The Moon and Mars over Indonesia

Not everyday I can catch the blood moon and Mars in the same frame.

Time Capsule: China, Health policy, Putin

Aside from yesterday's bestest tweet ever, there are other good ones all around this week.

Here's one on China's new CAPTCHA on all official government websites (h/t @RelevantOrgans):

....another good one on health policy:

...and a candidate for worst tweet of the decade:

/cringe

@mattyglesias of Vox has the final word on American tribalism:

— “It’s like the civil war except Americans are too lazy to actually kill each other”

Sheriff Clarke with the bestest Tweet of all time

Great spelling and capitalization.  Record-breaking double-apostrophes's.  Epic pivot from sports to abortion.  Kudos!

The world's plastic garbage problem, explained

If you don't believe the world has a garbage problem, scientists have identified a massive slurry of trash held together by the currents in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

1. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch spans twice the area of Texas

Research published in March 2018 edition of Scientific Reports shows the patch to be 617,762 sq mi in size, filled with all sorts of trash. An estimated 80,000 tons is plastic, half of which comes from discarded fishing nets alone. Even worse, from Earther blog:

"... what ends up in the patch doesn’t stay there. The [researchers] also note that sea turtles living in the region have a diet that consists of up to 74% plastic (no, that’s not missing a decimal). Other animals also consume plastic as it breaks down into smaller pieces. Those animals in turn get eaten by bigger animals. And because plastic is forever, it eventually works it way up the food chain and can even end up on our plates."

Most plastic ends up in the seas and landfills

2. China no longer wants the world's plastic

In 2017 China, which has imported 106 million tons of old bags, bottles, wrappers, and containers worth US$58bn since 1992, announced it would ban the import of non-industrial plastic waste.  Recent research by the University of Georgia calculates that by 2030, 111 million tons of used plastic will need to be displaced elsewhere -- as in, we've no f**in clue what to do with them.
Since plastic began its mass production in the 1950s, annual output has skyrocketed to 322 million tons in 2015.  The supply is only expected to grow, but disposal and recycling capabilities have lagged behind.  Currently the world only recycles about 10% of its produced plastic (and incinerates another 10%), so it's clear there needs to be a better solution.

3. Don't think about dumping trash in volcanoes/outer space/into the sun(???)

That's just a terrible idea with bad news and unknowns all around, so this is a non-starter.

4. Caterpillars may just provide the answer

Recent paper published in Current Biology showcases a species of moth capable of chewing up polyethylene, a particularly non-biodegradable and commonly-used type of plastic, at a rate much faster than previously expected.  Nevertheless, as the Economist warns, there remains a lot of research to be done:

"...whether releasing wax moths on the world’s surplus plastic really is sensible is not yet clear. For one thing, it has not been established whether the caterpillars gain nutritional value from the plastics they eat, as well as being able to digest them. If they do not, their lives as garbage-disposal operatives are likely to be short—and, even if they do, they will need other nutrients to thrive and grow. Another question is the composition of their faeces. If these turn out to be toxic, then there will be little point in pursuing the matter. Regardless of this, though, the discovery that wax-moth larvae can eat plastic is intriguing. Even if the moths themselves are not the answer to the problem of plastic waste, some other animal out there might be."

5. We need to push for change

Countries would need to take more responsibility dealing with their trash, or perhaps impose new levies and offer incentives to improve their waste management infrastructure.  Unfortunately, there is no leadership for multilateral cooperation in this issue, as the US and Europe are bending over backwards on other fronts, and climate change is taking a back seat for god knows how long.  China, as described above, has given up, so perhaps Russia can take charge?

We the people can do our part.  Use refillable water bottles.  Skip the single-use straws, like what Starbucks is doing.  Opt for the paper bags or bring your own bags at the grocery store.  These efforts are only touching at the margins -- kind of like saving $1.50 on coffee when you are paying $8,000/month for rent -- but never say that the increased awareness isn't worthwhile.  We need to push for change, even if we start with something so meaningless in the grand scheme.  

