Amphibians -- are they going extinct or not?

OK.  This week I read an article in "American Scientist" claiming that virtually all amphibians all over the world had gone extinct and that an entire niche in our eco-systems was now empty with all kinds of unknown and dread consequences likely to ensue.

Then, not two days later, I read an article about harmful, invasive coqui frogs taking over the islands of Hawaii.  This frogs are allegedly harmful, but all I could tell from the article about their alleged harm is that they make a lot of noise and keep people awake == but they're regarded as pests.

Now people, which is it?  Are they dangerous pests multiplying out of control, or are they tragically, nearly extinct?

You just can't make this stuff up.  Sometimes I wonder if I'm Alice through the looking glass.

North Korean succession

Listening to the preposterous myth making coming out of North Korea, the question that comes to my mind is:  "How on earth did anyone ever think that this was a communist country?"  How were we talked into that viewpoint?   This is clearly a situation of medieval type royalty, nothing at all to do with communism.

How did so-called "communist" countries ever get suckered into thinking that this regime was one of them?   They seemed to lay claim to some moral high ground at one time, looking at us supporting petty tyrants throughout the world -- us looking for all the world like Johns frequenting any prostitute that would take our money and tell us what we wanted to hear -- and yet here it seems they did the same.  They bought into the idea that North Korea was a communist country, because at least North Korea hated us and that was all they needed to hear.

My enemy's enemy is my friend, even if that "friend" stands against every principle I hold most dear?  

Bizarre.

I shouldn't be surprised, I suppose.  I had somehow believed those communists to be worthy adversaries, people with some kind of austere principles, different from ours, perhaps, but principles nevertheless.   Why should I think they should be any different from us?

But did we ever support anyone this weird?  I'm curious.  If you're reading let me know.

Is it possible, now, that with
   - the wikipedia leaks that show even China frustrated with the North Korean regime and
   - these revelations of a bizarre personal cult of the leader of the country,
no one will any more be able to give even a pretense of civil relations with these leaders who can only be described as creepy at best?

Do these leaders get to the point where they believe that drivel that is spoken about them?   Delusional sociopaths with nuclear weapons?

2012 looks worse and worse all the time.

Lakes on Europa

     I read with interest the recent articles about the  renewed suspicion that there is liquid water somewhere under the surface of Europa -- a moon of Saturn.  Water is something that would be very useful if one were thinking of trying to establish a space colony.  Water can be a source of oxygen, and, of course, it's important for drinking and watering crops.  The speculation was that there might even be life in the water already.
     Of course, the mere existence of liquid water does not solve all the problems associated with trying to establish a space colony. 
      First, there is the difficulty of getting to those distant places.  I gather we've crashed half the spacecraft we've sent to Mars, which is closer than Saturn.  I gather the Russians just had a Mars bound spacecraft fail as well.  This technology of space travel is still very primitive.
     Second, the conditions on Europa are hardly favorable.  The sun is very small and dim at that distance and would not be a good source of much solar power.  Moreover, the temperature is frigid, far colder than the earth, even colder than the Antarctic.   The atmosphere there would be thin at best.  Gravity there is quite light, which would likely cause long term health problems for humans
     It just does not seem like a very hospitable place for human astronauts to try to establish a space colony.
     But then I wonder if we might genetically engineer something that might live there, something with a human brain that could communicate with us but with a different body, maybe more like a fish, something that could live underneath the crust of Europa, in the dark, in frigid water.  I wonder whether various kinds of genetically engineered astronauts adapted to different conditions on various planets might not be a general solution to the issues associated with colonizing space.

Conservatives in Egypt

Let us hope that our knee jerk response to politics we do not completely understand does not send it down the very direction we most fear. People can be conservative of dress and nevertheless humane and merciful. 

In this country, so-called "conservatives" embrace a politic of anger. When our politics is angry, it breeds anger elsewhere. We bring forth what we put out there.

As Yoda said in Star Wars "Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hatred. Hatred leads to suffering."

Let us try to give these Egyptians the benefit of the doubt in their faltering first steps toward democracy.

Remember Viet Nam? We fought so hard in fear against the communists. Then they took over, and within a few years they wanted to be our friends. They still control Viet Nam, and yet no one now regards them as a serious threat to us. What were we so afraid of?

Islam and conservative Muslims are the new communists in the simple-minded, jingoistic us v them gloss that our fear mongering press puts on the news -- the sound byte news.

Let us reject descriptions of people in other countries as sound bytes. Let us seek after a more sophisticated understanding. Let us look for ways to turn this into a win-win situation, rather than an us v them thing.

The Tragedy of Lucia Micarelli

Please note: this blog is out of date -- I am keeping it here for historical purposes

Lucia Micarelli is currently acting in a television show named "Treme."

