Bits and Pieces - May 25, 2014

More Ukraine and nuclear-related links can be found here (and scroll up).

How the NRA Enables Massacres. When will we ever learn, when will we ever learn?

The NSA's unofficial org chart.

Part of the NSA's damage assessment of Snowden's actions.

An open letter on feminism in tech. How many times does this have to be said?

Arvo Pärt in DC and New York.

The baby boomers are dying off.

Thunderstorm!

Saw this cloud to the south earlier this evening.

It moved to the northeast.

And we got some rain, fairly heavy but not as wild as the cloud looked. There's still a storm to the south. This one seems to have spun off from it.

Bits and Pieces - May 22, 2014

As usual, posts about Ukraine, why nuclear plants cost so much, the Kremlin may be watching you on Facebook, and more at Nuclear Diner.

Could it be possible that we are coming to a time when we discuss some of the issues we need to discuss? The Atlantic has two impressive articles on two issues: Ta-Nehisi Coates on reparations for black Americans and Mary Adkins on rape. Lt. Col. Robert Bateman discusses the encroachment of fundamentalist Christianity on the military. He's not that specific, but that's what he's talking about. I've been getting fed up lately with our inability to resist the worst of what our society has to offer in these areas, and I hope we're getting to a turning point.

Our modern way of thinking of maps, and the great variety of maps available to us, began during World War II. Here's some history and cool maps.

A long and scholarly article about Russian as a lingua franca. France provided the first, with English following. Russians managed, often by force, to make Russian a lingua franca within their sphere of influence, but it never got to be as universal as they would have liked.

Kazakhstan's Ancestral Apples In Trouble

We haven't had a post on fruit in a VERY long time.

National Geographic has a long article on apples and their birthplace in northeastern Kazakhstan. They are ancestral to all the apples we know, and they are endangered. A few excerpts:

One of these threatened species, Malus sieversii—a wild apple that Newton describes as "small but highly colored with a very nice sweet flavor"—is one of the key ancestors of all cultivated apples grown and eaten around the world. So rich and unique is this species, Newton says, that on one wild apple tree, "you can see more variation in apple form than you see in the entire cultivated apple crop in Britain. You can get variation in fruit size, shape, color, flavor, even within the tree, and certainly from tree to tree."



The Latin noun malus can mean either "apple" or "evil," which is probably why the "tree of knowledge of good and evil" in the Garden of Eden is often depicted as an apple tree, even though the biblical book of Genesis does not say what sort of fruit tree it is.



"All of the apples that we're eating today and cultivating originate from this area," Newton says. "So if we want to add genetic variation to our crops to cope with new pests or climate change, then the genetic resource is these forests. It's true for apples, apricots, peaches, walnuts, pears. In terms of a wild genetic resource for cultivated fruit trees, there's nothing like it on the planet."

Don't Believe Your Own Propaganda

The level and tone of propaganda coming out of Russia today vastly exceed anything I recall from the Soviet Union. A quick look at the absurd tweets from Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs  (@MFA_Russia) and the bullying by Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin (@DRogozin) should convince anyone. They are far from alone; RT (formerly Russia Today) is going hot and heavy. And no, I don’t think I’ll link to it.

Bits and Pieces - Cinco de Mayo Edition

I'm still writing about Ukraine and other nuclear things at Nuclear Diner. I keep having ideas for great posts here, but real life keeps getting in the way. Although I'm fairly far along on one.

This is why there is so much bitterness about language in Russia and the countries it has dominated. Russia is the universal language, so it is a favor to make it the dominant language in the schools. Why would anyone want to learn stupid minor languages like Ukrainian, Estonian, Czech, Kazakh...?

The only reasonable military analysis of the troops Russia has near Ukraine's eastern border that I've been able to find. It looks like Russia is not planning to invade Ukraine. Rather, the troops are a warning to other countries and Ukraine not to undertake actions there. But so far Russia hasn't chosen to use the many possible pretexts to invade. Perhaps all President Vladimir Putin wants is to destabilize the country so that the May 25 elections can't take place. But then what? More about where the troops are.

Warlords in Ukraine?

NASA and Russia's space program are pretty interwoven. Thanks, Congress and the entrepreneurs and free-marketers who think we don't need to fund NASA!