NATO Summit - in tweets

Eric Leviz from NYMag:

“Germany is a captive of Russia,” the U.S. president declared in a breakfast meeting with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, his first diplomatic encounter in the Belgian capital. “They’re getting so much of their oil and gas from Russia … It certainly doesn’t seem to make sense that they paid billions of dollars to Russia and now we have to defend them against Russia.”

Stoltenberg tried to push back on this assessment, saying, “the strength of NATO is that despite these differences, we have always been able to unite around our core task to protect and defend each other,” and “when we stand together, also in dealing with Russia, we are stronger.” 

“No, you’re just making Russia richer,” Trump retorted. “You’re not dealing with Russia, you’re just making Russia richer.” 

White House chief of staff John Kelly appeared less than comfortable during this tirade.

What's so bad about pastries and cheese anyways?


I guess an explainer is warranted (from David Frum):

Nordstream Pipeline

"President Trump has dangerously misunderstood (or refused to understand) the security concern for the Nordstream gas pipelines directly connecting Germany to Russia via the Baltic Sea.  The issue is not that the pipelines render Germany dependent on Russian gas, as Trump stated. Russia is even more dependent on German money than the other way around.    

No, the problem with the pipelines is that they enable Russia to turn off gas to Baltic Republics, Poland, etc. WITHOUT pressuring Germany - thereby severing Alliance solidarity in a crisis. The US was concerned about the pipelines in order to uphold NATO solidarity vs Russian energy pressure. Since Trump has made clear he despises NATO, his remonstrances on pipeline can and will be shrugged off.   

What he's performing this AM at NATO breakfast is a repeat of his 2016 "No puppet, you're the puppet" routine, accusing others of what is suspected of him: dependency on Russia, Putin. Does not fool anybody at the NATO table of course, but they're not the intended audience."

 The aftermath:

Destroying Bitcoin

Morgen Peck at the MIT Technology Review has a fascinating article, outlining three ways to completely destroy Bitcoin. This includes (1) government takeover of Bitcoin; (2) Facebook takeover; and (3) fragmentation.

In cases (1) and (2), Bitcoin is defeated by a competitor created by a bigger, more influential entity, than the original libertarian supporters (even with the help of billions $$$ of Chinese money invested into the space). In case (3), everybody starts making new ???Coins that cannot connect, and have no interoperability, with the original Bitcoin.

In a sense, there is no justifiable reason why the original Bitcoin should emerge victorious over Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, Litecoin, or any other coins that may not even exist today (Facebook Coin?  FedCoin? trumpCoin?).  Recent tech history is littered with followers that dominate over innovators, be it Windows over OS/2 Warp, or Android over Symbian, or MacOS over Linux; and those are just in the platforms space. 

Peck concludes:

"So under those scenarios, would there be advantage left to the original Bitcoin? Maybe it’s the one thing Bitcoin enthusiasts tout as the technology’s greatest strength: Bitcoin transactions are anonymous and impossible to censor. These qualities would disappear the moment transactions were yielded to the Federal Reserve, or to Facebook, or to a network of brokers coordinating the sale of bartered assets. [...] Early adopters have held fast to the dream of a single world currency that is private, free for all to use, and under the control of the masses. But the world's seven billion people not yet using Bitcoin might not care about any of that. With networks, convenience wins, and convenience is based on size. It’s the reason you’re on Facebook rather than some other social-media site—because everyone else is. If cryptocurrencies are to be widely used, it will be the habits of the masses, not the wishes of Bitcoin’s early adopters, that determine what becomes of Satoshi Nakamoto’s vision."

Don't use the "n******" word

Why can’t white people use the n-word, even as many black people use it, particularly in rap songs?  This complaint was most famously lodged by Darla Shine, wife of the incoming White House deputy chief of staff (she has since deleted her Twitter account entirely).

