Category Archives: Bohemian

Attacking Russia. WTF?

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I’m about to say some things that may seem (or are) hopelessly naive. But sometimes we should stop and reexamine our basic assumptions.

So, I have to ask the question. Why would anyone in their right mind contemplate an unprovoked attack on Russia? The present-day Russian and former Soviet leadership has always made a show of holding back what they call “western aggression”. They justify their military buildup by claiming that NATO is an immediate and existential threat to their security. But seriously, who the hell would want to control Russia? They fear the push back on their own behavior which is to threaten the west. It would be a total disaster for everyone.

Yes, NATO is a threat insofar as they hold the line against Russian expansionism. Should states succumb to Russian control just because the leadership of Russia says so? Obviously not. Russian control seems to come with the loss of freedoms, stultified economic progress and political oppression. Putin’s war was initially justified, at least by what is available in the western press, as a strike on incipient Nazism in Ukraine which Putin declared as a direct threat to the security of the Russian state.

Everyone outside of Russia realizes that this is a bald-faced lie cynically devised to justify Putin’s dream of empire.

For arguments sake let’s say NATO attacks Russia for whatever reason and let’s say NATO wins. What have they won? A giant collapsed country full of permafrost and mosquitos populated with angry citizens living in economic collapse. The US and coalition forces couldn’t even control Afghanistan with its population of neolithic religious maniacs and their opium poppy fields. And we left the poppy fields intact too!!What chance would there be for western forces controlling a defeated Russia? It would be like the dog who caught the car. What next?

The same question applies to Putin. If he conquers and occupies Ukraine and then the other former Warsaw Pact countries, what will he have gained? Apparently, Putin guessed that they would roll over and comply. That was the state of affairs during the days of the Soviet Union. The USSR had a powerful and penetrating police apparatus with a network of remote prison labor camps and little presumption of innocence.

Unfortunately for Putin, Ukraine didn’t just roll over and concede. They are fighting back against certain authoritarian control and loss of their Ukrainian heritage. In doing so, it is revealed to the world that Putin’s conventional military is a paper tiger. Military planners the world over are taking notes on the modern conduct of war. Resources that might have modernized the Russian military have been funneled elsewhere for a long time.

Russia’s nuclear forces, however, are something to worry about. However, Putin and his cronies know about Mutual Assured Destruction. This principle has prevented nuclear war since Russia got the bomb. Putin knows that if he releases nuclear war shots, the resulting nuclear exchange will not only devastate all participants, but will bounce the rubble a few times as well. Even if land-based missiles are destroyed, the respective submarine fleets can continue to unleash nuclear hellfire at leisure. The meaning of victory becomes very hazy here.

As always, the Russian model of conquest seems to impose brutal authoritarian control to suppress opposition. Not because there is something wrong with the Russian people. But Russian leadership has been so oppressive for so long that there is no institutional template for alternative leadership.

This is very simplistic, but does Russia know that nobody wants control of their country? Imagine the folly of it. Since the days of Stalin they have worked themselves into a lather about the west. The cold war was a game of weapon/countermeasure cycles that has quietly developed into Cold War II. It is all so unnecessary.

I think it is fair to say that everyone wants a peaceful Russia that can participate in world trade, tourism, science and cultural affairs. A reclusive and paranoid Russia that is angrily stamping its feet and issuing threats to its neighbors is a Russia that will remain unhappy and dangerous. Decent people and rich culture are abundant in Russia. Their leadership doesn’t let that shine through.

Yes, we understand that Russia was viciously invaded by the Nazis some years back but they prevailed. At some point everyone has to look to a prosperous future. Yes Russia, this includes you. There is no similar threat to Russia in the world today. Just because the west responds to Russian provocations doesn’t mean that there is an intent to attack. Just because the economic engines of the west outperform them at present doesn’t imply imminent attack either.

I would love to visit Russia as a tourist. Russian hospitality is first rate and the countryside is beautiful. Many people around the world would love to visit. But until the people can break free of oppressive leadership, it will remain a hermit kingdom in the manner of NPRK.

