Fish for Friday

Edited by Morris Dean

[Anonymous selections from recent correspondence]

My Gosh, this chalk artist is totally awesome and his talent is beyond anything that we see here.

An environmental apocalypse is coming, perhaps as soon as some of the messianic apocalypses were predicted to be coming but never did. This one's coming for sure: "Effects of climate change ‘irreversible,’ U.N. panel warns in report." Excerpt:

The report said some impacts of climate change will “continue for centuries,” even if all emissions from fossil-fuel burning were to stop. The question facing governments is whether they can act to slow warming to a pace at which humans and natural ecosystems can adapt, or risk “abrupt and irreversible changes” as the atmosphere and oceans absorb ever-greater amounts of thermal energy within a blanket of heat-trapping gases, according to scientists who contributed to the report.
    “The window of opportunity for acting in a cost-effective way — or in an effective way — is closing fast,” said Michael Oppenheimer, a Princeton University geosciences professor and contributing author to the report.

What a roller coaster. Tuesday, the news coming out of the Senate was just flat out scary for the climate. Mitch McConnell, soon to be the Senate majority leader, announced his plans to make building the Keystone Pipeline and dismantling the EPA cornerstones of the Republican agenda.
    Then, just last night, news broke that President Obama has negotiated the first ever climate treaty with China in secret.

Another achievement of President Obama's of the sort most Democratic candidates in last week's election were too scared and spineless to stand on: "U.S. and China Reach Climate Accord After Months of Talks." Excerpt:

It was the signature achievement of an unexpectedly productive two days of meetings between the leaders....
    A climate deal between China and the United States, the world’s No. 1 and No. 2 carbon polluters, is viewed as essential to concluding a new global accord. Unless Beijing and Washington can resolve their differences, climate experts say, few other countries will agree to mandatory cuts in emissions, and any meaningful worldwide pact will be likely to founder.
    “The United States and China have often been seen as antagonists,” said a senior official, speaking in advance of Mr. Obama’s remarks. “We hope that this announcement can usher in a new day in which China and the U.S. can act much more as partners.”
    As part of the agreement, Mr. Obama announced that the United States would emit 26 percent to 28 percent less carbon in 2025 than it did in 2005. That is double the pace of reduction it targeted for the period from 2005 to 2020.

Here's my take on what the just-announced plan from President Obama and Premier Xi is, and isn't [excerpts]:
    It is proof – if any more was needed – that renewable energy is ready to go....
    It is not remotely enough to keep us out of climate trouble....
    It is a reason projects like Keystone XL and fracking make even less sense than ever....
    It is another reminder that it is past time to divest from fossil fuels....
    It's not, in any way, a stretch goal. These numbers are easy – if you were really being cynical, you could say they're trying to carefully manage a slow retreat from fossil fuels instead of really putting carbon on the run. The Germans, for instance, will be moving in on 60% of their energy from clean sources by the mid-2020s, when we'll still be cutting carbon emissions by small increments.
    It isn't, in other words, a reason to slack off one bit in the ongoing fight for a livable climate, a fight we must continue at all cost. If we want this to be a start, and not a finish, we've got to build even bigger and more powerful movements that push the successors of these gentlemen to meet what science demands.

And another example of achievement: The Washington Post published a story Wednesday, with four anonymous sources, saying that the FCC was ready to buck Obama on net neutrality. But don't mistake quantity for quality. The sources were lying. Or, more likely, one prime source was lying and then three others confirmed tangential parts of it. But that's whatever.
    Here's what really happened on Monday when Tom Wheeler sat down with a bunch of tech companies after the president called on him to write an aggressive open Internet rule. Story with Dana Liebelson here: "FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler Tells Silicon Valley He's Open To Obama Net Neutrality Plan."
    (Side note: Reporting about Washington, now that Congress is irrelevant, is going to increasingly revolve around agencies like the FCC, where decisions will actually get made.)

Less than a week after a pretty rough election, President Obama isn't backing down. Thanks to the steady activism of MoveOn members like you and our allies across the movement, he is making good on his campaign promise to protect the freedom and opportunity that the open Internet provides.
    It comes as no surprise that Verizon, Comcast, and Republicans in Congress (who they finance) were quick to attack President Obama's wildly, broadly popular call for rules that would protect an open Internet.
    Senator Ted Cruz called it "Obamacare for the Internet." Earth to Ted Cruz! First, that's a bogus comparison. Second, millions of people love their Obamacare. And 99% of the nearly 4 million comments the Federal Communications Commission received on Net Neutrality call for the kinds of protections President Obama is advocating.2
    The best way to thank President Obama for making good on his promise to save the Internet is to help him get the job done.

