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Prologue: I want to give my bona fides on appreciation of the “US space program.” For as long as I can remember I have been a space enthusiast. I followed projects Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, Skylab, X-15, Space Shuttle, ISS, Voyager’s 1 & 2, Cassini and others in real time. Even though space publicists mention scientific research, they never go into more than the very least they can get away with for fear of MEGO- My Eyes Glaze Over. To its credit NASA posts annual lists of research papers with links disclosing research results from R&D conducted in the orbital environment. Here is such a list. Much of the research might seem arcane but it is important to realize that the practical value is likely to come later as others incorporate it into their subsequent research and product development. This is how R&D works.
A few words about Elon Musk’s plans on moving mankind to Mars. As everyone knows, Musk is actively engaged in developing space craft large enough, numerous enough and powerful enough to take a great many people to Mars. His stated dream for humanity is to transport a large number of people to the red planet to establish a permanent settlement- a sort of Earth 2.0 for humans. There is even fanciful talk of terraforming Mars for more convenient and safer occupation. This is a colossal job, even for a small world like Mars.
All energy produced and consumed on Mars will be electrical via nuclear energy, solar, or maybe wind (??) generation. Combustion as we know it is out due to the absence of combustible materials and abundant oxygen. Solar power generation will be limited by reduced solar energy shining on Mars and by the practical problem of dust accumulation. Thermoelectric generation from a Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator (RTG) has been the solution used on many Mars landers and deep space probes.
The best radioisotopes for RTG are alpha emitters. Alpha particles are +2 charged helium nuclei which cause a large amount of ionization over a short distance as it crams its way through matter, stopping in a short distance. Because they lose energy over short distances even in air, alphas require very little shielding, unlike beta and especially gamma radiation.
Betas themselves are easily shielded, but as they decelerate in matter, they can generate radiation called braking radiation, or bremsstrahlung x-rays, which are more penetrating. This is how x-rays are generated in an x-ray tube. Electrons impacting a target like copper generates x-rays. The effect is more pronounced in higher atomic number (high Z) elements like copper, but in low Z materials like plexiglass x-ray generation is much reduced. Consequently, beta emitters are commonly shielded with plexiglass.
The main downside to RTG is the low efficiency in converting thermal energy to electrical energy via the Seebeck effect– about 3-5 % currently according to most sources. So, for every 100 watts of thermal energy production, only 3-5 watts of electrical energy are available. This puts pressure on the supply of scarce radioisotopes.
On the good side of RTGs, they are stable, reliable and long lasting. Waste heat can be used to provide warmth for proper operating temperature in the craft or facility. The Mars lander Curiosity uses 4.8 kg of 238PuO2 to produce 100 watts of electrical power.
The deal with the devil you have to make with RTG power generation is that the best heat generating isotopes in terms of power density (watts/g) also have the shortest half-lives. For instance, 210-Po has a high power density of 140 watts/g but a half-life of only 0.38 years. It undergoes a 5.6 MeV alpha decay directly to stable 206-Pb, emitting a gamma only once in 100,000 alpha decays. Gamma emission poses shielding weight penalties and radiation hazards both in manufacture and operation in space. Even with no humans around, there is still the matter of electronic components that are sensitive to radiation. The more commonly used alpha emitter 238-Pu has a lower power density of 0.54 watts/g but a reasonably lengthy half-life of 87.7 years and minimal shielding requirements.
The background radiation environment in space by itself demands that shielding and radiation hardened electronics be used. Any added radiation from an on-board RTG only compounds the problem. The amount of shielding any given material provides is measured in half-thickness, not “full thickness” and is dependent on the type and energy of the particle. This value is the thickness of a specific material required to reduce the intensity to half of the incident radiation, not the total radiation emerging from the shielding material. This is because scattering can occur within the shielding material contributing to or minimizing the total flux. The point of this is that shielding only attenuates radiation to acceptable levels and not to zero.
238-Pu is a synthetic isotope that must be isolated from other Pu isotopes as well as a dog’s lunch of other elements in spent nuclear fuel or be selectively synthesized by nuclear chemistry. Isotopic separation of 238-Pu from other plutonium isotopes is difficult, slow and not the preferred method of producing it at scale. Nuclear chemistry that provides exclusively 238-Pu from a single transformation as with like 237-Np, offers a more productive route. This allows good old regular, valence-electron chemistry to effect the separation needed.
