Pacific High

Someone recently pointed out that the surface of the Earth is not flat. Also the surface of the ocean is not flat. Sea level along the West Coast is higher than along the East Coast, science says, by about 20 cm, depending on local conditions. 

Why does that matter?  

Mt. Whitney in California is listed as having an elevation of 14,505 feet above sea level. Should that be 14,505 feet plus 20 cm?

Perhaps not. I don't know how mountains are measured. There is something called "mean sea level," a useful average. Meanwhile the many sea levels keep rising. 

And the seas are rising steadily. As the planet warms, will Whitney lose elevation? 

Loser

Yesterday morning I was sure that Harris would lose. By evening I believed she would win. And so on. 

Are We Doomed?

In The New Yorker I read about a class taught at the University of Chicago called "Are We Doomed." The subjects were nuclear weapons and runaway AI, not Donald Trump. But we are faced with Trump. What if he wins? Many Americans will react badly to Fascism. 

According to a recent poll (?) Trump has been gaining lately and now commands 48% of the voters. It isn't Trump who might doom us, though. He's just flab with dementia and three personality disorders. Our Stone Age kin who love him are the problem. 

If Trump is elected, the saner half of  the country won't accept him or his posse. The fight will be on. 

We can expect the economy to collapse--even decent Republicans bring on recessions.  Eleven of the last twelve recessions happened under Republican presidents and their dangerous economic beliefs.  

President Trump will do everything wrong, and then the conflict to restore democracy may last 30 years. 

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Manly Men

Toward the end of World War II, my father and I were walking along the Long Beach Pike,  carrying sweatshirts. I tied mine around my waist. My father stopped immediately and taught me that girls tied sweatshirts around their waists, but boys tied sweatshirts around their necks.  He was adamant. 

To my knowledge, the secret book of manliness has not yet been made public, but I learned a new rule last week. A talking head on Fox called Tim Walz effeminate for drinking milkshake through a straw. 

Real men, we know, carry pocketknives. They enjoy fistfights in the street. I have been passable in those areas.  Also I had raised a wolf, which might count for something. On the other hand, I recently drank a milkshake through a straw. Quite recently.

Why Milton?

Hurricane Milton is bearing down on Tampa, and a news host asked a climate expert why some people still won't face up to global warming. The expert did not know. 

Most of us know.

We have among us people who get rich by ignoring climate change. Start with the producers of fossil fuels. Add those who manufacture something that uses natural gas or plastics or coal. Add people who make gas ovens or windshield wipers for automobiles that burn gasoline.  Add some contributors to political campaigns. 

It's about the love of money. Of course. 

Soften

Today I heard a well-educated reporter on television pronounce "soften" as "soft-Tun."

It's always the well-educated--they believe they are finally mastering elite English when they spot and pronounce a silent letter. 

I predict that in 20 years you'll be hearing this new pronunciation often. 

Vance

English is made up of rules, which Wittgenstein grouped and called "language games." Games are made up of rules. 

In baseball the batter is supposed to hit the ball and run to first base. If, instead, he runs directly to third base, he is not making a mistake--he does not know the rules of the game. 

Consider the baseball rule that allows someone who has hit a single to overrun first base without being called out. Why is that? 

Baseball used to be played outdoors in winter. The fields back east were icy. In winter ball a runner was allowed to overrun all four slippery bases. Today a runner can overrun only first base and home plate. Rules can change. 

In the army we swore allegiance to the Constitution, which is a set of rules we follow while governing.  The rules provide a framework for discussions and decisions 340 million people will accept. 

One kind of a personality disorder is a defiance of the rules that make your own society work. 

And that is why we say, "Fuck you, J.D. Vance."

Eat Up

Jeremy Hay reported in the Press Democrat that Eliza's Village, a key homeless shelter in Sonoma County, has cut the residents to one meal per day (often a salad). The goal is to prod the homeless to greater self-sufficiency. 

The residents report that it's hard to sleep on an empty stomach. 

Sea Level

Mount Whitney, the tallest mountain in the lower 48, rises 14,505 feet above sea level. Or does it?

According to science, the mean sea level is changing. The glaciers found at the poles are melting, despite what Republicans tell voters. The sea level is rising. If all the glaciers melt, the sea will rise 230 feet, and Healdsburg will be under water.  

I think the oceans are flat--and I have inspected both the Atlantic and the Pacific. But scientists disagree. They claim that even in the absence of waves, the oceans have, on their surfaces, small hills and valleys. 

Astronauts argue that our planet is a flattened spheroid. For some reason this shape causes a depression of 348 feet in the sea level of part of the India Ocean. (That must be wrong.)

Of course, land also rises and falls over time. Mt Whitney is rising about an inch every 20 years. In 240 years it will be 14,506 feet above mean sea level, depending on what the sea level becomes. 

I have read that winds, currents, river discharges and variations in gravity and temperature make local sea levels differ.  High and low pressure areas in the atmosphere change the surface level of the oceans. 

The sea level off San Francisco is about 8 inches higher than the sea level off Boston. Of course it is.