[Click to enlarge]

I keyed in a comment on a post on your blog, but when I hit preview it disappeared. [So sorry about that. It has happened to a number of people, including me. I now routinely copy my entire comment to the clipboard before previewing or publishing it. Everyone would be advised to do the same. –The Editor]

Bill & I watched The Grand Budapest Hotel last night and thought about you and your travels. It is fascinating: "Spoiler Alert: You Can’t Really Stay at the Real Grand Budapest Hotel (But We Can Tell You Everything About It)."

“It doesn’t get any better than this day.”
    That’s Mark Azure, Tribal Chairman of the Ft. Belknap Tribes, celebrating the return of a small herd of wild, genetically pure bison to tribal lands in Montana a few years ago. It was one of the most remarkable wildlife conservation victories in decades.
    Until now.
    This week will be the largest Yellowstone bison relocation in history—[139 more bison] back to their ancestral home on western tribal lands....
    Bison and other big-game wildlife were slaughtered by the millions in the 19th century, and just barely saved from extinction.
    While other wildlife bounced back, bison did not.

With the Mormon church finally admitting what historians have proven true for decades, "Mormon church admits founder Joseph Smith had about 40 wives," what's next: The KKK actually admits it is a racist organization? Excerpt:

The Mormon church has admitted that founder Joseph Smith married about 40 women including a 14-year-old and others who were already the wives of his followers, having maintained for nearly 200 years that he was monogamous.
    The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints has tried to gloss over aspects of its history, including the polygamy practiced by Smith and Brigham Young, who helped found Salt Lake City, Utah, the headquarters of the Mormon church....
    "Plural marriage was difficult for all involved. For Joseph Smith's wife Emma, it was an excruciating ordeal," the essay, part of a collection issued over the past year, said.
    The church, founded in 1830, banned polygamy in 1890 when the U.S. government threatened to deny Utah statehood.

The main issue I have with Mormons is the lack of consistency with prophetic revelation. One of their prophets says “All right, so polygamy is fine among priests and consenting wives” (Joseph Smith), then Brigham Young comes along and says everyone should do it, and now somewhere down the line some other prophet of theirs said, “No more of that.” They also used to forbid “interracial” marriage because, according to Mormon “history” (or maybe you’d call it doctrine), black skin is a result of Cain’s murdering his brother, so they are a particularly cursed people. Eventually, black people were allowed in the church, and it wasn’t until 1978 that they could be admitted as priests.
    Essentially, I find it suspicious that Mormon doctrine adjusts to the culture of the time. The reliability of their prophets is also quite shaky because they will readily admit that Joseph Smith made prophetic errors, yet they still trust him when he says that the original Bible was corrupted. I don’t know how you can invest in a prophet that doesn’t have a 100% track record. It’s pretty clear in the Bible at least that you shouldn’t, but then they’ll probably just say “well the Bible’s corrupted.” Convenient how they will quote it in one sentence, but when it becomes uncomfortable, they assume it to be a corrupted passage.

Incredible talent who grew up in the Chiemgau near Rosenheim [in Barvaria].
I just discovered her in today's Der Spiegel:


And she's a member of this ensemble:


Compare the Mongolian traditional art of Khöömei:


Andy Rooney had the gift of saying so much with so few words:

• Simple walks with my father around the block on summer nights when I was a child did wonders for me as an adult.
• Life is like a roll of toilet paper. The closer it gets to the end, the faster it goes.
• We should be glad [we don't get] everything we ask for.
• Money doesn't buy class.

Another stunning road. Seven Mile Bridge, Florida Keys:

    The Seven Mile Bridge is a famous bridge in the Florida Keys, in Monroe County, Florida, United States. It connects Knight’s Key (part of the city of Marathon, Florida) in the Middle Keys to Little Duck Key in the Lower Keys. Among the longest bridges in existence when it was built, it is one of the many bridges on US 1 in the Keys, where the road is called the Overseas Highway.

The following is a type of joke or saying that I expect my friends would understand. My men also....

The Past,
The Present,
And the Future
Walked into a Bar.
It was Tense.

Do you imagine that paper is dead?


Limerick-inspired verse of the week:

Verse of the week – there almost wasn't one,
few good dreams after Tom's long sleep's begun.
    Tom's sudden end
    does mine portend –
light verse today wouldn't see the sun.

Copyright © 2014 by Morris Dean