Climates Change

The Guardian (U.K.) reports a study done by scholars in Denmark and the U.K. which found the following very interesting science.

Two-million-year-old DNA from northern Greenland has revealed that the region was once home to mastodons, lemmings and geese, offering unprecedented insights into how climate change can shape ecosystems.

The breakthrough in ancient DNA analysis pushes back the DNA record by 1m years to a time when the Arctic region was 11-19C warmer than the present day. The analysis reveals that the northern peninsula of Greenland, now a polar desert, once featured boreal forests of poplar and birch trees teeming with wildlife.

Climates change, and they've been doing it without human assistance for a million years or more. No SUVs, no coal-fired generation plants, probably no humans at all, just the solar system and good, old Gaia doing what they do because that's the way nature functions.

Much more recently the glacier ice was probably a mile thick near our place in Wyoming, now long gone of course. Climates change, involving natural forces immeasurably greater than anything humans can muster or influence. 

What distinguishes our species is our adaptability to wildly divergent conditions; compare the relatively low tech environmental adaptations of the Inuit and the bedouin Arab. What we humans need to do is use our prodigious ingenuity to figure out ways to cope with what comes, be it heat or cold, flood or drought. 

It is what we do.

The Prisoner Swap Pander

The Biden White House had an imprisoned Russian arms dealer to swap for an American prisoner held in Russia. The choices apparently were drug-using WNBA player Brittney Griner, who is Black, LGBTQ+, and on record as not caring much for our country, or former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan accused of espionage which charge our government says is false.

I imagine the Bidenistas asking themselves which group is a more reliable support of the Democratic Party: (a) the Marines or (b) African-Americans and the sexually unconventional? Their answer appears clear. 

The twofer Ms. Griner got the nod, the Marine continues to languish in prison. I call that a straight-out political pander, and one with which I'll wager most Americans do not agree. 

Our ruling elite are pond scum who despise us. The least we can do is return the favor; perhaps we can think of ways to make their lives miserable.

Afterthought: The Russians also got a twofer. They got their arms dealer and they made President Biden even more unpopular with Americans, especially so with American service personnel.

Thinking About a Ukraine Exit

There has been some interest in peace talks between Russia and Ukraine with the U.S. as an interested partner of Ukraine since we are bankrolling their war. George Friedman of Geopolitical Futures writes about peace talks generally, and what's involved in these particular circumstances. His conclusion will give you a flavor of his views.

It is this mutual fear of failure that drives each to a negotiated settlement, however contemptible and belligerent that process will be. The opening gut check is followed by an emerging reality of how much you can play and how much your enemy can play, two variables that are considered every day by leaders and soldiers alike. Unthinkable concessions then become thinkable. The hazier this is, the more each side will be frightened that they will suddenly break.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy wants an independent Ukraine, Vladimir Putin wants to be president of Russia, and the U.S. wants to end the war without American casualties. None is as confident as he appears.

I'd add that the U.S. also doesn't want to throw billions at the problem indefinitely. If I had to guess, I'd predict that if a truce is achieved, Russia will get to keep Crimea and have to give up the rest. Whether Russia's hawks will allow Putin to survive such a deal, in office or out, is unclear.

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Someday I may write an essay on the problems faced by nations which were once dominant forces in the world but are that no longer. I might call it the "weren't you formerly someone important?" issue. 

Major players in such a discussion would be Russia, Islam, France, and Britain, each formerly dominant. When enough time passes, as it seems to have with Italy (Rome), Spain, and Portugal, the angst appears to become attenuated.

We Did Not Consent

Steven Hayward at Power Line reminds us of the wisdom of political scientist John Marini who understood in 2016 why Trump appealed to so many everyday Americans. It's long, but there is a lot of wisdom packed therein.

