier said than done. Emerging industries in heretofore Third World countries are key to improving improving living conditions for their citizens. It is difficult for those needy folks to be told to put the brakes on their short-term aspirations and sacrifice for long-term objectives. And, of course, the elites that control the world’s major established economies are hesitant to do anything that would upset the status quo, which is a money maker for them and their progeny.

“We’ll deal with this later!”, is the easiest answer.

That is the problem, in a nutshell. Very few politicians, worldwide, want to seriously tackle the hard problems; it’s difficult to ask industries and citizens to make hard choices. “Let the other guy sacrifice.”

I am not encouraged by the current state of world politics. Nationalism (the politics of “Me, first”) is the current rage. Many countries, like the United States under Donald Trump, are retreating into themselves, focusing on their own vested interests to the exclusion of global issues.

Can’t be bothered with real issues

This will continue to be a problem if the people of the world do not demand more from their political leaders.

We need some more of these guys…

In the meanwhile, as the earth’s atmosphere continues its diabolical warming toward an apocalyptic conclusion, the public, as a whole, is more focused on immediate “trending” issues, like the features of the next I-phone, an unnecessary border wall, and what the Kardashian family is doing this week. Or, what Donald Trump just tweeted.

Does his best thinking on the Crapper

As the saying goes, “You get what you deserve.”

The King of Bad Ideas

Just when you think that Donald Trump can’t possibly stain the Presidency any worse than he has already, the narcissist idiot goes and does something really stupid. This week’s stunt: declare a National Emergency so that he can obtain funding for his precious border wall project.

Who’s going to believe our President when there’s a real emergency?

As any high school student knows, the U.S. Congress decides how money is spent in our country. That responsibility is ingrained in the Constitution, and is one of the “checks and balances” designed therein to ensure that the Executive branch remains responsible to the people. One wonders if our Chief Executive has ever read it.

Congress recently said, “No!” to the President’s extravagant demands for funding a wall that isn’t needed along the Mexican border. So, in typical Trumpian fashion, he announced a bogus “emergency” which would allow him to pilfer funds budgeted for other purposes to apply to his pet project.

In other words, our President plans to misappropriate monies budgeted for defense, FEMA disasters, etc.

“It’s my party, and I’ll do what I want to…”

This is a very bad idea, and sets a horrible precedent. Ditto, no matter who is President.

Politically, Trump’s action is a ball-buster for his own Republican Party, because: (a) they know that there’s not really a National Emergency, and can’t defend it; (2) the funds that the President plans to swipe from the Federal Budget are going to harm many Republican political constituencies, like defense contractors, communities with military bases, industries which supply our military, and areas of the country which are trying to recover from disasters; and, (3) they will lose credibility as a party which traditionally supports our military (i.e. instead of strengthening our military, which was a primary goal of the GOP two years ago, they will be seen as weakening it.)

Trump, a closeted Democrat?

(The Speaker of the House will now introduce a Resolution of Disapproval of the bogus “emergency”, which will be approved by the Democrat-majority Congress. The Senate will then have to take up the measure, which will force Republican Senators to decide whether (a) to support the Constitution, which they are sworn to do, or (b) support the power grab by President Trump, which diminishes the power of the Legislative branch of government. It is a lose-lose proposition, foisted upon the GOP by its own standard bearer.)

Poison pill

The precedent, if allowed, of permitting the Executive branch to declare a National Emergency whenever it can’t get what it wants from the Legislative branch, sets both parties up for big trouble in the future. For example, should the Democrats regain the Presidency in 2020, what is to stop the new President from declaring a National Emergency regarding gun control, climate change, minimum wage, or any other issue on which Republicans and Democrats disagree?

“I declare a National Emergency…we must incarcerate all Republicans!”

If a President is to be allowed the power to unilaterally undermine the budgeting function of Congress, what is to stop him from defunding whole functional areas of government? For example, could the Executive branch declare that the Judicial branch was “out of control” such that it constituted a National Emergency, and eliminate its funding?