238-Pu is produced by neutron irradiation of 237-Np producing transient 238-Np with its 2-day half-life and subsequent beta decay to the 238-Pu. Chemical separation of the plutonium from residual neptunium is straightforward but, like all chemistry with radioisotopes, burdened by the need for radiation shielding for safety.
238-Pu is presently in short supply in the US. The Savannah River Site was producing “bulk” 238-Pu but was shut down in 1988. After closing of Savannah, the US purchased 238-Pu from Russia but the word is that Russia is short on it as well. In recent years other sites have been scaling up production where “scaling up” means producing in the several hundred grams to a few kilograms in a campaign.
In the RTG, plutonium is not used in the metallic state but as the oxide which is a ceramic or refractory** material like most heavy metal oxides. The plutonium is oxidized to 238PuO2, pelletized and clad in corrosion resistant iridium. According to NASA, this refractory form of plutonium is resistant to an accidental release in a variety of accident scenarios including Earth reentry and rocket propellant fires.
The Seebeck effect is not the only means of producing electrical energy from radioactive decay heat. The free piston Stirling Radioisotope Generator can use decay heat to drive a piston in a Stirling engine using helium gas as the working fluid. Waste heat is dumped at the cooled end of the engine and the linear reciprocating motion of the free piston is used to generate electrical power in the adjacent alternator.
The electric alternator is similar to the electromagnetic flashlight on the market. It works on the ordinary induction principle buy moving a magnet through a coil. You shake the flashlight to recharge it, causing the internal magnet to move back and forth through a coil. Shake it for 1 minute to get 4 minutes of light. The Stirling radioisotope free piston linear alternator operating in this manner can produce 4 times the electrical power of an RGT.
In 2020 workers Wong and Wilson at the NASA Glenn Research Center reported that they were able to operate a Stirling radioisotope power convertor for 14 years maintenance-free.
Off we go!
Some thought will be needed on screening potential migrants to Mars for age, various physical ailments, dental health, genetic predispositions, sociability and underlying psychological issues. A manic crew member could drive fellow crew members to a murderous rage over time. Such screening has been done with astronauts for a long time. I wonder if choosing to migrate to Mars isn’t a sign of some precarious psychological condition in itself, after all the likelihood of a return to Earth may be slim. It would resemble going to jail in some ways.
Over time, the masses of new Martians living in Muskville will have to decide on what to do with themselves beyond exploratory geology, meteorology and engineering studies of Martian accommodations. Mars is a big, arid and frigid desert with no breathable air. But it may offer a few choices for recreation such as spacesuit hiking and shuffleboard. The outdoor choices will be limited by the Muskvillager’s battery, heating and oxygen supplies as well as ability to get around.
Eventually, all manner of psychological, social and physical maladies will manifest in Muskville and will have to be dealt with. People will spontaneously form cliques eventually giving us-vs-them issues requiring mediation. Unless the New Martian settlers are sterilized, pregnancy is a near certainty. An entire book could be written on complications this would bring. The alternative is to limit the inhabitants to a single gender or to gay individuals- most likely a non-starter.
Death on Mars means that your remains will need to rest somewhere outside the facility. A fresh body will freeze stiff in the Martian cold and remain that way indefinitely. Digging a grave will require energy expenditure and digging tools. Cremation will consume considerable power and may be out of reach.
Something like a hospital with medical supplies and trained staff will have to be present. The few physicians who might be present will be required to be generalists with exceptional diagnostic and surgical skills. A full medicine cabinet to cover a range of maladies will be needed to support this.
As Muskvillagers age out, the range of health problems will widen and require care. Diabetes, cancer, dementia etc. will fade in and people will age and die. This will leave job openings and duties behind which will have to be filled.
In general, the conveniences of modern living will be seriously cut short for the New Martians for a long time. A supply line with Earth that can withstand politics, business failure and war must be maintained.
If I were planning a migration to Mars, I’d worry about maintenance and spare parts for everything. Mechanical things will break. Perhaps an orange-colored Home Depot module will hitched to the back of the lander and sent along with a load of duct tape, assorted bolts and screws, sealant, O-rings, hand tools and cleaning supplies. Don’t forget a few bags of peanut M&Ms.
Wherein I jump to conclusions.
The human capacity for folly knows no bound. Woven in with folly are variable education, emotional inputs and diverse belief systems. The migrants will carry religious and political predispositions that they may or may not reveal in screening for candidates. Friends and relatives on Earth will sicken, age and eventually die but access to a return trip to earth may be severely restricted or effectively impossible.