Before that, she was a violinist.

For me, the world violinist in fact is insufficient to convey what she was.  I grew up with parents who were classical music fans.  I heard violins all the time.  I never liked them much.  I was ok with the lower strings, but not violins.  As a result, I've never been a huge classical music fan, unlike my parents.

Then I heard Lucia Micarelli play the violin.  This was on YouTube.  There were recordings of her performing with Josh Groban.  I was dumbfounded.

I enjoyed listening to her play.  It was the first time I had ever enjoyed listening to the violin.

Part of it was her high drama stage presence,  drama that has translated into substantial acting ability on TV, but there are other violinists with stage presence.

She also has a unique bowing style.   If you watch her play, you can see that she is holding the violin and moving the bow ever so slightly differently from other players.  The sound is different as well.  Her unique bowing style gives her a unique voice on the violin.  She is a great genius, like Miles Davis on the trumpet.

For me, her "Kashmir" on Josh Groban's awake DVD was like Michael Jackson doing the Moonwalk at the 25th anniversary of Motown.  After I saw it, I could never look at the violin quite the same way.

She played other places, too, with the Transiberian Orchestra, with Chris Botti, on her own CDs -- a long string of utterly amazing performances.

Then she had an accident.  She hurt her hand.

Fortunately, she got surgery and can now play again, though she apparently still is not quite 100%.  She is playing the part of a violinist on Treme -- sometimes she actually gets to play the violin on the show -- not so often, but enough that you can hear that the voice is still there; but the character does a lot of other things as well, and is also sometimes not featured in some of the episodes.

Micarelli says that in her new album, she will be singing, writing songs, and playing the guitar, in addition to playing the violin.

Thus the voice of Lucia Micarelli on the violin has fallen largely silent -- or so it seems to me.   I guess she is not unhappy with the situation, herself.  She feels this is a growth experience -- but I am unhappy.  I want to hear her play.

How can the entertainment industry allow this to happen?   How can so few people notice the silencing of the voice of a great genius?

----------------------------

Addendum: 8/2/13  She did finally go touring with Barbra Streisand this year, which was something of a relief, but, still, I don't feel she's adequately appreciated.

On occupying Wall Street

I don't know if this is the best approach.  We have to think out very carefully what it is we want changed in our financial institutions and propose an alternative structure.  Just protesting does not give an alternative.  Just overthrowing a structure and leaving nothing in its place leaves chaos

There are several points that I think are important.

1. Computerized trading that makes automatic trades based on mathematical trends in the market should be illegal.

2. There should be no hedge funds that are not subject to governmental oversight and hedge fund managers should not be able to take investor funds without the same controls that are in place at brokerage firms like Merrill Lynch

3. There need to be stricter regulations on the trading of various instruments, especially petroleum futures and derivatives based on real estate mortgages

4. no one should be able to borrow money, buy up the public stock of a profitable company, and the loot the company to pay off the loan (thereby destroying lots of jobs)

5. imports of goods and services should be regulated more to make sure that the imported goods and services are not artificially low in price due to: unfair or unsafe working conditions *or* currency exchange rates that do not reflect the real values of currencies.  (which can be checked by the price of a Big Mac, for instance, in the various countries)

6. Executive pay at corporations needs to be regulated so that executives do not abuse their positions of power to loot company assets and stockholder initiatives need to be binding rather than advisory on the board of directors

This is going to require some thought and careful drafting of legislation.  Just protesting is going to accomplish nothing or worse than nothing.  If there is a reasonable alternative, we might have a chance of doing something constructive.

regarding taxing fats -- a la les danois

The Danish law is entirely misconceived.  Those who propose that the US might imitate this measure must be roundly denounced.

Fat is not the evil that is so often depicted.  Fat is an essential nutrient.  Cholesterol is in every cell membrane of every cell in your body.  Fat is crucial in the formation of the myelin sheaths around your nerves.  Fat is used in the digestion of carbs.  Cholesterol is critical in brain development of fetuses.  Children under 2 should get at least half their calories from fat.  There are suspicions that people with certain brain disorders ought particularly to have fat and cholesterol, e.g. people with autistic spectrum disorders.  Cholesterol has been connected with preventing cancer.

Low fat diets were never supported by any medical evidence whatsoever.   They are a complete myth.  Low fat diets are partially responsible for the current obesity crisis.  People who try low fat diets end up bingeing on fat, because they are deprived of an essential nutrient.  This starts a yo-yo diet cycle, with every bounce taking the victim higher.

This tax is completely misconceived and very unhealthy.

update: 11/14/12

I was happy to see that this legislation was ultimately eliminated in Denmark.  Yay!