A Small Note On My Posts

At least twice lately, commenters or others have said something like "But you're not saying" something that already has appeared. That tends to be correct in the strict sense that I haven't said it. The fact of their saying it, however, is a challenge that I've got something wrong. Or left out.

The second is almost always true. A blog post, at least as I write one, does not allow for a full setting-out of the basics. When I provide links, I assume that the information in them becomes part of my presentation, and I don't repeat them, except for the most relevant, pithy, or beautiful parts. Leaving something out does not mean I disagree with it or am ignorant of it.

One of the things that I think blogs are particularly good for is raising questions. Questions usually do not into the categories of right or wrong. They may point in one direction or another, and the directions mine imply tend to be deliberate because I think those directions have not surfaced in the accounts I've seen. They also do not imply firm stands for or against other assertions or questions unless they directly address those assertions or questions.

Further, most arguments contain more than two possibilities. I recognize that eight years of George Bush with a chorus of evangelical religion playing loudly in the background and still not turned down has convinced many of us, even those who should know better, that if you're not for something, you must be against it. Or someone or something is either an existential threat to mankind or totally harmless. Or anything bigger than a firecracker is a WMD. That last is starting to get into the fear category that I'm fed up with. We can't live full lives in a democratic society if we fear everyone else on the street and walking in public. So I've got a campaign going against those excessive fears that too many of us have gotten far too accustomed to.

My arguments tend to lie in that broad band between good and evil, fear and foolishness. Because I question whether the fear is justified does not mean I am arguing in favor of foolishness.

It may be that my writing could be clearer, and I'll keep that in mind. But these are blog posts, and I don't intend to put this disclaimer on every one of them.

The New Kid

Well, here I am, surveying the new digs, trying to figure out where the bathroom is and deciding where to put my favorite pictures. Didn’t pick up the milk, but will on the next trip.

For those of you who don’t know me, I used to blog at WhirledView. You can find my previous stuff, back to 2004, here.

I’m a chemist. My background includes a fair bit of nuclear stuff, fossil fuel, and counterterrorism along with managing environmental cleanups, which eventually expanded to collaborations and spending some delightful time in Estonia and Kazakhstan. One of my projects landed me in some of the domestic politics of decommissioning Pershing Missiles back in the 1980s, in response to the Intermediate Nuclear Forces Treaty, and another laid bare some of the more uptight parts of the US government in relation to decommissioning nuclear weapons.

My adventures have taken me to cooler climes than those that produce helmut’s photos of fruits we’ve never heard of. And my tastes extend to lots of other sorts of flora and fauna. But here’s a cloudberry for you.

I’ll continue to write the kinds of things I’ve been writing, and I may try some new things.

I’m delighted that helmut and the guys are allowing me to occupy space here, and looking forward to conversing with the readers!