tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16612221.post8789424664341107862..comments2024-03-19T03:14:04.172-04:00Comments on Rabett Run: Note to the ObservantEliRabetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07957002964638398767noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16612221.post-83903030208034840472015-06-17T23:41:11.754-04:002015-06-17T23:41:11.754-04:00Wonderful Kolbert quote. How great minds think ali...Wonderful Kolbert quote. How great minds think alike (not). Nonetheless, all best with heart. Despite all the magic thinking, I'm with Monbiot in hope on this one:<br /><br />"If the acknowledgement of love becomes the means by which we inspire environmentalism in others, how do we translate it into political change? But I believe it’s a better grounding for action than pretending that what really matters to us is the state of the economy. By being honest about our motivation we can inspire in others the passions that inspired us."<br />http://www.monbiot.com/2015/06/17/channelling-the-joy/<br /><br />(back in the kumbayah for the moment ... but skeptical at best of magic thinking)<br />Susan Andersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16935228911713362040noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16612221.post-10404222801141909882015-06-17T16:25:44.122-04:002015-06-17T16:25:44.122-04:00Hank: "'an invasion of U.S. consumerism, ...Hank: "'an invasion of U.S. consumerism, a U.S.-dominated future, could roll over it like a bulldozer' when the embargo ends."<br /><br />Castro's revolution was expressly against that very thing, and the embargo was an adjunct to US-backed counterrevolution. The question is whether the new generation of Cuban leaders will have the strength to resist a resurgence of that temporarily-defeated counterrevolution.<br />Mal Adaptedhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06123525780458234978noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16612221.post-65452329945434301222015-06-17T11:44:10.550-04:002015-06-17T11:44:10.550-04:00I admire Elizabeth Kolbert's writing, and I sh...I admire Elizabeth Kolbert's writing, and I share her support for biodiversity. She's right that we humans are part of nature. However, the linked article by her contains some indefensible positions. This is really not the place to debate them. Let me just say, regarding her last sentence, that if the gardens those hypothetical alien beings tend are anything like ours, they'll need routine space travel to divert the rocks that otherwise would fall on their heads.Chris_Winterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14664395947020918727noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16612221.post-70900414190822083692015-06-15T20:12:05.079-04:002015-06-15T20:12:05.079-04:00> Whaddaya say, capitalism? Can you prove the e...> Whaddaya say, capitalism? Can you prove the ecologists wrong, for once?<br /><br />Hearing the challenge, Eco-hipsterists are brushing their Grrrowthed mustaches with their invisible hands.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16612221.post-47075181127045249662015-06-15T19:46:15.932-04:002015-06-15T19:46:15.932-04:00Oh, hey, that 2007 story is worth a longer quote. ...Oh, hey, that 2007 story is worth a longer quote. Natural experiment in conservation economics is, indeed, coming to a planet near you:<br /><br />"... Conservationists, environmental lawyers and other experts, from Cuba and elsewhere, met last month in Cancún, Mexico, to discuss the island’s resources and how to continue to protect them.<br />Cuba has done “what we should have done — identify your hot spots of biodiversity and set them aside,” said Oliver Houck, a professor of environmental law at Tulane University Law School who attended the conference.<br />In the late 1990s, Mr. Houck was involved in an effort, financed in part by the MacArthur Foundation, to advise Cuban officials writing new environmental laws.<br />But, he said in an interview, “an invasion of U.S. consumerism, a U.S.-dominated future, could roll over it like a bulldozer” when the embargo ends...."<br /><br />Whaddaya say, capitalism? Can you prove the ecologists wrong, for once? Perhaps last chance to shine. Let's see a development plan to do it right, for once.<br /><br />No?<br /><br />http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/25/science/25cuba.html?n=Top%2FNews%2FScience%2FTopics%2FEnvironment&_r=0Hank Robertshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07521410755553979665noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16612221.post-55057196815738803262015-06-15T19:42:12.144-04:002015-06-15T19:42:12.144-04:00It is reasonable to hope that if there were any so...It is reasonable to hope that if there were any socialist countries left in the world, they also would be held to the same high standards for protecting the planet. Ideally, some demonstration that development can lift people out of poverty without degrading the environment would be fascinating, if such a natural experiment were available to try.<br /><br />Oh, wait: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/25/science/25cuba.html<br /><br />"... December 25, 2007<br />Through accidents of geography and history, Cuba is a priceless ecological resource. That is why many scientists are so worried about what will become of it after Fidel Castro and his associates leave power and, as is widely anticipated, the American government relaxes or ends its trade embargo."