It is possible that the Trump phenomenon cannot be understood merely by trying to make sense of Trump himself. Rather, it is the seriousness of the need for Trump that must be understood in order to make sense of his candidacy. Those most likely to be receptive of Trump are those who believe America is in the midst of a great crisis in terms of its economy, its chaotic civil society, its political corruption, and its inability to defend any kind of tradition—or a way of life derived from any kind of tradition—because of the transformation of its culture by the intellectual elites.

This sweeping cultural transformation occurred almost completely outside the political process of mobilizing public opinion and political majorities. The American people themselves did not participate or consent to the wholesale undermining of their way of life, which government and the bureaucracy helped to facilitate by undermining those institutions of civil society that were dependent upon a public defense of the old morality. This great crisis has created the need for a Trump, or someone like Trump, and only those who recognize it as a crisis can be receptive to his candidacy.

Marini describes the felt need for a "Culture Warrior in Chief." Hayward believes today's "someone like Trump" is Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. I believe it is possible DeSantis is that guy.

Instability in Peru

A bit over a year ago Peru elected an indigenous rural schoolteacher - Pedro Castillo - as its new president. He has been a disaster in office. 

Most recently he tried to dissolve congress and call for new elections. This dramatic step the constitution did not empower him to take. 

The attempt unified the congress against him and he has been arrested. They elected the Vice President Dina Boluarte as the nation's new President and the first woman to hold that office. 

People who wish Peru well, in which number I count myself, will hope she can develop an inclusive government that can function and develop popular support. The odds of that happening are frankly not very good.

Remembering

On this day in 1941, on an early Sunday morning and without warning, naval aviators from the Empire of Japan bombed, torpedoed, and strafed the island of Oahu in Hawaii, focusing on our Navy base at Pearl Harbor and the Army Air Base at Hickam Field. Thousands were killed, several major ships sunk at their moorings, and more were damaged. 

President Franklin D. Roosevelt memorably called it “a day that will live in infamy” as he declared the U.S. to be at war with Japan. Soon thereafter Germany, an ally of Japan, also declared itself to be at war with the U.S. and we found ourselves involved in a war that had been ongoing for two years.

Most who were alive then are alive no longer, and the few who remain were mostly children then, as I was. I don’t remember the war starting, but do have memories of events prior to its end, including rationing, blackout curtains, and the death of FDR.

For most now living the attacks on September 11 are their only memories of our nation under attack. The past recedes, and eventually is forgotten, so be it.

Consent of the Governed

The people of two totalitarian nations have been engaging in protests recently: in Iran the issue concerns the oppressive religious police and in China it concerns the oppressive Covid quarantines. In both cases there is at least some evidence here and here that the governments are backing down. 

This is further proof, if any is needed, that even repressive governments exist with the tacit consent of the governed and at some level recognize that fact. It is a lesson one hopes Russia’s Putin is healthy enough to understand as he pursues an increasingly unpopular-at-home war in Ukraine.

It is a strength of elected governments that the consent of the governed is explicitly sought and periodically calibrated, however imperfectly, via elections. Thus, in places with elected governments it is normal for people to lose power without losing their lives in the bargain, something not often possible in totalitarian regimes. 

Georgia Postmortem

Ed Morrissey at Hot Air does a take down of the GOP loss last night in Georgia. I think he has it pretty close to right. 

The Cliff Notes version of what Morrissey writes is that celebrity candidates don’t fare especially well, and that Trump’s focus on the unfairness of his loss in 2020 is turning off voters. He adds that candidates, like Walker, who’ve supported Trump’s “I wuz robbed” claim were hurt by doing so.

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I think maybe Georgia's Republican Lieutenant Governor Geoff Duncan had it right. The Warnock vs. Walker choices were not sterling.

Describing the runoff election, he said, "I had two candidates that I just couldn’t find anything that made sense for me to put my vote behind, and so I walked out of that ballot box showing up to vote but not voting for either one of them."

Childlike

Women mostly do their best to appear as young adults, regardless of their actual age. Meaning, girls try to appear older and older women try with varying success to appear younger. So be it, the behavior is widespread.

