Forget the good 'ole days, the yester-years, or any other romanticized time period just before antibiotics. As a geologist, I'd like to go back to the Paleozoic Era. What could possibly be better than getting to see complex life first emerge from primordial algal ooze?
Life unquestionably began in a series of blockbuster pyrotechnics and chemical reactions flashier than any Olympic ceremony. (Perhaps nearby aliens charged admission and sold the broadcasting rights for a mere planet or two? Perhaps not.) Since I couldn't have afforded the cover charge, it's probably a good thing I missed the show by five or six hundred million years.
If I can't vacation in the Paleozoic, I can at least console myself with a much cheaper version of planetary Dish on Demand. The super-low installation fee equal to one rock hammer fits my budget, and natural sedimentation records Earth processes automatically. Unfortunately, we geologists haven't figured out where the remote control is buried, so some episodes are missing--like Gone with the Dinosaurs, Part 3 of 3.
Perhaps one of the most shocking things about biological evolution is that it really does occur in episodes. The successes and failures of species are highly punctuated; only a tiny fraction are prolific enough to make guest appearances in Earth's lithic script. Even then, for better or worse, their tales run like Hollywood pilot episodes. Most of them don't make it, and stardom is ultra-rare.
When friends ask me what I think about global warming, I'm forced to admit I see life as miraculous and fragile. The boundaries of geologic periods are usually defined by mass extinctions, and there are lots of them: the Cambrian, Ordovician, Silurian, Devonian, Carboniferous, Permian, Triassic, Jurassic, Cretaceous, Paleogene, Neogene, and my favorite--the Holocene--which, thankfully, does not yet have an upper boundary.
Death is so frequent it's a convenient tool for delineating Earth's stratigraphy. For geologists, it's a sobering perspective. But really, why should anyone else care? It's not like we're even remotely related to trilobites or woolly mammoths, right?
Sadly, we humans don't even have the physical durability of cockroaches. We might be adaptable; we've invented many wonderful things like air conditioners and heaters, and I love them. But we have yet to prove our adaptability on a global scale--a comfy living room can't shake a stick at a comfy atmosphere. And it's the atmosphere we need to survive.
Ironically, I often beg my progressive friends to try to keep their Earthnocentric bias in check--to avoid the "keep the Earth healthy" terminology and the worship of all things "natural." To a geologist, the slogan sounds like, "Make sure you keep this bucket of rocks nice and clean or the mud stones might get sick." Instead, it's critical we turn our focus to the survival of our species, and those upon which we depend--probably most of them.
Still, Earthnocentric bias is rooted in intelligence and good, hard work. Many conservative leaders, on the other hand, make me furious when they say, "Phooey on global warming--climate change is natural. What's not to like?" This reaction speaks to the other problem with Earthnocentrism...
Other than the fact that cyanide is natural, Earthnocentrism's organic focus unwittingly helps derail environmental reform. It can't be denied that our climate naturally fluctuates, and conservatives love to point it out. In doing so, they shove the discussion way, way off track. It doesn't matter at all if climate change is natural. Just for the sake of argument, let's assume that much of it is. Does that mean we should help it? Accelerate it? Bring a quicker end to the Holocene with machines that amplify the effect? They've got to be kidding.
In general, geologists are very cautious about raising alarm bells. They're trained in collegiate infancy to understand the human and financial fallout caused by predicting volcanic eruptions that don't happen, not to mention other disasters. So when climate scientists speak up, I listen.
We owe it to our species to do whatever it takes to keep our climate safe for people. If that means fighting warming trends, natural or otherwise, then so be it. I'd much rather fight planet Earth than go extinct.
I still dream of visiting the Paleozoic at the very moment life bursts forth with diversity and vigor. I imagine the first ferns opening their fronds; the first fish discovering their fins; the first corals building their homes out in the open ocean. You might call me Earthnocentric, too.
~Elizabeth A. Scott
(P.S. Have you seen the remote?)