Gaussling’s Epistle to the Bohemians 2/28/23

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>>> A smattering of thoughts each too small for a post. <<<

I’ve been thinking about quantum chemistry lately, or more to the point, my graduate-level single semester experience with it. First let me say that prior to taking the qualifying exams on arrival to the graduate chemistry program, I made sure to bone up on the particle in a one-dimensional box model. And sure enough, it was on the entry p-chem exam. Whew! Dodged that bullet. However, of all 5 exams we took, I didn’t pass the statistical mechanics exam. I would have to repeat the exam and pass it by the end of the year. Instead of taking the undergrad p-chem course I decided to risk it and study on my own and as luck would have it, I managed to pass it. Another monkey off my back.

Back to the quantum chemistry course. Initially I was hoping to gain a bit of qualitative insight into the subject. As it turned out, it was really just a high level math class where the prof spent the whole term deriving all of the key equations. I think this is pretty common for this subject. There were zero interesting applications mentioned. He was either unable or unwilling to render any of it into sentences for context. The guy was a rock star in his area of solid state nuclear magnetic resonance. Once I went in for help during office hours and he told me he was busy and to come back in 2 weeks (!). I was finally convinced that putting scientists on a pedestal was a serious error and that a**holes were truly everywhere. Anyway, I made it through the experience and moved on. Haven’t had to think about Hamiltonians since.

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I was chatting with a toxicologist colleague recently about the big derailment and fire disaster in East Palestine, OH. I had suggested that the decision of the responders to vent and burn the remaining vinyl chloride was probably a good idea. There was some fear that there may be a runaway polymerization of the vinyl chloride. This would likely lead to an explosive rupture of the tank car and a possible BLEVE. This is from the report–

“On February 5, responders mitigated the fire, but five derailed DOT-105 specification tank cars (railcars 28–31 and 55) carrying 115,580 gallons of vinyl chloride continued to concern authorities because the temperature inside one tank car was still rising. This increase in temperature suggested that the vinyl chloride was undergoing a polymerization reaction, which could pose an explosion hazard. Responders scheduled a controlled venting of the five vinyl chloride tank cars to release and burn the vinyl chloride, expanded the evacuation zone to a 1-mile by 2- mile area, and dug ditches to contain released vinyl chloride liquid while it vaporized and burned. The controlled venting began about 4:40 p.m. on February 6 and continued for several hours.”

My colleague said that a fire releases aerosols that are likely to be especially deleterious to the lungs. Burning organic chlorides leads to hydrochloric acid formation with all of the joy that it brings to the dance. The smoke plume, elevated by convection, and probably carrying some amount of unburned chemicals will spread with the aerosols far and wide. This would contaminate a larger patch of environment and expose a more distant population than a simple spill at the crash site would. He wondered to what extent the chemicals shouldn’t have been removed at the site, spill or not, and the land be designated as a Brownfield.

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Elon Musk has been running off at the mouth again, this time seeming to take sides with the Dilbert cartoonist Scott Adams who was recently given the death penalty of abandonment by his publishers. Adams used his cartoon to go off on the Black population saying that Whites “should get the hell away from Black people” referring to them as a racist hate group.

Set aside the merits/demerits and morality of Adams’ racial views for a minute. As an adult and businessman he should have known the boundaries of acceptable content in his cartoon strips in the current social environment. He published content that appeared to have alignment with white supremacist ideas. In publishing this content, he made himself radioactive and he was dropped by his publishers who happen to have better business sense. What a dunce. He was playing with a loaded gun and it went off in his face.

So, His Excellency, Elon Musk, has stepped into the fray and condemned the excommunication of Adams from the comic strip pages. Musk said that while Adams’ comments weren’t good, there was an element of truth in them. He accused the media of providing a “false narrative” by giving more attention to Black victims of police violence than to White victims of police violence. This is on top of his general loosening on hate speech on Twitter and the reinstatement of banned accounts such as with #45. Musk is broadcasting that hate speech is as valid as any other speech on his platform. Businesses like Twitter are free to edit content or not as they please. Musk believes in a rough-and-tumble environment where most anything goes. As an owner, he is certainly free to do that. But as owner, he is also responsible for content that drives away business.