On reflection, establishing even a modest Mars base will involve large energy inputs. Getting to the surface of Mars with enough reserve propellant for the return trip, the establishment of shelter, oxygen and water supplies are the priorities. Beyond just surviving day-to-day, there is interest in the possibility of putting Martian minerals to use as building materials or even water and oxygen production.
There are indications of frozen water on the surface of Mars in certain limited locations. Where there is water there is the possibility of using electric power to produce oxygen. The hydrogen produced may have utility somewhere but its use for combustion seems unlikely due to the corresponding amount of oxygen needed.
Anywhere you have silicates, aluminates and metal oxides, you have oxygen. Silicon and aluminum both have a strong affinity for oxygen and as such represent a thermodynamic well requiring steep energy inputs for oxygen extraction from minerals. Even worse, many silicates and aluminates are oligomers, chain polymers or network polymers that render them insoluble solids with high melting points. Silicates, aluminates and metal oxides are all comprised of a central atom- silicon, aluminum, or a metal -that are electron deficient by virtue of being connected to oxygen anions. In order to liberate oxide from oxidized silicon, aluminum or a metal, something negatively charged needs to come in and displace the oxide species. Metal oxides like the iron oxides are very often refractory requiring high temperatures to react. Then there is a long list of oxyanions like sulfate, phosphate, hydroxide, chromate, ferrates, molybdates, titanates, tungstates, manganates, etc., each with metal cations. After these there are the polyoxyanions …
The point is that there are a wide variety of oxide species to be found in rock and soil with differing properties. In the end, a negatively charged oxide anion must be oxidized to produce molecular oxygen.
A thermodynamic well resides in a substance where atoms come together to form strong chemical bonds and release a great deal of heat into the surroundings. The same amount of energy that was released is minimally what would be needed to drive the reaction in the reverse direction. This bond forming heat energy is dispersed amongst the large number of surrounding molecules. The heat evolved in forming the original bond produces a high temperature locally, but as it spreads out each succeeding layer of neighboring molecules gets a smaller and smaller share of the original energy. As the bond forming energy release is spread over more and more molecules, the resulting temperature rise of the succeeding layers get smaller and smaller.
Newton’s Law of Cooling says that rate of heat flow is directly proportional to the temperature difference between contacting objects. The greater the temperature difference, the more useful work (heat and work are both energy) that can be done. Large temperature differences transfer large quantities of energy. Low temperature differences result in less energy transferred. As the heat spreads to the surroundings it produces decreasing temperatures as the heat conducts away and the ability to do work diminishes. This constrains the recovery of waste heat.
The diffusion of energy in this manner is what entropy is about- the irreversible loss of energy to the surroundings. If you are tempted to talk about entropy, consider that it has to be consistent with its unit of measure: Entropy, S, equals energy per degree Kelvin or Joules/Kelvin (J/K).
In order to get molecular oxygen from minerals it will require a great deal of energy expenditure per kilogram of oxygen. Not only that but specialized equipment and chemicals. Any oxygen produced will have to purified and compressed into cylinders.
MOXIE
The extraction of molecular oxygen from the abundant carbon dioxide atmosphere seems desirable and has actually been put to the test on Mars. A prototype molecular oxygen generator called MOXIE went to Mars on the Perseverance rover and successfully produced oxygen from carbon dioxide beginning in 2021.
The MOXIE oxygen generator is a solid oxide electrolysis device that operates at 800 oC and uses a stack of scandia stabilized zirconia ceramic electrolyte. An excellent source of information on MOXIE can be found at this Science site.
About 10 % yttria (Y2O3) or scandia (Sc2O3) will prevent the zirconia (Zr2O4) electrolyte from undergoing a phase change that causes the ceramic to fail at high temperature. From personal experience I know that scandia is chosen as a better diluent for zirconia because it allows lower temperature operation than yttria by perhaps 200 oC. The lower operating temperature with scandia allows for better sealing of the cell. High temperature seals are very problematic at these operating temperatures.
The MOXIE electrolysis cell uses a nickel coated cathode for reduction of the CO2, a ceramic zirconia/scandia electrolyte that allows oxygen anions to selectively pass through, and an anode where the anions are oxidized and combine to form O2 where it is captured. MOXIE produced O2 at a rate of 6-8 g/hr while on Mars. The process vents carbon monoxide waste as well as unreacted CO2 at the cathode where it is vented.