Is it possible that Donald Trump could use this newly assumed power to defund the FBI’s investigation into Russian involvement in the 2016 Presidential election? He could declare that his Administration’s distraction from the nation’s business constitutes a “national emergency”, for example.

Follow the tweets

(This is not so far fetched, though, as dictators throughout the world have used imagined “emergencies” time and time again to dissolve elected legislatures, imprison critics, impose martial law, execute opponents and so forth. Our President has expressed his admiration for the Philippines’ President Duterte…who has used this exact tactic to assume dictatorial powers. As has been said, “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.”)


“Checks and Balances” is a distinguishing feature of our form of government, wherein we are governed by rules of law, not of executive whim. This intentional design of our democracy has heretofore protected it (and, us) from overreach of a would-be tyrant. Congress has exercised this role in the past (impeachment proceedings against three Presidents) as has the Supreme Court (denying President Truman’s attempt to takeover U.S. steel mills in 1952, for example).

Not so fast, Buddy!

(Another feature of our democracy, which keeps the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches from engaging in malfeasance or overreach, is the Constitutionally-empowered freedom of the press. As the Washington Post’s masthead says, “Democracy dies in darkness.” Not surprisingly, Donald Trump, President of the United States, a guy who specializes in malfeasance and, now, overreach, has often publicly declared the press to be “the enemy” of the people.)

Fact-checking…something that Donald Trump despises

Congress’ recent action only gave the President a portion of the money that he wanted for enhanced border protection. Instead of $8 billion, Trump was given $1.75 billion, with the stipulation that none of it is to be used for a concrete wall. Of course, a concrete wall was what Mr. Trump promised to his supporters during the campaign, while at the same time assuring them that Mexican, not American, taxpayers would pay for it.

Famous last words

So, Trump lost. The man hates losing and losers, and can’t abide himself falling into that category (again). So, he’s trying to save face by changing the rules, pretending that he’s above the law, and is trying to demonstrate to his followers that he can miraculously turn defeat into victory.

The reality of this “National Emergency” stunt is that everyone, including the President, knows that there is no emergency.

The Civil War, the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, 9/11…those were emergencies. The U.S. government’s own statistics fail to support Trump’s assertions regarding rampant illegal immigration, propensity of crime by Mexican immigrants, and the flow of illegal drugs across wall-less borders. The President admitted as much when he announced the bogus emergency: he said that he “didn’t have to do this”, and was exercising this option so that he could get his border wall built “faster”.

Just another lie, but who’s counting?

The other undeniable truth is that, had Congress granted the Administration $100 billion to build concrete walls, not one cubic foot of said wall would be built during Trump’s Presidency.

This is because of the hundreds of lawsuits that will ensue, from states, border cities, property owners, and environmentalists, challenging the so-called “emergency”, challenging eminent domain, and challenging the waiver of environmental quality laws to speed the construction. The Administration’s arrogant disregard of Congress’ budgetary prerogatives will not undo the many other laws that must be followed by all Presidents and all political parties. Hundreds of lawsuits will be filed and will totally overwhelm the Justice Department. Just this week, suits were filed by sixteen states, including California.

“National Emergency”: The Lawyers’ Full Employment Act

Said litigation will burn up the remainder of Donald Trump’s time in office.

I’m sure the President is aware of this, and that actually erecting a concrete border wall is not his goal in all of this, just as making the Mexican government pay for said wall was never realistic, either. The reality is that the Wall issue was just an election campaign dog whistle tactic to rile up red-necked Americans to vote for him, playing on the overt and covert racism in society. Blame everything on the Mexicans (and, the Chinese!), the strategy went. And, it worked to get him elected.

“There’s a Sucker born every minute!”

Now that it is time to pay the piper, Trump has revealed himself to be the con man that most people have always known him to be…there will be no Mexican money, no concrete wall, no nada. The fact is that the Trump Administration has yet to build one additional foot of border wall in its 25 months in office, and many of his ardent supporters are now abandoning him. Firebrand Fox News political commentator Laura Ingraham, one of the President’s strongest Conservative supporters, said this week that “the only national emergency is that our President is an idiot”.

“This job is harder than I thought it would be!”