<br /><br />That stands in the great tradition of burying the interesting stuff where it won't be noticed by most readers, of course. Some ledes are born to be buried.<br /><br />Remember the last time a Pope visited Cuba, and the day's news? http://articles.latimes.com/1998/jan/23/entertainment/ca-11132Hank Robertshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07521410755553979665noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16612221.post-57536051667306684772015-06-15T17:48:21.438-04:002015-06-15T17:48:21.438-04:00FL, FWIW, here is a curriculum for chemical techni...FL, FWIW, here is a curriculum for chemical technicians in Argentina<br /><br />http://www.escuelatecnica3.com.ar/quimica.html<br /><br />There are some links to course web sites.EliRabetthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07957002964638398767noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16612221.post-31741102445727968072015-06-15T17:26:19.355-04:002015-06-15T17:26:19.355-04:00
Eli, being a New York Bunny, has, of course, both...<br />Eli, being a New York Bunny, has, of course, both eaten and drunk at the Algonquin. Moth eaten but redolent of good snark.EliRabetthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07957002964638398767noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16612221.post-43612938283969407742015-06-15T14:29:23.709-04:002015-06-15T14:29:23.709-04:00The question of Pope Francis' degree came up o...The question of Pope Francis' degree came up over on Dr Rood's blog (Wunderground) and this article was posted:<br /><br />It is true that Pope Francis studied chemistry and worked as a chemist prior to entering the seminary. But Jorge Bergoglio never graduated from university prior to entering the seminary.<br /><br />"For Bergoglio's generation, a university education was still something pretty much beyond the reach of his social class," explains Jesuit Fr. Arthur Liebscher, associate professor of Latin American church history at Santa Clara University. "Although Argentine education is completely free of charge, there was an elitist air to finishing a licentiate or doctorate. Bergoglio took advantage of what was available, and it wasn't bad."<br /><br />What he did do was graduate with a título in chemistry from the Escuela Técnica Industrial No. 12*, which is a state-run technical secondary school. In the Argentine system, "the título (same word used for a secondary diploma or a university degree) was earned at about age 19 after an extended secondary program," Liebscher said. "Not everyone who goes to secondary school gets one of those diplomas, and the título really represents something beyond our high-school diploma, something akin a certificate from a community college in the U.S."<br /><br />In Liebscher's opinion, "the education offered in such Argentine schools is quite a bit better, certainly in Bergoglio's era, than what we'd find in a North American high school."<br /><br />http://ncronline.org/blogs/ncr-today/does-pope-francis-have-masters-degree-chemistry<br /><br />FLwolverinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15714397414422766313noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16612221.post-41453150808551111512015-06-15T13:47:00.128-04:002015-06-15T13:47:00.128-04:00Eat at the Algonquin? You might as well go drinkin...Eat at the Algonquin? You might as well go drinking at the Vatican.<br /><br />Eli should scan some fifty year old back issues of <i> America</i> rather than The National Catholic Reporter, since immanentizing the eschaton seems a current obsession of some climate warriors on the Jesuitical Left THE CLIMATE WARShttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02578106673226403151noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16612221.post-43522656702310618802015-06-15T11:50:02.411-04:002015-06-15T11:50:02.411-04:00> no certain knowledge on which they can depen...> no certain knowledge on which they can depend.<br /><br />That's good. They understand this is science, without certainty.Hank Robertshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07521410755553979665noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16612221.post-38196422208013691482015-06-15T11:01:39.987-04:002015-06-15T11:01:39.987-04:00Yeah, just because the Pope has a master's in ...Yeah, just because the Pope has a master's in chemistry and is advised by a Vatican council on science doesn't mean... I mean, er...Barton Paul Levensonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07630802738456749652noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16612221.post-75456123119271856632015-06-14T22:46:00.165-04:002015-06-14T22:46:00.165-04:00Obvviously Russell never dines at the Vatican or t...Obvviously Russell never dines at the Vatican or the Algonquin.EliRabetthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07957002964638398767noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16612221.post-50240609958599718892015-06-14T22:09:49.536-04:002015-06-14T22:09:49.536-04:00In making common cause, the Vatican and The New Yo...In making common cause, the Vatican and <i>The New Yorker</i> have no certain knowledge on which they can depend.<br /><br />We need their appeal to authority about as much a fish needs an encyclical. THE CLIMATE WARShttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02578106673226403151noreply@blogger.com