A limiting factor in operating MOXIE is the operating voltage across the cathode and anode. Two kinds of chemistry can occur within MOXIE. Carbon dioxide can be reduced to form oxide or carbon, depending on the flow rate of CO2 and the operating voltage. The Nernst voltage, VN, is the minimum voltage necessary to do the chemistry. At about 1.1 volts the cell will reduce CO waste biproduct to carbon on the cathode. This is called “coking”. Carbon formation on the cathode impedes the function of the cathode and reduces the output of the cell. The voltage for coking varies very little with flow rate.
The VN for the desired reduction of CO2 to oxide (O–) and CO at a low flow rate is around 1.0 volts and at high flow rates drops to about 0.95 volts or just a bit lower. So, the “normal” operating voltage range then would be between 1.0 and 1.1 volts to prevent fouling the cathode with coke. The operating voltage window seems a bit narrow. It was found that while a stable operating voltage could be supplied, the resistance of the cell was very sensitive to temperature making stable operation a bit delicate.
Pyrochemistry
Extraction of oxygen from lunar mineral samples has been done previously (below). All of the mineral samples were iron rich and gave yields of 2 to 5 % in the form of water. The samples were from Apollo 17 and consisted of ilmenite (FeTiO3), basalt, soil and volcanic glass. The process uses hydrogen at a reaction temperature of 1050 oC producing H2O. Presumably the water vapor is mixed with hydrogen during and after the reaction. The water can be isolated by simple condensation in the presence of the hydrogen.
Reduction of Ilmenite: FeTiO3 + H2 — > Fe + TiO2 + H2O
by Carlton C. Allen
Lockheed Martin Engineering and Sciences Co.
To use the process described above, high temperature is required for the hydrogen reduction in a refractory vessel. This requires considerable electrical energy input to heat the thermal mass of the vessel and the regolith. Spent material will have to be removed and discarded. Perhaps the heat can be recovered for general facility heating. Oh yes, the recovered water will need to be electrolyzed to produce molecular oxygen and hydrogen. This process will use plenty of electric power as well as for the compressors to store the O2 in pressure bottles. In principle the hydrogen can be recovered for reuse in the hydrogenation vessel.
The above process applied to ilmenite produces metallic iron and titanium dioxide, a white pigment. FYI, ilmenite is a common raw material for high purity titanium dioxide production. It is high purity because the titanium dioxide is prepared from titanium tetrachloride which is isolated by distillation from the ore matrix after fluidized bed chlorination.
The first Martian settlers will have to bring every single thing necessary to live on the planet. That includes launching it and landing it on the surface intact. Landing on Mars is tricky because the atmosphere is too thin to provide much aerobraking. The Martian surface pressure is the same as the Earth’s at 80,000 ft altitude and the temperatures are frigid.
Let’s say we successfully land a crew and set up housekeeping. What are they going to do with their time? These missions are supposed to last about 2 years including a lengthy transit time. They can collect various kinds of data on Martian geology and weather and send it back to earth. Somebody will get publications out of it. Eventually, somebody will decide that there must be other things to do besides geology and meteorology. Naturally there will be much ongoing R&D on the pragmatics of living on a remote Martian outpost in a crowded pressure can.
Eventually, the question of what non-research living will look like. Shelter will need construction from some kind of materials. Every new section of shelter will need to be airtight and equipped with environmental controls, sanitation and power. Bulkheads between sections will need to be in place to isolate calamities.
Support staff will be needed one day to provide critical services and perform facilities maintenance. This would also include medical staff, emergency care, food & sanitary support, electronics and IT support and administrative staff for the inevitable paperwork. The lander will need rocket engineers for upkeep and repairs to assure launch reliability for the return trip. Do rockets exist that can sit for a year fueled and then reliably launch and insert into a trajectory back to Earth? There are many, many problems to be resolved in many areas.
After some period of time, a crime will happen on Mars. It could be petty theft, assault or even murder. Someone will have to be appointed to look after law and order. An astronaut-sheriff, sergeant at arms or just the po-leese. What kind of due process will be available to a suspect in a Martian colony? Guns will be too risky to have in the settlement given that a bullet could pass right through a bad guy and rip through the structure creating a leak.