So, here we are, in 2019, with a frustrated and emasculated Chief Executive throwing yet another desperate Hail Mary pass that isn’t going to accomplish anything except undermine his own party’s election ambitions in 2020.

“It’s all about Me!”

This is precisely what one would from the King of Bad Ideas. He’s the guy who went bust on such brainstorms as his three Trump Hotel/Casinos, Trump Airlines, the scam Trump University, Trump Pale Ale, Trump Magazine, Trump Mortgage, Trump Steaks, the GoTrump.com travel agency, and the non-profit Trump Charitable Foundation (whose only beneficiary turned out to be the Trump family).

“They’re bigly delicious!”

Trump’s failures as a businessman, scam artist, and human being are one thing; in those cases, the only casualties were investors, contractors, students, and get-rich-quick hopefuls. Trump has words for people like that: “suckers” and “losers”. He likes to play with other people’s money, so “Caveat Emptor”!

Duh…

But, his latest bad idea threatens the entire fabric of our democracy. Rather than making America great again, the “National Emergency” gambit, if allowed to go unchecked, would un-make American government: our republic would be on the slippery slope toward an autocracy, not a democracy.

And, when he is done ruining our form of government, and out of office, Donald Trump, private citizen and entrepreneur, will simply move on to his next bad idea.

Snowy Hike

Mac, Lloyd, John and I went on a hike this morning in the Beaver Dam Wash National Conservation Area.

It snowed yesterday afternoon and evening, and the wind blew like Hell. As we drove up Old U.S. Highway 91 (the approximate location of the Old Spanish Trail), and then into the wilderness area, we began to run into very fresh snow. In another five miles, at an elevation of about 3,000 feet, we parked Lloyd’s 4WD Toyota near a cattle corral. It was about 6:30 a.m. and the temperature was 23 degrees. Brrrrrr.

23 degrees…and I forgot my gloves!!!

Mac and John call these hikes “exploratory” because they really don’t know where we’re going…except uphill. So, off we trudged, in the snow, planning to go up and over that peak, just ahead.

Tricky footing this morning

Actually, the desert foothills and mountains are very pretty when dusted with snow. It’s neat to see barrel cacti, Joshua trees, Native Yucca, cholla, and Juniper trees in their winter garb. Very cool.

Barrel Cactus
“Jumping” Cholla cactus
Native Yucca
Prickly Pear cactus
John, after taking a leak
A Barrel cactus nursery

The snow was only a couple of inches deep most of the way, although we did slog through stretches where the drifts were 6 to 8 inches deep. There were lots of rabbit and coyote tracks, and occasional fox paw prints, in the fresh snow. We didn’t see any coyotes, but we did happen upon a herd of about 15 mule deer, which skeedaddled before I could get a photo.

Rabbit tracks next to my foot print

We put in about 7 miles this morning, with an elevation gain of about 1,000 feet, and returned to our car by 9:30 a.m.

A trail to nowhere…just the kind we like!

A nice bit of exercise, crisp fresh air, and good company. No one got hurt, and I probably worked off last night’s spaghetti dinner.

My friend, Mac…leader of the Pack

Enhancing Dirt

The property that we now call our home in Mesquite occupies about 8,100 square feet. The liveable interior of the house itself is 2,413 s.f. We have a large two-car garage (625 s.f.) and a golf car garage (150 s.f.) Subtracting the constructed portion of the lot from the non-constructed, there is about 4,000 s.f of property that we can put to use exclusive of driveways and walkways.

The Buggy Whip joint

When we arrived on October 30,2018, Pulte Homes’ contractor, Kokopelli Landscaping, had already put in place the basic street frontage landscaping required by the H.O.A. That included one 24″ box Mesquite tree, and twelve scrawny shrubs, arranged without any artistic sense in our front yard and a narrow strip next to our driveway…included “free of charge”, which is about what it was worth!

Cookie cutter imagination
Blah…

Our backyard looked like this:

Dirt, with nice 10′ tall, native stone retaining wall

Per our home building contract, Kokopelli had expanded our backyard covered patio with pavers and had installed a fancy Coyote grill barbeque station with sink and refrigerator. This $15,000 worth of “optional” work was included in our home purchase price.