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Dan Kristiansen's Tyrannosaurus Tax
Let's face it, nobody likes taxes. In popularity, they rank just below tetanus shots, mammograms, and waking up to discover your spouse stole all the covers. And no public official has ever gotten away with pretending otherwise.
As much as we despise taxes, we know we need them, just like vaccines. Our survival depends on them. Crumbling roads--bootless firefighters--starving, uneducated children are just not an option. Therefore I must ask... Why are Tea Parties so popular, when they make about as much sense as Tetanus Shot Soirees?
First, there's Dan Kristiansen, a WA State Representative who loves the idea that all taxes ultimately coalesce into a Tyrannosaurus Tax; an evil entity lurking under boys' and girls' beds. The fear is obviously self-serving... (Vote for me, I'll keep the Tyrannosaur at bay.) On the other hand, Americans have always been legitimately divided about how much power to give government.
Right now, Tea Party organizers are playing to America's nostalgia for revolutionary history. When I see signs in my neighborhood advertising "Tee" Parties, though, I get a little suspicious about their historical dedication. And playing with revolution is a very dangerous game--it, too, has sharp teeth, and worse--a realistic potential for violence.
Yet, Tea Party activists illustrate something important; something we cannot ignore. Our taxes must be the will of the people, not the will of a disembodied government. The minute we think government is acting without our consent--bloody, ugly, revolution looks attractive. And "powerless" is exactly how conservatives in my neighborhood describe themselves. Does that mean they're weak, whiny people? Sadly, no. It means something's wrong, and we'd all better get to work.
The Tyrannosaurus Tax myth cannot take hold in a free society empowered with self government. That's why we must acknowledge a very uncomfortable truth, that we're nowhere near as free as we should be. Until now, our democracy has depended upon a great many things: our right to vote, our right to run for public office, freedom of the press, the peaceful transfer of power from party to party, access to education, free speech.
Today, the machinery of our democracy is so overdue for maintenance; it's easy to understand why citizens feel powerless. Police roadblocks prevent minority voters from getting to the polls; high campaign price tags prohibit good citizens from running for office; our media is free, but consolidated; and most of all, our public education system is failing to inspire young adults to read, vote, get involved, and question.
These problems are the true seeds of the Tea Party movement, of revolution, even if the activists themselves don't realize it. We need to acknowledge them, to understand how urgent it is to shore up the fragile cornerstones of our government "for the people, by the people."
Generating new ideas for education, campaign finance reform and more, is really hard--no question--and taking flak for something innovative feels worse than mammogram squeezers straight from the freezer. But we're at a turning point in history.
We're being led by our first-ever minority President through the fires of economic crisis, war, and civil unrest. We have a unique opportunity to use the heat to forge great ideas, to kick Tyrannosaurus Tax in the butt. Let's do it.
~Elizabeth A. Scott
As much as we despise taxes, we know we need them, just like vaccines. Our survival depends on them. Crumbling roads--bootless firefighters--starving, uneducated children are just not an option. Therefore I must ask... Why are Tea Parties so popular, when they make about as much sense as Tetanus Shot Soirees?
First, there's Dan Kristiansen, a WA State Representative who loves the idea that all taxes ultimately coalesce into a Tyrannosaurus Tax; an evil entity lurking under boys' and girls' beds. The fear is obviously self-serving... (Vote for me, I'll keep the Tyrannosaur at bay.) On the other hand, Americans have always been legitimately divided about how much power to give government.
Right now, Tea Party organizers are playing to America's nostalgia for revolutionary history. When I see signs in my neighborhood advertising "Tee" Parties, though, I get a little suspicious about their historical dedication. And playing with revolution is a very dangerous game--it, too, has sharp teeth, and worse--a realistic potential for violence.