Irrespective of your beliefs in this matter or the obvious morality issues, it should be apparent that neither Adams or Musk seem to care about the effect on business of draping yourself in the flag of racism, or even just of allowing the perception of it. Savvy is a kind of vector- it has magnitude and direction. Musk has strong vectors in the technology direction, but not so much in the public relations direction. He doesn’t seem to have full control of his mouth just yet.

==========

A Poem About Gold Telluride

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I asked ChatGPT to write a poem about gold telluride (Calaverite), a mineral found in some gold deposits. It seemed rather obscure so I was interested in seeing what it would do. Seamus Heaney it is not, but it did do a fair job.

By ChatGPT.

Golden telluride, shining bright, A mineral rich, with hidden light. In the earth’s embrace, you lay so still, Waiting for the day when you’ll fulfill.

Your purpose, to bring wealth and fame, To those who find your gleaming flame. In the veins of the rock, you glow so warm, A treasure, rare and precious, like a golden swarm.

With your beauty, you captivate the eye, A symbol of success, that cannot lie. From ancient times, men have sought you out, Dreaming of the riches, no doubt.

In the hands of the miners, you are refined, Crafted into jewelry, with a heart so kind. A reminder of the earth’s hidden wealth, A source of wonder and amazement, that never felt.

So here’s to you, golden telluride, A symbol of prosperity, that will never hide. May you bring joy and happiness to all, In this world of wonder, so small.

Gaussling’s (n+1)th Epistle to the Bohemians: Biden’s Student Loan Assistance

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Wow. There is a whole lot of pissin’ and moanin’ out there about Biden’s student loan payment program. A lot of it is bubbling to the surface like rotten egg gas in the mud pots of Facebook and Twitter. That wriggling libertarian tapeworm is deeply and firmly attached to the innards of a great many people.

I’m not going to waste precious heart beats trying to explain why a civilization should aid and encourage higher education. It should be obvious.

In an earlier chapter of American history, I graduated with a BA in chemistry owing $265 back in 1984. The whole time I had at least 2 jobs simultaneously and in two cities for part of that time. It is what I had to do to graduate without accumulating a lot of student loan debt. Later, in grad school, I received tuition remission and a stipend to study for a PhD. This is/was common for chemistry graduate students. The only cost for the ordeal was time, a divorce and my sanity.

Since that time tuition, student housing/rent, fees and other expenses have grown astronomically while wages and grants have not. State funding of colleges and universities has shifted from grants in favor of guaranteed student loans. The reprobates in congress have also passed laws that make escape from student loan payments through bankruptcy impossible.

As it has turned out, my generation of Baby Boomers has benefitted immensely from lower tuition in our time. Today, the picture for students is quite different. Student loan debts are drowning a great many people. We lived in a time that funded student aid with grants and scholarships that are either not available now or they didn’t grow with tuition increases. Today’s students are unable to save for house down payments or otherwise spend on other goods and services. It might even affect who you marry. Why marry into enormous long-term debt?

For many students, not signing the loan papers was equivalent to giving up on their dream of a better life. There are indeed plenty of jobs not requiring a college degree that can lead to a comfortable life. Starting your own business is not for everyone. We can’t all be a Bill Gates because ground fertile enough for a paradigm shift is fairly scarce.

Now, there is a chorus of indignant voices hissing that “I paid my debts- why shouldn’t you? Why should I pay for your debt?” I can’t argue with that except to say that canceling some fraction of student loan debt is reimbursement of what should have been tuition assistance in the first place. The situation shouldn’t have arisen to trigger people. The sum of $10,000 amounts to $2500 per year for 4 years. This is a reimbursement for a modest yearly tuition grant.

Twittered

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So, after a long period of abstinence I recently added the Twitter to my daily feed from the interwebs. In a moment of weakness my resistance to Twitter folded like a lawn chair. Almost immediately I began to notice that my background level of social/political anxiety had increased.

On the plus side, I was pleasantly surprised to see all of the interesting chemistry-related content that appeared from day one. How did Twitter know that I really dig organic/organometallic chemistry having never experienced my internet shadow directly darkening their servers? I guess because I told them so. My shadow did darken their floors. In signing up, I did select a number of interests and this accounts for my connection to chemistry feed.

