No Compromise America

Every time I have started to write a blog entry over the last few weeks I have found myself drifting back to the same off topic issue, so I am just going to get this off my chest and move on.

A few weeks ago I was listening to an interview with a member of a state legislature talking about budget issues and how to close a large budget gap.  This elected representative stated that the source of budget problems is "compromise".  He then went on to argue that there should be no compromise.  He suggested that the only solution is to silence all who disagree and have one party (his) make all the rules.  No surprising for today's politicians, but increasingly we see evidence of politicians acting to silence all who disagree.

Being a radical moderate, I don't care and won't tell, which party this person was from.  It does not matter. The movement to the extremes is a recipe for destruction.  When we refuse to negotiate, when facts don't matter, when we salt the earth of our enemies in a civil war, we have sown the seeds of the end of civil society and at some future time will see revolution in our own land.

In my life I have see revolutions and genocides.  They begin when one group holds power and wealth and dictates to those who think or look differently that they will have no voice or power over their lives.  Look at Egypt and Libya, the populace are wage slaves who must suffer in silence as all power and wealth go to a few.

I was taught in elementary school and have always believed that part of the genius of the founders of the United States of America was that they set up a system requiring that even the minority opinions would have a voice and would be heard in the court of public opinion. When politicians act specifically to pursue a permanent majority by legislating the destruction of any means that those who disagree with them might use to have a voice, they undermine the foundations of the nation.

I am hopeful that the pendulum has reached the zenith of its swing and more sensible voices will soon speak up, but when I hear leaders like the legislator who is anti-compromise speak without fear of rebuttal or retribution I worry about the our collective future.

T.S. Hall

Getting Lost

Hi, I'm Thomas and I'm a "Lost" addict.

The show "Lost" reminds me of my research.  Just when I think I have locked down the variables and understand something, I am proven wrong.  And, the Smoke Monster has also made a few appearances with disastrous effect.

With the show coming to an end, I am going to go out on a limb and put forward my speculation on the putting things together.  You can all laugh a what complete crap this is on Sunday evening.  On Monday we can all go back to the lab were we belong.

I think the key is, "Live together, die alone."  The coming face off with the smoke monster will turn on the individual characters putting their own issues aside and coming together.  I think this is also the key to "getting of the island."

All the main characters arrived lost in the sense that they were all inside themselves.  Charlie, Sun, and Jin may have died on the island, but they all did so at the point when they let go of themselves and committed to another, or to each other in Sun and Jin's cases.  Remember, Juliet said "it worked" after her selfless act of setting the bomb off.  Sayid was even selfless in his last act.  Bernard and Rose have in a sense already escaped in that they found their peace in each other.

The man with no name (not the character played by Clint Eastwood in the Leone films), before he became the smoke monster expressed disgust with living with the other people on the island because they were venal and self absorbed.  I have speculated the Jacob was bringing other people to the island to prove to the smoke monster that people were capable of more.  The Darma communal project might have been such an attempt.  The monster has been trying to prove otherwise to Jacob by his interactions with people and his attempts to manipulate them to kill Jacob.

Desmond through his experiences with EM fields has recognized the need to connect the part of each character in the parallel "sideways flash" existence with themselves in on the island.  In a sense to reconnect them with their souls.  This is critical to getting them to come together to face the smoke monster.  Once the castaways have faced down the smoke monster, Desmond can be revealed as the name at 108 degrees, and as the replacement for Jacob.  Having put others ahead of themselves the Oceanic 815 folks who have stood together can leave to their sideways existence, now knowing how they are all connected and taking the lesson of "Live together, die alone".

OK, back to grading.

T.S. Hall

The Other Gulf Coast Oil Spill

At one point in my life I spent some time living at that avernal entrance to hell that is the northeast gulf coast of Texas.  During my time there I absorbed much butadiene into my lungs and some local history into my brain.  With the current oil well blowout in the gulf I have been thinking about one bit of largely forgotten history.

The gulf coast of Texas is prone to oil seeps where crude oil seeps up from the sea bed.  In many parts of the beaches you will find tar balls on the sand, which people often assume is pollution from the refineries, although at least part of it is from oil seeps.

Historically there was a "oil pond" off the coast west of the Sabine River estuary (The border of Texas and Louisiana).  I am talking about a major oil spill that lasted for centuries.  In the 1890s through 1910 it was described as being a mile wide and four miles long.  Dating back to spanish colonial days ships would shelter there during storms.

It "disappeared" in 1910.  Many people believe that this corresponded with the tapping of the salt dome that was the Spindletop oilfield.  Spindletop was the largest single oil producer in the world when it came in on 7 Jan. 1901.  (If memory serves, it produced something like ten percent of all the oil in the world that year.)  When oil was struck, the well blew out and the gusher of oil estimated at 70,000 to 100,000 barrels of oil a day for 9 days formed a lake of oil in the surrounding countryside before the workers invented the first device to cap a well blowout.  Imagine to pressure in that salt dome.  This well is responsible for the start of the Mobil, Gulf, and Texaco oil companies, and making Texas an oil state.  The salt dome oil fields also were a source of sulfur, which was produced by the Frasch process.

I have always wondered what we might learn about the effects of oil spills from this chronic spill and the recovery of the coast since the end of the oil pond.  Of course the presence of multiple oil refineries in the Sabine pass area would complicate any such research.

T.S. Hall

Being a Responsible Educator

When part of your life's work is to educate it is some times hard to not correct people when they are mistaken.  It is especially hard when almost everyone is mistaken and some simple thinking would correct the problem.  Normally this is just a problem at family reunions/holiday events and in the classroom.  Sometimes it goes global and you must weigh the value of trying to correct the mistake verses grinding your teeth.

Today's case on point is the temporal confusion about the decade.  Everywhere you are hearing wrap ups of the decade and projections for the next decade.  Too bad the decade does not end for another year.

There was no year zero!  This means that the first decade was from the start of year 1 through the end of year 10.  The first millennium was from 1 Jan year 1 to 30 Dec 1000.  The second millennium did not end until 30 Dec 2000, not 1999 as most people incorrectly think.  Likewise, the first decade of the millennium does not end until the end of the day 30 Dec. 2010.

Happy End of Decade Year,

T.S. Hall

Science Blog Award

Obviously I am a fan of science blogs.  If you are too, you might be interested in nominating your favorite blog entry from the last year for the science blog award being offered by 3 quarks daily.  The timeline is pretty short, so get to it today.

No, I don't consider this to be a science blog, so I am not looking to be nominated.  Now if there is a award for blogs about higher ed written by people who got a D in freshmen English, go ahead and nominate.

T.S. Hall

E-Mail Virus Alert - Forward to Everyone

Be forewarned!  There is an insidious virus being spread via web mail.  

It incapacitates logic filters and renders the reader incapable of recognizing spin, faulty logic, false extensions of trends, and other tell tail signs that the authors are raving crackpots.  These messages can take the form of far right or far left political speech, appeals to patriotism and/or nationalism, environmental and/or health warnings, economic conspiracies, moral causes, crazy virus alerts suggesting that if you open your mail your toaster will attack you, prayer chains, etc.

A secondary effect of this virus is the compulsion to forward the virus containing messages to everyone in your address box thus suggesting to your friends and children that you are indeed loosing it.  

There is a cure!  Don't forward any e-mail unless you have first checked the facts contained in the e-mail.  If you still feel compelled to share the wacko-doodle nonsense show some self control and start a web blog like a normal person.

T.S. Hall

P.S.  (Not that is has anything to do with this post) Hi Pop!