Saturday, February 19, 2011
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Two Brothers
In 1820, the whaleship Essex, out of Nantucket and captained by George Pollard, Jr., was stove in by an enraged sperm whale and sank. If the story sounds familiar, it should - it became the foundation for Herman Melville's Moby Dick. Of course, Melville's Ishmael was picked up by the Rachel the day after Captain Ahab's Pequod went down. The survivors of the Essex disaster were not so lucky. The drifted in their whaleboats for three months, reduced to drawing lots to determine who would survive and who would be cannibalized. Captain Pollard himself helped execute, and eat, his own nephew. Their trial by ocean is the subject of another truly great book, In the Heart of the Sea by Nathaniel Philbrick.
After the Essex survivors eventual rescue, Pollard was granted another captaincy, this time on the Two Brothers. His luck, however, had not improved. In 1823, the Two Brothers struck a reef in the Hawaiian Islands and went down. The crew survived, but Pollard's career ended. He spent the rest of his days as a night watchman in Nantucket.
It is the anchor of the Two Brothers that was spotted in French Frigate Shoals in 2008. The find has now been extensively investigated, and is the subject of this piece at National Geographic. It's not biology, but it's pretty good stuff.
The attack begins
Today marks the beginning of the new Republican-led Congress' attack on a number of pieces of important environmental legislation. It's predictable, and it's worrisome. It's important, too. If you'd like to follow it, The Wilderness Society is blogging live from Capitol Hill. A number of key votes coming up tonight. I suspect the folks at the Society would not object to my cutting and pasting of their "Threatened 13" - key elements of the attack on the environment. Take a look - there's a recurring theme here:
From the Wilderness Society....
"The Threatened 13" are The Wilderness Society’s list of worst budget cuts proposed by House leadership. That list includes:
1.Eliminating the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF). According to the Department of Interior’s budget brief for 2012, the $675 million that it requested for public land conservation “will contribute an estimated $1.0 billion in economic output and support about 7,600 jobs … Activities funded under the LWCF will continue to ensure public access to the outdoors, preserve natural resources and landscapes, and protect irreplaceable cultural and historic sites.”
2.Stopping science in its tracks. Driven by radical ideology, not proven facts, the House majority has decided to deny the existence of global warming by eliminating funding for climate change science. The legislation would cut at least $123 million for climate research -- funding needed to assess our vulnerability to climate disruptions and to develop the tools needed to adapt to climate extremes.
3.Eliminating forest planning that keeps the damage caused by offroad recreational vehicles under control. This impairs public safety for all national forest users and threatens drinking water resources, big game species, and other key resources.
4.Eliminating the EPA’s authority to hold polluters accountable when they foul our air and poison our water.
5.Closing National Parks and Wildlife Refuges.
6.Cutting back on forest rangers, youth outdoor education, and law enforcement.
7.Limiting access to hunting and fishing – slashing the local jobs those activities create. Putting off maintenance projects, fighting invasive plants, restoration work, timber cutting, and managing wildfire.
8.Putting off maintenance projects, fighting invasive plants, restoration work, timber cutting, and managing wildfire.
9.Preventing federal agencies from moving forward with their responsibility to protect wild lands, wildlife habitat, and watersheds.
10.Eliminating the Department of Interior’s ability to inventory, monitor and protect potential new Wild Lands (Wilderness areas).
11.Failure to adequately fund the Legacy Roads and Trails Remediation Program, which would threaten drinking water supplied to 66 million people. The cut could also eliminate up to 2,500 jobs. The program funds road and trail improvements, maintenance work and road removal projects that improve the health of local watersheds.
12.Revoking the President’s ability to keep our wild places safe by using the Antiquities Act, which has protected iconic places like the Grand Canyon.
13.Weakening of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). NEPA is the most important conservation law that ensures that federal agencies take a careful look at the effects of their actions on the environment and that the public has an opportunity to provide input and information to federal decision makers. Without NEPA, the public’s ability to protect their communities would be largely silenced.
The linked page provides an opportunity for you to express your concerns to your legislators. Take advantage of it.
From the Wilderness Society....
"The Threatened 13" are The Wilderness Society’s list of worst budget cuts proposed by House leadership. That list includes:
1.Eliminating the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF). According to the Department of Interior’s budget brief for 2012, the $675 million that it requested for public land conservation “will contribute an estimated $1.0 billion in economic output and support about 7,600 jobs … Activities funded under the LWCF will continue to ensure public access to the outdoors, preserve natural resources and landscapes, and protect irreplaceable cultural and historic sites.”
2.Stopping science in its tracks. Driven by radical ideology, not proven facts, the House majority has decided to deny the existence of global warming by eliminating funding for climate change science. The legislation would cut at least $123 million for climate research -- funding needed to assess our vulnerability to climate disruptions and to develop the tools needed to adapt to climate extremes.
3.Eliminating forest planning that keeps the damage caused by offroad recreational vehicles under control. This impairs public safety for all national forest users and threatens drinking water resources, big game species, and other key resources.
4.Eliminating the EPA’s authority to hold polluters accountable when they foul our air and poison our water.
5.Closing National Parks and Wildlife Refuges.
6.Cutting back on forest rangers, youth outdoor education, and law enforcement.
7.Limiting access to hunting and fishing – slashing the local jobs those activities create. Putting off maintenance projects, fighting invasive plants, restoration work, timber cutting, and managing wildfire.
8.Putting off maintenance projects, fighting invasive plants, restoration work, timber cutting, and managing wildfire.
9.Preventing federal agencies from moving forward with their responsibility to protect wild lands, wildlife habitat, and watersheds.
10.Eliminating the Department of Interior’s ability to inventory, monitor and protect potential new Wild Lands (Wilderness areas).
11.Failure to adequately fund the Legacy Roads and Trails Remediation Program, which would threaten drinking water supplied to 66 million people. The cut could also eliminate up to 2,500 jobs. The program funds road and trail improvements, maintenance work and road removal projects that improve the health of local watersheds.
12.Revoking the President’s ability to keep our wild places safe by using the Antiquities Act, which has protected iconic places like the Grand Canyon.
13.Weakening of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). NEPA is the most important conservation law that ensures that federal agencies take a careful look at the effects of their actions on the environment and that the public has an opportunity to provide input and information to federal decision makers. Without NEPA, the public’s ability to protect their communities would be largely silenced.
The linked page provides an opportunity for you to express your concerns to your legislators. Take advantage of it.
Monday, February 14, 2011
The Frankenstein syndrome
This semester, I'm helping out in a special topics class for our Honors Program which we call Science and Literature. We're investigating the interface between those two divergent aspects of human endeavor, and why the relationship so often appears antagonistic. We started with a reading of C.P. Snow's 1959 lecture The Two Cultures, and followed that up with an investigation of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. In that light, I thought the guys might be interested in this offering by Phillip Ball from New Scientist...
The Frankenstein syndrome: Why fear making humans? - life - 14 February 2011 - New Scientist
It discusses the reluctance of many to welcome new reproductive technology, relating it to mythological and literary depictions of human-making. As we've discussed in class, these inevitably end badly. Why is that? Does it reflect some deep wisdom, Kass' "wisdom of repugance"? Or does it just make for a better story?
The Frankenstein syndrome: Why fear making humans? - life - 14 February 2011 - New Scientist
It discusses the reluctance of many to welcome new reproductive technology, relating it to mythological and literary depictions of human-making. As we've discussed in class, these inevitably end badly. Why is that? Does it reflect some deep wisdom, Kass' "wisdom of repugance"? Or does it just make for a better story?
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