Which makes the presentation-of-self of White House press spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre seem, at best, unusual. She seems to present as a precocious child, talkative, intelligent, but pre-adolescent and naive. 

She reminds me of Hermione Granger in the first couple of Harry Potter films. Am I the only person who has this perception? Isn’t this an unusual role model for a woman in the public eye?

Georgia on My Mind

Today the runoff election for senator concludes in Georgia, early voting has been happening. Neither Warnock nor Walker got over 50% in November as there was a third party candidate on that ballot who got a few votes. 

A month ago Democrat Warnock got a few more votes than Walker. GA experienced considerable unusual ticket splitting last month, Republican Gov. Kemp won reelection handily. He has been out campaigning for Walker. 

Democrats are assured of control in the Senate no matter who wins, but given the independence of Sens. Sinema and Manchin, today’s outcome still has practical consequences. Perhaps we will know the outcome tonight, something we once took for granted but no longer seem able to do.

Trump and the Constitution

Former President Donald Trump isn’t known for precise statements, his style includes considerable hyperbole and bloviation. That’s who he is, how he rolls. 

Now there is much consternation and excessive concern about his comments vis-a-vis the Constitution. Here is what he actually posted on his Truth Social platform, as reported by Power Line. 

So, with the revelation of MASSIVE & WIDESPREAD FRAUD & DECEPTION in working closely with Big Tech Companies, the DNC, & the Democrat Party, do you throw the Presidential Election Results of 2020 OUT and declare the RIGHTFUL WINNER, or do you have a NEW ELECTION? A Massive Fraud of this type and magnitude allows for the termination of all rules, regulations, and articles, even those found in the Constitution. Our great "Founders" did not want, and would not condone, False & Fraudulent Elections!

Most of those expressing horror at his words take it to mean Trump wants to throw out the Constitution. His words can be read that way. 

His words can also be read as the “Massive Fraud” let its perpetrators effectively terminate “ all rules, regulations, and articles, even those found in the Constitution.” And that his final sentence says what they have done clearly does not comport with the Founders’ intentions.

I will admit I read his words as his inartful defense of the Constitution, not a demand to ignore that document. Which doesn’t mean I agree with his demand for a new election or his own installation. 

The election was hinkey, possibly rigged, but them’s the breaks. He should have anticipated an all-out effort to throw the election and prepared for it, but he didn’t. We go on, even if he can’t.

Karma

The Supreme Court will soon hear a case - 303 Creative v. Elenis - which forces them to directly confront an issue they sidestepped in an earlier case of a wedding cake baker who refused to bake cakes for same sex weddings. 

Writing at Law & Liberty blog, Notre Dame law prof Sherif Girgis makes an interesting point relative to the case.

If it’s hurtful to imply that same-sex unions aren’t marital, it’s hurtful to imply that traditional Christian—and Muslim, Jewish, and Hindu—convictions on marriage are bigoted. So free societies tolerate the expression of painful ideas. The First Amendment guards your right to speak or stay silent on their basis.

I find that equivalency persuasive in a clearly pluralistic society, which ours is to a degree greater than most. Hat tip to Power Line for the link.

The Summer of '42, Revisited

The other DrC and I rewatched The Summer of '42 last night. It is an amazingly good low-budget film that came out in 1971, the year we married. It shows up occasionally on cable channels that play old films, I recommend it.

Guys, if that film doesn't make you squirm a little, I'll be surprised. It is adolescent "coming of age" from the porn-not-widely-available era distilled down to the gut-wrenching basics. 

Jennifer O'Neill was a great beauty, and a decent actress, the adolescent boys do a credible job too,. The only true adult with a speaking part - the Nantucket druggist - manages to wring every drop of angst out of his cameo role. The lush title theme music by Michel Legrand won an Oscar.