Excellent BBQ, courtesy of Charlie Manning Bookkeeping and Tax Service

After closing on the home purchase, we had Kokopelli erect a five foot, wrought iron fence around our backyard, so that the dogs would have a place to call their own, without having to worry about coyotes. That cost $9,000.

Recently, we had Kokopelli do some work in our backyard, putting in some mounds, large trees, some large shrubs, irrigation, and a 225 s.f. artificial grass “island” adjacent to the patio and barbeque station. Add another $12,000.

Side yard Palo Verde and Mediterranean Fan Palm
Left back corner Palo Verde tree
Right back corner Mediterranean Fan Palm
Near bedroom corner…another Mediterranean Fan Palm and a Fruitless Olive tree
New dog peeing and play area

While we were under contract to Kokopelli for this work, we heard from neighbors about another landscaping guy who has a lot of satisfied customers in our subdivision: his name is Daryl Garlic. So, we decided to have him do the final phase work on our outside property; as we put it, Kokopelli would build the cake, Mr. Garlic will apply the frosting.

Daryl has an eye for the desert look. He’s a local guy, a deacon in the Mormon church, and has his own nursery a few miles up I-15 in Beaver Dam. Here’s some of his work in our neighborhood:

Very deserty, with lots of structure for JayJay to pee on
My friend Mac’s front yard

As it stands now, prior to Daryl doing his “thing”, our backyard and frontyard look like this, in plan view:

Back and side yard
Front and side yard

Tomorrow, Daryl is supposed to show up and unveil what he has in mind to turn our undistinguished lot into a desert paradise.

Charlie, the Temptress, in our future Garden of Eden

We’ve told Daryl that he has carte blanche to reorganize the huge rocks and move shrubs, as well, in his creative design. He might even move some of the trees…who knows?

This guy is going to cost us $10K to $15K for his work.

We’ve told him to plan a paver patio for the center of the yard, where we intend to install a pergola at some point (prior to Summer, we hope). That will be another $5K, I’m sure.

Thanks, Mom and Dad! (up in Heaven)

I may have to un-retire at some point, in order to afford all this earthmoving and landscape beautification. Drat!

“Back to work, Manning!”

(It’s a good thing that Charlie is doing taxes right now; we can use the extra coin!)

She’s bug-eyed from doing OUR taxes!

The Vortex

Yesterday, I joined about two dozen other Desert Fossils Hiking Club members on a trip to Lower Sand Cove in the Red Mountains Wilderness near St. George, Utah.

Walking through lava flow
An arch forming in the cliff

Everything in this corner of the American West, where Nevada, Arizona, and Utah abut, was part of a vast inland sea millions of years ago. There are lots of weird remnant rock formations that defy description: you have to see to believe them.

Rocks that look like elephant hide

Our hike was only about two or three miles in length, but was chock full of interesting sights. It was cold, and so there were frozen pools and minor waterfalls that spruced up the red rock formations.

Hard sandstone that looks like mud
Frozen cascade

We hiked steadily uphill from the parking area about 1,300 feet vertical to some domes at the top of the sandstone ridge.

White domes

Up there at the top were some unusual depressions in the ground. Some call them vortexes, and others call them “Cowboy pools”, because they are filled with water in the winter months. Yesterday, the several vortexes were frozen, so it was impossible to see how deep they go. Supposedly, they are twenty to forty feet deep.

Frozen vortex

No one was brave (or foolish) enough to walk on the frozen vortexes, although a few guys tested the edges.

There were a few idiots that climbed up on top of the domes and showed off…in the wind! It may not look like it from the photo, but if one of them fell from the dome, there would be a 500 feet plunge to the rocks below.

View of snow-capped mountains near St. George

Brave hiker on windy spot

Luckily, we had no injuries of note and it was a very pleasant way to spend the morning in southern Utah.

Portals

I was minding my own business this morning, scanning the TV guide, trying to find something worth taping for later viewing, when I happened upon a stupid show on the Travel Network.