An analysis of what Edward Snowden may have had access to at the NSA. Of course, he could have hacked into other partitions, but from the material that has been released, it looks like he didn't. The NSA is probably even more aware of this. This analysis seems to show that their information compartmentalization works better than some are saying.

When Law and Ethics Collide — Why Physicians Participate in Executions

Iran briefs UN nuclear agency on detonators. This would be a briefing on the exploding bridgewire detonators that Iran has researched. They are at issue because they are essential for nuclear weapons. Iran's willingness to discuss them is a positive sign, although how positive depends on how much they have included in the briefing.

Bits and Pieces - April 10, 2014

Seymour Hersh has stenographed an article from a dubious source. There are so many things wrong with it, it took several people to show them all up. I've collected some of the best and added a few of my own comments here.

Something I point out toward the end of that post is commonalities among various incidents that point to Russian propaganda operations. They are indeed thick these days, with regard to Ukraine, but Syria is one of Russia's interests too. This intensity of propaganda hasn't been reached since Soviet times, and social media are a new outlet. There's a philosophical side to propaganda: actually more than one side. The first is epistemological: how do we know what we know? The other is the role of propaganda in building reality. On the first, I am tempted to say that too much of that kind of thing makes people crazy. We can consider the Republican Party and its various fantasies. And now the Russian Duma is looking at criminalizing the fall of the Soviet Union. I hope to write more about this. Just seems like a lot of crazy around today.

In other news,

Considering a tunnel from Helsinki to Tallinn. With a nice misty photo of Tallinn's Old Town.

Turning everyday sexism around: harassing men in London (autoplay video) and "Stop Telling Women To Smile" in Atlanta. And somewhere that it's needed: Technology's man problem.

Bits and Pieces - March 29, 2014

I'm still writing about Ukraine and posting links to stuff I think is worth reading at Nuclear Diner. It's looking like Vladimir Putin feels he's in a strong enough position to negotiate. We'll see what comes of it.

This is worth thinking about: If Vladimir Putin is worried about "Nazis" in Kiev, why is he supporting far-right groups across Europe? And we can consider his claim to be leading the conservatives of the world in gay-bashing and other things. The simple answer is that a) he really is conservative in many senses of the word and b) he is opportunist enough to use whatever levers he can against people he considers enemies.

I've been following the adventures of the snowy owl who came to DC and got hit by a truck. She's in Minnesota now, having a feather transplant. She's also on Twitter: @DCSnowyOwl. And here's the chicken from hell!

In New Mexico, a Tea Partyish congressman hires a vituperative tweeter as his pr person.

If you want to know what's going on in space - auroras, meteor showers, satellites - this is the place to find out.

This is a cool idea and something I'd like to see lots of bloggers writing, but first I have about thirty other posts I'm thinking about...

I am really irritated by the MSM's practice of revising their breaking stories without appending a notice that the story is changed. Apparently others are too - and they've come up with a solution.

The President Of All The Russias Speaks

Before he signed a measure incorporating the Crimea into the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin gave a speech (official English translation). The speech lays out his justification for annexing Crimea and lists a number of grievances and a few promises. It is shot through with misstatements of fact. The Washington Post’s Fact Checker, Glenn Kessler, gives the factual content of the speech four pinocchios, indicating a high degree of inaccuracy. I can find a number of other inaccuracies, but that is not my focus. Links at the beginning of quotes should take you to that part of the speech.

Bits and Pieces - March 18, 2014

I keep meaning to cross-post these three here, and just don't get to it. Maybe tomorrow.
War With No Hope
Soviet Economics
Russian Exceptionalism

Trapping and tracking the mysterious snowy owl.

Like those maps that show countries' characteristics by distorting the physical size of the countries? This is the site for you!

Some history to remind us that once upon a time, women dominated computer programming. Not misogynistic boys.

I don't want to insult anyone, so if you can tell me what LinkedIn is good for, I will apologize.

A science quiz that is somewhat more difficult than the run of the mill. With a link to another one.

Bits and Pieces - Ukraine Edition, 1 March 2014

I've been selecting some of the better articles to read on the situation in Ukraine and writing a bit about how I understand things. That's been at Nuclear Diner - too much happening this week to cross-post. Here are those posts and some additional reading.