Ta-Nehisi Coates, author of We Were Eight Years in Power and contributing writer for Marvel Comics (Black Panther and Captain America), has a great explanation on the topic.  As quoted in Vox:

Coates first pointed out that it is normal in our culture for some people or groups to use certain words that others can’t. For example, his wife calls him “honey”; it would not be acceptable, he said, for other women [to call him the same]. 

The same concept applies to different groups and their words. “My wife, with her girl friend, will use the word ‘bitch,’” Coates said. “I do not join in... And perhaps more importantly, I don’t have a desire to do it.” [...]

Coates added, “The question one must ask is why so many white people have difficulty extending things that are basic laws of how human beings interact to black people.”  He gave a potential answer: “When you’re white in this country, you’re taught that everything belongs to you. You think you have a right to everything. … You’re conditioned this way. It’s not because your hair is a texture or your skin is light. It’s the fact that the laws and the culture tell you this. You have a right to go where you want to go, do what you want to do, be however — and people just got to accommodate themselves to you.” 

“So here comes this word that you feel like you invented,” Coates said. “And now somebody will tell you how to use the word that you invented. ‘Why can’t I use it? Everyone else gets to use it. You know what? That’s racism that I don’t get to use it. You know, that’s racist against me. You know, I have to inconvenience myself and hear this song and I can’t sing along. How come I can’t sing along?’” 

Coates concluded that white people should use this sense as a lesson: “The experience of being a hip-hop fan and not being able to use the word ‘ni**er’ is actually very, very insightful. It will give you just a little peek into the world of what it means to be black. Because to be black is to walk through the world and watch people doing things that you cannot do, that you can’t join in and do. So I think there’s actually a lot to be learned from refraining.”

"I blame Trump for laziness"

From the article:

'According to the book Trump Revealed: “Trump believed the human body was like a battery, with a finite amount of energy, which exercise only depleted. So he didn’t work out. When he learned that John O’Donnell, one of his top casino executives, was training for an Ironman triathlon, he admonished him, ‘You are going to die young because of this.’”

I didn’t want to die young, so I didn’t go to the gym.

Trump explained his exercise routine like this to Reuters: “I get exercise. I mean I walk, I this, I that. I run over to a building next door. I get more exercise than people think.”  I walked. I this. I that. Months passed. Then a year. Trump was going to be in power for another 1,000 years. Or at least that’s what it felt like. Could I really avoid the gym for the entirety of his presidency? 

I missed being strong enough to open jars and carry groceries. So, last week, I returned to the gym, slinking back in as if no time had passed. I hoped that by wearing a puffy jacket and MC Hammer pants I could hide my lack of definition – that I could pretend I had maintained my fitness on my own. At home, running to the building next door. On the couch. While tweeting.'

Don't wrestle pigs

“Never wrestle with pigs. You both get dirty and the pig likes it.”
           ― George Bernard Shaw, Irish playwright

Gender equality in Islam

Values: people may have different ones, doesn't mean they're wrong..

Amazing, lengthy explanation on Islam and gender equality.
Something off-topic.  Long article but worthwhile reading.

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Questioner: Sarah
Reply Date: Apr 24, 2017

Question:

On March 18, 2005 Amina Wadud led the first female-led Jumu`ah Prayer. On that day, women took a huge step towards being more like men. But, did we come closer to actualizing our God-given liberation?

Consultant: Yasmin Mogahed

Answer:

Salam Sarah,

Thank you for your inspiring question!

Well, answering your question, I can say that I don’t think so.

What we so often forget is that God has honored women by giving them value in relation to God—not in relation to men. But as Western feminism erases God from the scene, there is no standard left but men.

As a result, the Western feminist is forced to find her value in relation to a man. And in so doing, she has accepted a faulty assumption. She has accepted that man is the standard, and thus a woman can never be a full human being until she becomes just like a man—the standard.