What is startling though is that they already had a good inkling of my philosophical and political leanings from day one. I do not recall disclosing this. While it is indeed an echo chamber, there are many tweets that articulate notions and ideas that I’ve had trouble putting into words myself. Clearer thinking is always a plus.

The side effect of hearing all of the “agreeable” echo chamber content is that my world view is more broadly negative and my general level of peaceful equilibrium has diminished. There is a constant rattling noise of cogent observations about negatives. While thankfully I do not receive tweets from Margorie Taylor Greene or her ilk, I do get many tweets with excoriating comments on her latest outrageous utterings and pathetic stunts. This just keeps me front and center with this malignant political movement #45 is leading.

There are certainly many negatives to be found in American history and culture. People from all quarters are plainly aware of this. What is less frequently shouted across the interwebs are the positives from our technologically advanced democratic republic. Okay, technology has indeed produced net negatives like nuclear weapons and anthropogenic climate change. But there is a vast wealth of good that has come from our culture as well. We dare not lose sight of this for fear of perishing from the ever-growing circular firing squad that we find ourselves in. Returning to fundamental principles is often a good exercise.

The positives we have produced are too numerous to count. But, how about this- why don’t we each strive to be grateful about some particular benefit every week? Yes, it seems pollyannish. I get that. But let’s train our minds to seek gratitude. This week I’m going to be grateful for our electrical distribution system. We’ve all grown quite accustomed to it and it continues to provide elevation in our quality of life.

Liberalism and its Discontents

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An interesting review of a book titled Liberalism and its Discontents by political scientist Francis Fukuyama of Stanford University appeared in the internet magazine Quillette recently. The author of the review, Seamus Flaherty, is a writer and historian. The article struck me, as a moderate liberal, as a fair analysis of historical liberalism and where it might be going. I won’t rattle on about the article except to say that the final paragraph below sums up nicely some informed thoughts about liberalism. Flaherty writes-

“According to Fukuyama, the best we can hope for is a liberalism aware of its flaws, a liberalism that “prioritizes public-spiritedness, tolerance, open-mindedness, and active engagement in public affairs,” is unembarrassed by national identity and cultural tradition, seeks to devolve power to the lowest feasible levels of government, and accepts human limits and promotes the virtue of moderation. A liberalism, in short, which seeks to compensate for its own ineradicable shortcomings. In so saying, Fukuyama sounds a lot like a reticent Red Tory or Blue Labourite—a critic of liberalism who is not anti-liberal—an impression created throughout his new book. Now, that is “progress.” What Fukuyama succeeds in showing us is that liberalism need not be commensurate with the extremes of individualism or wokeism. His version of liberalism repudiates both.”

A final comment about vocabulary. In looking up an unfamiliar word found in the article, I encountered the words that describe my world view quite well. Meliorism: the idea that progress is a real concept leading to an improvement of the world. It holds that humans can, through their interference with processes that would otherwise be natural, produce an outcome which is an improvement over the aforementioned natural one. Yeah, I like it.

Pragmatics of effective science outreach

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Public outreach in science is a important element for the maintenance of our present technology-affected (or afflicted) civilization. Science and engineering (Sci & Eng) activity is continually expanding the scope of the known. The global business sector, without relent, puts new technologies to work and retires others as obsolete. It is as though civilization is in a constant state of catch-up with the tools and materials being made newly available. And the quality of news is quite variable.

When it comes to the electronic and print mass media’s government reporting, the emphasis seems to me to focus on the current budgeting process and political conflict therein. These two subjects are in the “eternal now” in the flow of events. The word “news” is just the plural form of “new” so it is natural that news media focus on present budgeting and in-fighting. Media directors and executives know that reporting must be as concrete as possible and what could be more so than large dollar values and pithy news of political hijinks? Both raise our ire because cost and anger are emotional triggers for people. And emotional triggers bring lingering eyeballs to media.

The public not affiliated with Sci & Eng are quite often unaware of what their tax dollars are actually producing, perhaps many years down the timeline. The eventual outcome of government spending on Sci & Eng may be quite specialized and seem only remotely related to non-Sci & Eng life.

