Peak Civilization

The Gavin Newsom recall should have been a whole lot closer than it was. If you take a roughly fifty percent approval rating, a forty percent disapproval rating, and split the ten percent undecided, it should have been something like a 55/45 split to keep/recall Newsom. Instead, it went around 64-36. Even the people who didn't approve of the job he was doing were apparently more than a little vexxed at the thought of having Larry Elder as the next governor of California. It's a little hard to blame them, too. Elder is a Trump sycophant who, like many other media figures on the right, seems to make his money from hitting the talk show circuit and reciting the typical talking points about Biden and company. Could the Republicans have won California? It's a good question, but I don't think it's going to be answered, because the Republicans do a great job of self-sabotage without appealing to the MAGA crowd. Elder became the front runner on the right because of that sup...

It has been something to watch the collective skull of the left burst open like a dead whale carcass over the possibility of Trump running in 2024. I don't think there has been a greater example of someone living rent-free in people's minds than that of Trump over the last five or so years. From the time he won the candidacy up through this weekend, it has been nonstop Trump. Trump the traitor, Trump the insurrectionist, Trump the sore loser, Trump the Russian candidate, and so on. If it weren't so far-fetched, people would probably be claiming that Trump invented covid to wipe out Democrats in major cities like New York. Trump was a has-been the moment he took office, and that hasn't changed since he left office. Outside of the trademark "Trump scowl" (which I think he ripped off from Ben Stiller in Zoolander), and trying to get exposure on cable news and any other place he can show up and press the flesh (insert your own jokes there), he is becoming complete...

There is always a sense of things coming to an end as autumn arrives. Leaves fall, plants die from the frost and cold, crickets call to each other with desperation, and birds migrate south. Harvests are collected, the last bounties of the growing season before all food becomes trucked from across the country or preserved. There are also all kinds of festivals and holidays, including Halloween and Thanksgiving.  Tom Rush sang a wonderful son about the approach of autumn as well. But September, the first month of fall, has also come with events that seem to leave a deep mark on the American mind. In two days, we'll be observing the 20th anniversary of 9/11. Anyone over a certain age today, perhaps 30 or so, will remember where they were when the planes hit the World Trade Center. If you are like most people, you initially thought that the first plane hitting the building might have been a pilot error or some other sort of accident. When the second plane hit, it was quite clear that ...

A quick Google search for "coronavirus dashboard" brings up some not-so-great news. Taken nationally, figures are nearly half of what they were at the peak, and three or so times what they were this time last year. Some places, especially the ones that are harder hit than last year, are seeing smaller rises, or even a steady pace of new infection. That was with Delta, and no one knows what Mu is going to do. Coronavirus mutation rates are significantly higher than previously thought, and vaccines and natural immunity seem to lose their effectiveness with each new variant. This makes sense, given that antibodies can recognize one virus structure and may be less effective at locking on to others. Keep the analogy simple, work a jigsaw puzzle sometime and have a piece that looks like it should fit, but doesn't quite really fit. You can push it down and sort of make it work, but you know it's not really right. Viruses and antibodies work sort of the same way. An antibody ...

Everyone has some sort of idea of collapse in their heads, at least if they have given it any thought at all. Mad Max, Blade Runner, whatever. Back in the 1800s, people were ruminating over collapse with the idea of the world having too many people and not enough resources. Anyone familiar with the "doomer" movement can probably give a workable explanation of Jevon's Paradox, for example, or Malthusianism. Now, people worry with good reason about global warming and what effects it is going to have on our lives and our planet. At the root of this is the maxim of "something that can't go on forever, won't." A great deal of time and effort is spent convincing the American people otherwise - after all, no one is going to win an election or keep customers by pointing out that our current civilization is unsustainable in its present form. Systems essentially collapse from two causes, with a caveat - either something the system depends on is no longer available...

Joe Rogan is now sick with covid, joining a list of higher-profile opponents of covid vaccinations and other mitigation efforts. Lately, it seems like people who oppose masking and vaxxing are now looking up at the sky through six feet of dirt. While there's probably a delicious conspiracy theory in there, the reality more likely is that these folks mingle (even if not single) and don't really take the whole thing seriously. It's a little bit like crying wolf in reverse - say that there's no problem, then look confused when the wolf eats you. It just is a continuation of the recent American tendency to have a knee-jerk reaction to anything that comes out of the mouth of someone you're supposed to dislike. Let's face it - the two major political poles in this nation have already seceded from each other. While it's not a physical or formal secession, it's definitely a mental one. There is no accepting the "wrong" opinion and remaining within your...

The tragic and unprecedented devastation and loss of life from the remnants of Ida skirting over the northeast has been sobering to watch. Basements with water pouring in, cars up to the doors in flooded streets, boats rescuing people from second floors in Pennsylvania. The images are start and dramatic, with people struggling to survive in the middle of a disaster, but the news will go on after this and not dive into the underlying issues. Simply put, things like this should not be happening in a healthy, modern civilization, with is eyes on the future. Too bad we're anything but that anymore. From the "peak" perspective, the region has been suffering shortfalls for some time now. The Report Card for America's Infrastructure rates New York at a C-. The wear and tear on cars from driving on city streets is around $650 a year. There are concerns about drinking water safety, and now this. Hurricane Sandy dumped tons of rain on New York back in 2012 and flooded it exten...