It turns out the script and novel based on the script were semi-autobiographical. Decades later author Herman Raucher was actually contacted by the gal the script names "Dorothy" who was concerned she had taken advantage of the 15 year old Hermie. Ironically, he'd always thought he'd taken advantage of her.

Go figure. Men and women have been misunderstanding each others' feelings (and motives) essentially forever.

Sunday Snark

Image courtesy of RealClearPolitics' Cartoons of the Week.

Saturday Snark

All images courtesy of Power Line's The Week in Pictures, or of its Comments section.

It Works Both Ways

Girls kissing frogs who then turn into princes are legendary. Someone should have told Meghan Markle that there are times when kissing a prince can turn him into a frog. 

This less-celebrated process can sometimes take years, as it did with Prince Andrew. Other times it takes only months, as happened with Prince Harry.

Ribbitt.

Rogue Waves

ABC News reports via msn.com that a rogue wave damaged the Viking Polaris expedition ship in the Drake Passage south of Ushuaia, Argentina, breaking windows, killing one passenger and injuring four more in non-life-threatening ways. The ship was returning from a voyage to the Antarctic peninsula.

The Drake Passage - 500 miles of open sea between Cape Horn and Antarctica - is some of the roughest water on the planet. The DrsC made that trip some years ago and we had an injury happen to a fellow passenger as well. 

In rough water, she fell and broke her elbow. The ship’s doctor sedated her and strapped it up, and we diverted to a Chilean Air Force base on King George Island where she and her husband were flown out to a hospital in Punta Arenas. We learned later the air ambulance flight cost them $15,000, covered by required travel insurance.

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Speaking of rogue waves, the Grand Princess was hit by a rogue wave sailing northward off the west coast of Italy en route to Civitavecchia, the port of Rome. This happened in the latter part of November, 2008, at around 1 a.m. 

The wave broke windows up on the Lido deck, nearly 100 ft. above the waterline. We were ashore waiting to board her in Civitavecchia and we boarded several hours later than scheduled as they were doing some quick repairs. 

We talked to people who were continuing from one cruise to the next and they reported the rogue wave was quite an experience. The wave basically left the ship dead in the water for nearly an hour until the crew could get the power up and running again, with the result that the Grand arrived late to Civitavecchia.

Friday Snark

All images courtesy of POLITICO's The Nation's Cartoonists on the Week in Politics.

Embarrassing

The Democrats have painted themselves into a corner and don’t see a realistic way out. Dementia Joe and Shallow Kamala present a dilemma. Joe is cycling in and out of touch with reality, see excruciating video of him with visiting French President Macron. 

The process is sad enough when only people who care about you see it and are embarrassed for you, and maybe for themselves. It’s the brain fog symptoms of old age done on a national stage with TV cameras rolling. 

If Joe had a Veep anybody thought was an improvement, it would be Amendment 25 in a heartbeat.  But Harris has demonstrated that she isn’t up to the job and, more to the point, probably couldn’t win the 2024 election if she inherited the office. So Democrats carry on with the Weekend at Bernie’s charade while we all cringe and hope nothing demanding actual presidential leadership occurs.

Biden says he intends to run in 2024. Gov. Gavin Newsom of CA says he won’t challenge Biden for the 2024 nomination, which means he recognizes political reality. Both decisions can always be revisited if, for whatever reason, Biden doesn’t seek a second term. 

The Question Is Obvious, the Answer Is Not

Townhall’s Kurt Schlichter states the obvious question to pose concerning whether to be serious about a Gov. Ron DeSantis GOP presidential nomination in 2024.

Can he show that the people he loses by not being Trump are going to be outnumbered by the people he gains by not being Trump?

That is very much what our decision boils down to, isn’t it? Did the white collar suburbs go for Biden because they buy the whole woke/CRT crock-of-crap, or did they just vote against Trump? 

I’d like to believe the answer is “against Trump” but I have to admit I am unsure.  Is Florida an outlier or does it point the way to a national win?