Yanukovych out, officials flee to Russia

Ukraine update - 24 February

Ukraine update - 26 February

Ukraine update - 28 February

Plus some background I've written:

Ukraine historical background with maps

Russia as winner - not so much actually, with more damage likely.

Leadership without leaders

And we post political cartoons every Sunday morning. Articles from others:

Explainer: The Budapest Memorandum And Its Relevance To Crimea

The Russian Duma has approved the use of military force in Ukraine. Here's the resolution.

Some basics of Crimean history.

A wide-ranging commentary on Russia's thinking from Strobe Talbott, who was a special advisor to the US State Department dealing with the former Soviet space after the breakup of the Soviet Union.

Timothy Snyder's articles are very worth reading. The part of the world between Germany and Russia is poorly understood by many Western commentators. You really need to spend some time on it, even live there for a bit, to understand the contradictions to some of our common wisdom.

Fascism, Russia, and Ukraine

Ukraine: The Haze of Propaganda

Bits and Pieces - February 24, 2014

A bunch of science stuff:

Obesity and smoking are more dangerous than radiation.

This is why diversity is important in science. And that would include socioeconomic diversity, all kinds of diversity. People who come from outside the usual suspects might even think that science is the pursuit of truth and might pursue it strongly. They might not have surrendered to the conventional wisdom.

The most beautiful animal you’ve never seen.

The storms in Britain uncover a prehistoric forest in Cardigan Bay.

***

And today is Estonian Independence Day. Ninety-six years since Estonia won its independence from the Russian empire. Head Iseseisvuspäev, Eestimaa!

Bits and Pieces - February 19, 2014

Ukraine links (a little more than in the MSM):

Yanukovych’s gamble and Kiev’s burning

How western Ukraine is driving a revolution

Russia's covert role in the Ukrainian crisis

***

The real story here is that banks trade in all sorts of physical commodities now. The headline about Iran? Oh yeah, long before Goldman Sachs, long before the Iranian revolution, the company they bought sold uranium to the Shah. But anything for clicks, I guess.

I'm not sure this is a good way to sell science or that it even makes much sense. What do you think?

Coming a little late, but well worth it: How Sid Caesar learned double-talk. With a great video.

Another woman's scientific contributions usurped.

Internet trolls are just your everyday sadists.

Bits and Pieces - February 12, 2014

Anything Tim Parks writes on the New York Review of Books blog is worth reading. Here's his latest.

Sir David Attenborough says it: Why does America put up with antiscientific nonsense?

Elvis Presley's mansion as a Roman villa.

How Iowa flattened literature. I haven't read it all yet, but it looks good.

Get your hard hat ready! Another satellite descends.

Doctor Atomic - A Review

Two weeks ago, I saw “Doctor Atomic” in Los Alamos’s Fuller Lodge. It was the Metropolitan Opera’s performance, from a DVD. I am accustomed enough to attending events in Los Alamos that it took a while to hit me: “Doctor Atomic” in the same Fuller Lodge where the Manhattan Project held dinners, dances, and convocations. I even slept and ate there on an interview trip, when it still was the only lodging in town.

This was my first viewing of the opera; perhaps surprising for someone whose interests include both the Manhattan Project and music. I thought, however, that it might be a screed on the evils of nuclear weapons. I was wrong.

Bits and Pieces - February 7, 2014

Still having problems at Nuclear Diner. So Phronesisaical links first, then Nuclear Diner links. There's always some overlap.

Patrick Rael on the Long Death of Slavery in the United States, 1777-1865

The DC snowy owl who was hit by a bus is doing better. Did you know that it is this year's young snowy owls who migrate south for the winter? Their elders stay in the dark Arctic.

'Animal Pompeii' wiped out China's ancient creatures

Marc Lynch tries to explain social media to those who eschew it. It ain't going away.

Zach Messitte on the value of a college education. 

Nuclear vs. renewables: Divided they fall. There are those in both communities who don't understand that the real problem is fossil fuel.

Sigrid Kaag, who is in charge of the operation to remove chemical weapons from Syria, says she doesn't think Syria is stalling.