When a man cut his hair short, she wanted to cut her hair short. When a man joined the army, she wanted to join the army, and so on. She wanted these things for no other reason than because the “standard” had it.

What she didn’t recognize was that God dignifies both men and women in their distinctiveness, not their sameness. And on March 18, Muslim women made the very same mistake.

For 1,400 years, there has been a consensus of scholars that men are to lead prayer. As a Muslim woman, why does this matter? The one who leads prayer is not spiritually superior in any way.
Something is not better just because a man does it. And leading Prayer is not better just because it is leading.

Had it been the role of women or had it been more divine, why wouldn’t the Prophet have asked Lady `A’ishah or Lady Khadijah, or Lady Fatimah—the greatest women of all time—to lead?  These women were promised heaven and yet they never led prayer.

Now, for the first time in 1,400 years, we look at a man leading prayer and we think, “that’s not fair.” We think so, although God has given no special privilege to the one who leads. The imam is no higher in the eyes of God than the one who prays behind him.

On the other hand, only a woman can be a mother. And the Creator has given special privilege to a mother. The Prophet taught us that heaven lies at the feet of mothers. 

But no matter what a man does, he can never be a mother. So why is that not unfair?

When asked who is most deserving of our kind treatment? The Prophet replied “your mother” three times before saying “your father” only once. Isn’t that sexist? No matter what a man does, he will never be able to have the status of a mother.

And yet even when God honors us with something uniquely feminine, we are too busy trying to find our worth in reference to men, to value it or even notice it. We too have accepted men as the standard; so anything uniquely feminine is, by definition, “inferior”.

Being sensitive is an insult, becoming a mother is a degradation. In the battle between stoic rationality (considered masculine) and selfless compassion (considered feminine), rationality reigns supreme.

As soon as we accept that everything a man has and does is better, all that follows is just a knee jerk reaction: if men have it, we want it too. If men pray in the front rows, we assume this is better, so we want to pray in the front rows too.

If men lead prayer, we assume the imam is closer to God, so we want to lead prayer too.

Somewhere along the line, we’ve accepted the notion that having a position of worldly leadership is some indication of one’s position with God.

A Muslim woman does not need to degrade herself in this way. She has God as a standard. She has God to give her value; she doesn’t need a man here.

In fact, in our crusade to follow men, we, as women, never even stopped to examine the possibility that what we have is better for us. In some cases, we even gave up what was higher only to be like men.

Fifty years ago, we saw men leaving the home to work in factories. We were mothers. And yet, we saw men doing it, so we wanted to do it too. Somehow, we considered it women’s liberation to abandon the raising of another human being in order to work on a machine. We accepted that working in a factory was superior to raising the foundation of society—just because a man did it.  Then after working, we were expected to be superhuman—the perfect mother, the perfect wife, the perfect homemaker, and have the perfect career. And while there is nothing wrong, by definition, with a woman having a career, we soon came to realize what we had sacrificed by blindly mimicking men.

We watched as our children became strangers, and soon recognized the privilege we’d given up.

And so only now—given the choice—women in the West are choosing to stay home to raise their children. According to the United States Department of Agriculture, only 31 percent of mothers with babies, and 18 percent of mothers with two or more children, are working full time.

And of those working mothers, a survey conducted by Parenting Magazine in 2000, found that 93 percent of them say they would rather be home with their kids, but are compelled to work due to “financial obligations.”

These “obligations” are imposed on women by the gender sameness of the modern West and removed from women by the gender distinctiveness of Islam.

It took women in the West almost a century of experimentation to realize a privilege given to Muslim women 1,400 years ago. Given my privilege as a woman, I only degrade myself by trying to be something I’m not, and in all honesty, don’t want to be—a man.

As women, we will never reach true liberation until we stop trying to mimic men and value the beauty in our own God given distinctiveness.

If given a choice between stoic justice and compassion, I choose compassion. And if given a choice between worldly leadership and heaven at my feet, I choose heaven.

Thank you and please keep in touch.
Salam.


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