It has been my observation that media equates boring content with failure and compelling content with broadcasting success. The word “compelling” is used to describe something that attracts lingering eyeballs. Modern news broadcasting is the process of jumping from one compelling piece to another. I suppose we cannot blame them for this emphasis on superficiality because apparently it is what “we” want. The big We that draws advertisers and thus cash flow to broadcasters. It keeps the lights on and families fed. Basic stuff that can’t be dismissed with a utopian wave of the hand.

If there is going to be any fundamental change in the tenor and quality of content in media, it will have to come from citizen viewers. This leads me to the thrust of this essay: Those knowledgeable in Sci & Eng must bring the value proposition of current efforts in technological civilization to the citizenry, because broadcast media certainly can’t. By “broadcast media” I mean to include everything right down to what appears on your smart phone. Unfortunately, tech content typically emphasizes consumer goods like automobiles, electronic widgets, space, or miraculous medicine.

Those knowledgeable in Sci & Eng must bring the value proposition of current efforts in technological civilization to the citizenry, because broadcast media certainly can’t in any depth. They’re in showbiz. 

Arguments in favor of rational stewardship of our little world won’t influence elected politicians. But informed and persuasive citizens can influence those who are less so and if they apply some leadership. Carefully. Those who may be less educated and less up to date on the sciency subjects do not take kindly to speech that talks down to them. The hand that reaches from above is still above and off-putting. Learn to communicate on even ground.

What works for me in reaching out to all levels of education is to use humor and a bit of showmanship. Reaching out to the public in a way that keeps their attention is hard to do and not everyone is prepared to do it. Lest you think I am describing putting on a show, not entirely. I am saying that by the deft use of knowledge, public speaking skill, and the strength of personality, it is possible to persuade even the scientifically reluctant to perk up and follow your efforts at making a point. But the point must be accessible. Deep detail and meandering monologue will lose your group. Keep your outreach succinct and limit the breadth to a few pearls of wisdom. Get feedback on your presentation.  With any luck, they’ll go home and jump on Google for more.

If you need help with public speaking, join Toastmasters to improve. Try acting lessons. Join a theatre group. Learn to relax, pace yourself, and enjoy speaking. The better you get at the mechanics of public speaking, the more effective you’ll become.

[Note: The crummy WordPress text editor used to write this post is just abysmal. Why it was changed to the current revision is a mystery to me.  -Th’ Gaussling]

Pesty Sides

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I get to enjoy a commute through farm country every work day. It is my habit to pull over and watch the crop dusters when they’re out. I’m secretly jealous of them as they zoom  with their wheels just above the crop in a powerful turboprop aircraft. In the fall of 2017 I caught this fellow spraying what I estimate is an antifungal onto a corn crop near the end of the growing season. The negative image seemed more interesting than the positive.

 

Duster in Negative Space

Helicopters show up now and again. These folks can do a 180 turn at the end of a pass faster and in a tighter space than can a fixed wing aircraft. Also they can pause to think about things whereas a fixed wing aircraft cannot.

 

Crop Dusting Chopper

Think what you will about spraying. If they’re out there, I’m going out to watch, but not so close as to smell the spray.

 

 

Hop on the cannabinoid express!

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Interesting. I know two chemists and an engineer from my miniscule spheroid who have recently joined the marijuana extraction industry here in Colorado. Crimony, it makes me wonder what my problem is. Alright, it turns out that’s easy to explain. I really dig reaction chemistry and thermo, you know, real sciency stuff. Not much of that in the retail or wholesale extractives business. I have this suspicion that it will soon – if not already – be corporatized, IPO’d, and raced full throttle by scheming finance MBA’s like every other growth business. They can have it. Capitalism is like a stomach- it has no brain. All it can do is endlessly demand more.

A Pox on the House of Microsoft

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An automated Windows update disrupted my life today. It swooped in overnight like a winged wraith, did its dark deeds, and flapped quietly back to the dank hole from whence it came. My RC1 data may yet reside unscrambled on the disk drive, but it lies orphaned from the mother iControl application which mockingly professes no recollection of 18 hours of sweet data lovingly produced. The curs in IT can only “tsk, tsk” in their antiseptic way while bobbing pointed heads in faux dismay. Another first-world difficulty uncovered for all to see.