Yet, Tea Party activists illustrate something important; something we cannot ignore. Our taxes must be the will of the people, not the will of a disembodied government. The minute we think government is acting without our consent--bloody, ugly, revolution looks attractive. And "powerless" is exactly how conservatives in my neighborhood describe themselves. Does that mean they're weak, whiny people? Sadly, no. It means something's wrong, and we'd all better get to work.
The Tyrannosaurus Tax myth cannot take hold in a free society empowered with self government. That's why we must acknowledge a very uncomfortable truth, that we're nowhere near as free as we should be. Until now, our democracy has depended upon a great many things: our right to vote, our right to run for public office, freedom of the press, the peaceful transfer of power from party to party, access to education, free speech.
Today, the machinery of our democracy is so overdue for maintenance; it's easy to understand why citizens feel powerless. Police roadblocks prevent minority voters from getting to the polls; high campaign price tags prohibit good citizens from running for office; our media is free, but consolidated; and most of all, our public education system is failing to inspire young adults to read, vote, get involved, and question.
These problems are the true seeds of the Tea Party movement, of revolution, even if the activists themselves don't realize it. We need to acknowledge them, to understand how urgent it is to shore up the fragile cornerstones of our government "for the people, by the people."
Generating new ideas for education, campaign finance reform and more, is really hard--no question--and taking flak for something innovative feels worse than mammogram squeezers straight from the freezer. But we're at a turning point in history.
We're being led by our first-ever minority President through the fires of economic crisis, war, and civil unrest. We have a unique opportunity to use the heat to forge great ideas, to kick Tyrannosaurus Tax in the butt. Let's do it.
~Elizabeth A. Scott
Friday, April 9, 2010
Hot Astronaut Babes Fight Over Lipstick, Crash Space Shuttle
On Monday morning, April 5th, seven brave astronauts climbed aboard 1,387,457 lbs of liquid oxygen, 234,265 lbs of liquid hydrogen, and struck a match. They rode a fireball into orbit, tumbled the space shuttle, Discovery, end over end in a difficult gymnastics maneuver, and safely docked with the International Space Station. Never mind the shuttle's broken Ku-Band antenna, or the missing insulation.
Three of the astronauts were women, and they joined a fourth launched separately in a Soyuz rocket. Monday's launch marked a new record for women--four in orbit at the same time. In a good way, it wasn't shocking news. But some of the (painfully unedited) comments posted to Yahoo!'s 4/2/10 announcement were quite the opposite:
Three of the astronauts were women, and they joined a fourth launched separately in a Soyuz rocket. Monday's launch marked a new record for women--four in orbit at the same time. In a good way, it wasn't shocking news. But some of the (painfully unedited) comments posted to Yahoo!'s 4/2/10 announcement were quite the opposite:
- "Oh, boy, catfight. Four women at the same time cleaning the capsule, got to be a fight sooner or later. Hope they are not steering that thing.......," (Bubbal).
- "Great. So now we'll get 3 weeks of work done per month ;-O" (Lightfoot).
- "...girls cant get along and are always in competition for male attention and wont focus on their work. and that is a really expensive mistake when they are trying to land and they are too busy bickering and putting on make-up to successfully land the shuttle," (Fighting Possum).
Conservatives argue that civil rights issues are old news, but comments like those on Yahoo! tell a different story. They yell, Hot Astronaut Babes Fight Over Lipstick, Crash Space Shuttle. Even more astounding, these comments generated 100 thumbs up in just a few hours.
According to KMB Legal of Washington, DC, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and related state agencies received 12,510 charges of sexual harassment on the job, just in 2007. That means it's more important than ever to support government representatives and candidates who make civil rights a priority.
Eleanor Walters is a clear choice for WA State Representative, pos. 1. As a member of Women to Women International, the Snohomish Human Rights Commission, and the Snohomish/Monroe Diversity Council, she takes civil rights seriously. She knows that astronauts, both male and female, are so much more to our country than hot babes bickering over lipstick. In fact, we all are. ~Elizabeth A. Scott
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