The so-called documentary, purporting to “reveal hidden stories of the beautiful locales…through eyewitness accounts and key facts”, focused, in this episode, on alleged “Spirits in the Forest”. The subject forest, in this case, was the Cleveland National Forest in Southern California, a 720 square mile expanse of chaparral and riparian areas which separates coastal and inland urban areas north of San Diego. It’s major claim to fame is the fact that portions of it catch fire every year.

God’s Country?

Anyway, according to the Spirits of the Forest folks, the CNF is also supposedly well-known for “terrifying encounters with gun-wielding ghosts and strange, savage creatures”, “the area’s bloody and tragic history”, and “its link to the existence of portals into other dimensions“.

Maybe the producers spent too much time at the marijuana dispensary?

Well, excuse me for saying so, but this episode is a crock of shit.

I’ve lived in Southern California for 70 years, owned a home adjacent to the Cleveland National Forest for 30 years, and rode my horse up in those mountains for many years, and never encountered a ghost, a savage creature, or spied a wormhole into another dimension of space and time. As a matter of fact, in 70 years, I never even read one news article about scary goings on in that forest, except for an occasional mountain lion attack and the annual forest fires (that were set, almost without exception, by a careless camper or a disgruntled fireman/arsonist). In all my years, I ran across exactly one scary rattlesnake up there, but no spirits, goblins, axe-wielding demons, or blood-thirsty, Satanic cultists.

Scary, but no ghost

And, I haven’t met anyone who has.

So, I’m calling B.S. on this cable show. It’s Fake News, pure and simple.

Now, I’m sure that people who “hear voices”, consult Ouiga boards for advice, and talk to loved ones at seances would disagree with me on this. Who’s to dispute them? They see and hear what they want. How can you convince a guy who’s been abducted by aliens, subjected to humiliating examinations in a flying saucer, and returned to earth unscathed…that said adventure never happened? Good luck with that.

Or, how about the folks who’ve encountered Bigfoot or a Yeti? The fact that not one of these large creatures (or the Loch Ness Monster, for that matter) has ever been captured or has ever died (leaving a skeleton that scientists can examine!) should give pause to these true believers. But, I actually know a bigwig in the Bigfoot believer community, and, other than his odd conviction about the big, hairy, stinky and bashful creatures, is an otherwise intelligent and interesting guy. He just wants to believe, and so he does. And, in doing so, gets to socialize with other nutty folks who enjoy fantasizing about things that normal people can’t “see”.

Sasquatch capture?

Religious people are like that: they experience a lot of things that are hard to believe, yet they believe them…because they want to.

Like Penn and Teller “disappearing” an elephant on stage. Sure, it could happen!

Take the case of Joseph Smith, for example. At age 14, the teenager was supposedly approached in the woods by God who told the youth that every church on earth was offensive to Him.  God gave Smith some golden tablets with new rules to help establish the new, correct religion.  Like other famous prophets, the teenager never told anyone about this and, of course, the golden tablets disappeared like divine evidence always does.

So, we’ll go ahead and believe Smith

Young Mr. Smith eventually completed the Book of Mormon, his new bible .  Luckily for Smith and the rest of his male followers, God’s new rules allowed Smith and his buddies to have sexual relations with as many women as they pleased.  Actually, this is not surprising , since a horny, teenage boy was writing Scripture.

Boner killers?

Oh, and by the way, followers of his new religion were expected to provide his church with 10 percent of their annual income, so that the church could spread the good news (and afford lots of girlfriends).

Uh, Pastor, why does GOD need money?

Prophet Smith ended up with twenty-eight concubines.  Unfortunately, before he could shack-up with any more, he ticked off a bunch of creditors, was jailed, tried to escape, and was killed by an angry mob.

You’d think God could have saved His messenger

Prophets, like Joseph Smith, the greybeards in the Old Testament, or the Branch Davidians’ David Koresh, the Nation of Islam’s Elijah Muhammad, or televangelist Peter Popoff are believed (by the true believers) to have direct communication with God…because the self-proclaimed prophets say they do. Who’s to say they don’t? Prove it (that they don’t)! It’s pretty much impossible.