Here is the State Department daily press briefing from yesterday, mainly on the tapped Nuland telephone call about Ukraine. Is it just me, or do some of these reporters sound like idiots?

Some counterintelligence thoughts on that phonecall.

Deterring Iran. It can be done. And, I would add, we're doing it now.

Bits and Pieces - February 5, 2014

Nuclear Diner is down, so I'll post here the links I ordinarily would have posted there.

A good summary of the pros and cons of the Joint Plan ofAction with Iran. Bonus: explains why Fareed Zakaria’s “train wreck” is nonsense.

Congressional Democrats are getting behind negotiations withIran.

Background on what the Iranian Revolution accomplished.

Russia says Syria will get their chemical weapons moving. Before that happened, Charles Duelfer, who was in charge of looking for WMD in Iraq, speculated that Russia couldn’t be too pleased about the slowdown, which is what I thought too. Imagine chemical weapons in Sochi. Russia is learning the downside of being a big internationalplayer.

Experts believe that more public outreach is necessary in the Mediterranean region about the chemical weapons recovery and disposal mission.

In the meantime, Libya’s remaining chemical weapons havebeen destroyed. Good job.

Identifying North Korean mobile missile launchers and wherethey’re produced. Excellent study in open-source intelligence.

Background on Ukraine.

Good commentary on the fight between nuclear and renewable energy. Totally unnecessary.

Deer in Germany still migrate according to where the fenceswere during the Cold War.

A science chat on Twitter. 6:00 PST on Twitter. Hashtag: #sciencechat

Snowden Stuff:

An important point: Daniel Ellsberg knew what he wasleaking; Snowden can’t possibly know.

Long read on Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers.

And yet one more “revelation” that turns out to be wrong.

Bits and Pieces - January 29, 2014

How a New Science of Cities Is Emerging from Mobile Phone Data Analysis. They don't say how they got the data, but presumably it's from the phone companies. Part of that all-the-time surveillance Edward Snowden keeps warning us about. But there's a new book out suggesting that maybe Snowden isn't such a hero. That's my opinion; he's spreading information that has nothing to do with privacy, but perhaps more to do with a hacker-libertarian hatred of all functions of government. And the materials he's stolen are showing up in more and more places. Of course, we all know how easy it is to duplicate a thumb drive. It looks like people are losing interest, too. I'm not surprised; the articles are hard to follow, show little of the materials they are based on, and frequently are found to be wrong. I've pretty much given up on following them closely.

Here's how Estonia got thoroughly networked. Hint: it didn't expect internet companies to look out for the good of the country.

Did World War II save us from the income inequality we've got now?

Eat your fruit! The good fruit does for you far outweighs whether it's organic or not.

"We had a hard time getting a war started." Nuclear strategist Thomas Schelling on the thinking that was the basis for the movie "Dr. Strangelove," fifty years old today. Something to think about: at that time, tensions were much higher between the US and the USSR than any tensions in the world now, and many of the safeguards against accidental nuclear war that we have now were not in place then.

Everyone needs to calm down. Good advice on Fareed Zakaria's breathless declaration of a "train wreck" in negotiations with Iran. Both sides are placating their hardliners. Let them do it. More here.

Impassive

I've noticed a bit of this: people excoriating other people for using passive verb constructions when that is not what the verb constructions are.

Geoffrey Pullum deconstructs one example from Alexandra Petri at the Washington Post in which none of the 23 verb forms in the passage she criticizes is passive. None. Zero. But Petri thinks they are. And that's the sad part: she and many others don't know what a passive verb is, but they feel obliged to criticze others for using them.

Pullum has collected examples of this phenomenon from many sources and considers the overall phenomenon here.

The topic of this paper is not so much a construction as a strange cultural trend emerging in the 20th century among language mavens, writing tutors, and usage advisers. Unneeded warnings against sentences that have nothing wrong with them are handed out by people who actually don’t know how to identify instances of what they are warning against, and the people they aim to educate or intimidate don’t know enough grammar to reject the nonsense they are offered. The blind warning the blind about a nonexistent danger.

And Now, Fruit!

 We haven't had any fruit posted in a long time. This is a list of what is in a natural passionfruit. Chemicals!