KARMA KICBACK Eugene Linden : endangered animals, rapid climate change, global deforestation, fragging

THE HAMMER OF THOR… AND LIZ AND BARBRA AND GEORGE AND KAMALA

Lately, I’ve returned to my roots in investigative journalism. I’m trying to get to the bottom to a recurrent episode of collective madness where every four years a marauding posse of celebrities, media figures, and supreme court justices go rampaging through the political landscape w...

KARMA KICBACK

Wednesday November 06, 2013

If anyone ever deserved to lose an election it was Ken Cuccinelli in his bid to be governor of Virginia. In a repulsive display of abuse of power, he had earlier used his position as the state's attorney general to pursue a witch hunt against the distinguished climate scientists Michael Mann. Cucinnelli's over-reaching in this vendetta came back to bite him. Turned off by his denialist postion on climate change and by his extreme stance on other social issues, a number of Republican donors, who had backed earlier GOP candidates for governor, refused to contribute to his campaign. Despite the fact that his opponent, Terry McAuliffe, was a Washiington insider who could be tied to Obama and the hapless launch of Obamacare, Cuccinelli couldn't raise the money to match Democratic spending in the final days of the campaign. One sparrow does not make a spring, but it is refreshing to see that some GOP donors are beginning to push back against the anti-science elements that have dominated the party. The GOP once championed environmental issues. Perhaps there is hope that the party will yet recognize that global warming will not discriminate between Democrats and Republicans.

Short Take

The Laws of Physics for Babies

[I published this years ago, but with friends having babies, I thought it might be a useful resource]

THE LAWS OF PHYSICS FOR BABIES

Close observation of babies has led me to believe that the infant universe is characterized by its own physics, quite distinct from particle physics or the Newtonian laws of motion. I welcome and will periodically post suggestions about additional laws of the baby universe.

LAWS OF MOTION:

1) The Inflationary Universe: Obects tend to recede when you reach for them.

2) The Boomerang Effect: Once successfully grabbed, however, objects usually reappear after being thrown, with the special exception of objects made of glass or metal.

3) The Relativity of Gravity:

a) Gravity and Acoustics. Gravity can be temporarily reversed by generating noises, but only in the presence of other people. The speed of this reversal is directly proportional to the decibel level of the sounds generated.

b) Gravity and Context. Gravity spontaneously and unexpectedly reverses itself when approaching stairs, antiques, and the Thanksgiving dinner table.

FLUID DYNAMICS: 1) Animal Spirits: Fluids have a vital forces that causes them to splash and spill unless contained in bottles and sippy cups.

MATERIALS PHYSICS:

1) Conservation of Shape: Once broken or bent, objects tend to reappear in their original configutation.

2) Transformation: When reached for, shiny metal objects tend to recede and then become transformed into plastic or rubber.

GRAND UNIFYING CONSTANT: The Attractive Pull of Mommy: the one universal force.