No money, no blessings

Apostle Paul, who pretty much created the Christian religion, wasn’t actually one of Jesus’ personally-appointed Apostles (i.e. close followers). Paul claimed that God directly gave him the Word, so to speak, and sent him on his way to spread the news. Who’s to say He didn’t?

Most people aren’t called by God to perform special tasks for Him on earth. Like killing people, for example. Although God is against murder, according to His commandments, he often deputizes human beings (i.e. prophets, popes, imams, etc.) to lead orgies of mayhem against people of other races, creeds and religions. Or, at least that’s what religious leaders profess, before they carry out pogroms, Crusades, ethnic cleansing, etc.

Smiting for God

They claim that God wants this done, by his followers, despite the fact that God himself used to do His own dirty work via plagues, thunderbolts, hurricanes, pestilences, or, in one case, a Great Flood.

(I guess He’s gotten old, or lost some of His powers, and needs help from his mortal creations. To be honest, it’s not very God-like.)

So, He’s recruiting assistance, or, at least, that’s what religious leaders want their flocks to believe. And, for the most part, they do. Why? Because “God wants it”. And, who’s to say He doesn’t?

“Great job blowing up that abortion clinic!”

Belief is like that. Facts, evidence, and logic don’t matter much when you want to believe something, or don’t want to know what is true. Politicians prey on this human weakness. But, as Voltaire once said, ” Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.”

God-fearing Jews murdered by God-fearing Christians

So, if you want to believe if there are ghosts in the woods, alien spaceships hovering above the earth, have just won the lottery (if you’ll send some earnest money to a Nigerian grifter), or that Pastor Rod Parsley’s Miracle Healing Cloth will defeat your metastatic breast cancer, you are perfectly free to do so. It is your right, and there is no law against being stupid.

As the old Italian proverb goes, “He who knows nothing doubts nothing.”

Predictions

OMG, the Patriots won the Super Bowl! Who could have predicted that?

Actually, since they employ the smartest coach and the best player of all-time, many people could have predicted it. After all, they go to the Big Game virtually every year and win most of the ones that they go to. Until Belichick and Brady retire, the Pats are probably odds-on-favorites to win the Super Bowl each and every year.

A match made in Heaven?

Some things are predictable, like tonight’s State of the Union speech by President Trump. I predict that he will act Presidential and welcome all Americans to work together to solve our many pressing problems. I further predict that, no later than the following day, he will set about disparaging Democrats, minorities, the Press, and even those in his own political party who would dare disagree with his myopic vision for America.

My way or the highway!

Just predictin’.

Speaking of predicting, how about those weathermen who correctly predicted, almost a week in advance, that a nasty Polar Vortex would sweep down from the Arctic into the Midwest and deliver a sub-freezing gut punch to Americans from Chicago to the East Coast. Sunofagun if those nerds weren’t right!

“Baby, it’s cold outside!”

Now, how did those weather guys know what was coming? In a word: science.

Science is the stuff that has brought us useful things like aspirin, cell phones, plastic, jet airplanes, electricity, duct tape, brain surgery, porn movies, and virtually every other thing that human beings use on a daily basis.

Humankind has advanced knowledge since the Enlightenment (i.e. when people stopped asking religion how things actually worked) by adhering to the Scientific Method. It involves asking a question, doing research, constructing a hypothesis, testing the hypothesis through experimentation, analyzing the data and drawing a conclusion, and sharing the conclusion with others.

It’s elementary, Mr. Watson.

Typically, many other researchers are studying the same question, and they share their data and conclusions. This is called peer review, involving scrutiny by other experts in the field. Sometimes, the experiments are flawed, or the analysis is lacking, and the scientist (the researcher) will be called-out for a faulty conclusion. This is actually a good thing, because identifying the wrong answer can sometimes be just as important as finding the right answer.

Upon further review…

Scientists have been studying the atmospheric chemistry and physics for hundreds of years. The resulting findings from the thousands of experiments and observations has allowed meteorologists to accurately predict the weather phenomena coming our way, be it a heat wave, a hurricane, extreme high tides, snowfall, etc. Although weather prediction isn’t 100 percent accurate, it’s pretty damned accurate. If the forecast calls for a tornado in your community, it would be best to keep alert, with eyes to the sky.

Here it comes!

The same scientists (the group of worldwide researchers) who have fine-tuned our meteorological models have almost unanimously (97%) warned that the earth’s climate is dangerously warming due to increased levels of “greenhouse gasses” in the atmosphere. These pollutants are man-made, generated primarily by the burning of fossil fuels for industry, agriculture, and transportation.

According to scientists throughout the world, the impact of a warming earth on human civilization could be catastrophic, if not addressed immediately. Melting arctic ice floes, glaciers, and permafrost will have significant impacts on sea level, ocean currents, weather patterns, and, as such, will change climates throughout the world. Droughts, famines, forest fires, flooding, species extinction, and severe weather events (like tornadoes and hurricanes) will become more commonplace. This scenario has already begun.

We can expect to see more instances of last week’s Polar Vortex.. This is because global warming will impact the Jet Stream, an atmospheric (high altitude) wind which steers weather patterns across the globe. When this high altitude fixture is disrupted, or split, extreme cold weather can penetrate the U.S. from arctic regions. Counterintuitively, this is how an extreme cold event can derive from global “warming”.

This is what passes for intelligence these days.

The United States, under President Donald Trump, is the only industrialized nation on earth which disputes the scientifically-established fact of global warming. Rather than leading the developed nations in addressing this mortal danger to humanity, America insists on pretending that global warming is a hoax.

Who remembers Mount Rushmore?

This kind of “head in the sand” approach to facts is, unfortunately, standard operating procedure for the Trump Administration. Opinions, particularly those of the President (and his Fox News advisors), are the basis for policy, rather than facts.

From Bootlickers to Cabinet posts.

Of course, if aggressive steps were taken to curtail the pollution of the atmosphere by greenhouse gasses, Big Oil would sell less petroleum and industrial polluters might have to retrofit their factories with exhaust scrubbers. There would be societal costs, for sure.

Fake news, fake news, fake news…WTF!

Then, again, there were societal costs when we took on the Nazis and the Japanese. We were world leaders back then.

Real problems, real solutions

Predictably, President Trump will not address the global warming issue, an existential one for mankind, in his State of the Union Address tonight. He will, instead, focus his attention on a fake issue, which is the imagined invasion of the United States by terrorists, rapists, murderers, and lazy bums from Latin American countries.

A medieval wall is the answer to all of our problems, the Ostrich-in-Chief will say.

The Group

One of the blessings of living here in Mesquite, Nevada is the opportunity to do a lot of hiking in the deserts and mountains within easy driving distance.

I’ve joined a large hiking club, called the Desert Fossils, which schedules two hikes per week, usually in the 3 to 6 mile variety. Perhaps 25 hikers attend each hike, and it’s a great opportunity to enjoy nature while socializing with new friends.

The Wave in the Valley of Fire

Red rocks in Gold Butte National Monument

However, most of the hiking that I’m doing recently is with a small group of guys who like to be more adventurous and pile up some mileage on their hikes. Typically, they hike 10 to 13 miles, off-trail, in some wild-ass locales.

Excited barrel cactus. I think he likes me.


Small slot canyon

I met one of the guys (“Mac’) at a block party. He gave me a 10-mile tryout and then introduced me to his hiking buddy, Lloyd. We added a neighbor, John, and now we have a four member group.

I’m actually the oldest, at 71. Lloyd will be 70 this year, Mac is 66, and I believe John is the youngster, at 63.

Here are my hiking buddies, posing at Beercan Fence up in the Virgin Mountains.

Mac on left, Lloyd center, and John on right

Lloyd has a high-clearance 4WD 4-Runner that we use when going to some remote, off-road start point. The car takes a beating; we typically give Lloyd a few bucks for “tire money”. I will drive if we’re not going into the boondocks; I don’t want to bang up my only car.

Last week, after it had snowed, we went up Cabin Canyon (about 8 miles east of Mesquite) to take a look at some abandoned mines. I did a snow angel at one point, and John took a look into a mine shaft. That hike was about 10 miles, and we gained about 1,800 feet in elevation (to about 5,400′) at the highest point of the hike.

This is Mac


Mr. Snow Angel

John at mineshaft

This past Friday we went up into the Virgin Mountains to a place that Mac and Lloyd call their “Secret Valley”. It is maybe 1-1/2 miles long and 1/2 mile wide, at an elevation of maybe 3,000 feet or so. We hiked from the car and back about 10-1/2 miles, some of it quite strenuous.

Mac leading the hike

Secret Valley is beautiful particularly because it is the home to a very healthy Joshua Tree forest.

Lloyd and John, bringing up the rear
The Group, minus me


Mac and I usually lead the way, bushwhacking a trail into the scrub, with Lloyd and John following. Mac and I talk and walk, as do Lloyd and John. Sometimes, we change partners in walking and talking.

Mac worked in the Federal government, in some kind of capacity that required a security clearance. I think he was in logistics or procurement, as an analyst or bean counter of some sort. He is an easy going guy, a refugee from the 60’s, with a pony tail. I think he served in the Air Force, like me, back in the Vietnam era. We get along great; we’re very similar. He’s been married to his high school sweetheart for 45 years (same as Charlie and I). They live right around the corner from us.

Lloyd was a CPA early in his career, then owned a farm in the Napa Valley producing wine grapes. He was an Army Ranger in Vietnam, and saw some serious action, to hear him tell it. Lloyd is a “red neck” sort of guy, all testosterone and bawdy jokes, and is a certified MAGA man. I enjoy walking and talking with him, because he’s been all over the world doing business, and has great stories. The downside: he’s a Fox News shill, basically repeating all of the propaganda, word for word, that the talking heads dispensed earlier in the week. Some of the things he says are downright stupid, and I’ll mention that to him, and, often, he’ll admit it. But, I really like the guy and am happy that he and Mac have include me in the group.

John is younger than us, and his career background is in mechanical equipment, I believe, either in marketing or development. He’s an Midwestern guy, quite the reader, and is constantly reviewing history books that he’s recently read about the Founding Fathers, nature, etc. He’s the weakest hiker in the group, trying to get in shape for his seasonal job, which is a tour guide at Sequoia National Park. He will leave us in February and will do that gig for eight months. I enjoy talking to John about this and that, particularly because he’s so well-read and inquisitive. He took the lead on our hike this week, because he’d been there before (he said), and promptly got us lost on the way to some kind of abandoned engine boiler out in the woods. He’s now known as Boiler John.

Speaking of nicknames, Mac is Leaping Fish, I am Squatting Cow, and I’m not sure what Lloyd’s moniker is, because Mac refers to him as Leaping Fish. I’ve suggested “Red Neck Talking”…

Speaking of Lloyd, he tells great jokes. Here’s one:

Elizabeth Taylor, when she was about 80 years old, got a new, young boyfriend. She didn’t want him to see her naked, because of her drooping flesh, so she went to her plastic surgeon. “Can you do anything to tighten up my pussy?”, she asked. “I hate it when I can see my labia flopping down between my thighs.” Her doctor promised, “I’ll do my best.” Whereupon Liz said, “Now, this is to be a secret between you and me. Don’t tell anyone, not a soul.” He agreed, and did the surgery. When Liz was back in her hospital room, after the surgery, finally sobering up after the anesthesia, she noticed three vases with roses on the table next to her bed. When her doctor visited her, she asked, “Who sent those flowers?” The doctor said, apologetically, “Well, the first one’s from me. I did such a good job down there, well…I just couldn’t resist trying it out.” Liz, annoyed, asked, “What about the others?” Her doctor responded, “Well, ditto for your nurse. And, the third vase is from some guy down in the burn ward, who’s very grateful for his new ears.”

That’s the kind of repartee that we come to expect out of Lloyd “Red Neck Talking”. It really livens up the walking.