On earth, doing independent research requires getting academic credentials, finding a position, grading exams for goddammed freshman chemistry, executing an R&D program, and then going home every day to refresh and have a social life. Imbedded in all of this we have courtships, marriage, mortgages, babies and divorce. We manage the ten thousand details of modern life and interact with our families and social networks. We mourn those we lose and celebrate our achievements. We enjoy good health and suffer injury and sickness and eventual death.
On Mars, the equation will be a bit different. Many of the above life elements will apply, but from a great distance. Instead, we will be confined to a small space with an unchanging group of fellow crew members. The distance to Earth from Mars is constantly changing and there will be a period absent any communication when the earth is behind the sun.
Eventually, research on living in space or on Mars will wind down to minutae if it hasn’t already and people will have to find other things to do. The funding for living off-world will have to switch from R&D to … what, a lifestyle?
I wonder if there will ever be room for commerce and jobs on Mars. I can see running a canteen or restaurant for profit but stocking them with earth supplies will be prohibitively expensive and infrequent.
What joy can there be living in a pressure can on a hostile planet? What few hermit-astronauts there may be might find it acceptable if they never need a dentist. Perhaps dentures or implants should be routinely fitted to all visitors to Mars.
The second stage of Mars exploration will have to ramp up progress on sustainability. Using Martian soil as raw materials for construction and for crops. As the Martian population rises beyond the first few rotating crews, what will the immigrants do with their time in can-living on a hostile world? Would going to Mars to lead an utterly confined life with nothing to do be an attractive draw?
Epilog
I think that settling on Mars is not such a great idea overall and specifically would be wasteful of resources that should be applied to the rehabilitation of the biosphere on our home world. It would somewhat resemble living on the Amundson-Scott Station on the south pole but without the benefits of breathable air or supplies regularly shipped in. Further, the lack of radiation shielding on the surface of Mars will offer 40-50 times the background radiation as on Earth, not counting the occasional storm of angry solar protons the sun flings out now and then.
** NASA does not use the terms “ceramic or refractory” in its description of the 238-Pu heat source. This is my choice of words.
As I approach retirement in a year or so, I’m overcome with intrusive thoughts as I inventory my accomplishments and failures. Questions like “what have I done with my life?” or “why the hell did I do that?” are dangling in my consciousness more than usual. It’s normal sentient-being stuff I suppose. I never had the impression that farm animals agonized over such things. One lucky benefit of being a bovine.
I find myself disappointed over not having chosen a career path that might have led to a more impactful life. The closest I got was as a chemistry prof helping students get through organic chemistry. It was very satisfying and I managed to meet many wonderful students and faculty. Chemical science has provided a comfortable and intellectually stimulating lifestyle. One negative I suppose is that a chemist isn’t much good without an institution from which to practice chemistry within. Outside of an organization with no lab and no free access to Chemical Abstracts, how is a person to remain connected to chemistry? I guess you just don’t. Some say that a I could be an adjunct prof somewhere. But that is just being a hired hand in a school too cheap to pay much. I wouldn’t be surprised if they picked up adjuncts at Home Depot early in the morning for day labor. The poor sods would load up in the back of an old Ford pickup and trundle off with their sack lunches.
One of my faults as a person is a deficiency in recreation and doing vacations. The fact is that I’m perfectly happy at home reading or watching YouTube videos on geology, writing this silly blog, war reporting on Ukraine or following Itchy Boots. The problem is that guys who don’t stay active during retirement tend to die soon thereafter. I’m not ready to croak just yet so I decided to stay on for another year.
My memory begins in the early 1960’s. One of my earliest memories is watching the funeral of JFK on black and white television. Up until age 14 most of my time was spent on a hog, corn and soybean farm in Iowa. I grew up very aware of the US space program on television and was captivated by it. My father was a private pilot/farmer so airplanes were in our lives. I recall him in his friend Daryl’s Stearman buzzing our farm. They would drop a roll of toilet paper producing a long streamer of paper sailing to the ground and then fly back to the airport. We would go to flight breakfasts at the local airport where we would feast on pancakes, sausage and scrambled eggs inside someone’s hanger. Afterwards they gave kids airplane rides for a penny a pound.
My family still used machines like the corn picker above when I was a kid. For a kid interested in space, these machines made fantastic spaceships of the imagination when sitting in the machine shed. Why didn’t I try to be an astronaut? I did, sort of. I got a pilots license then entered Air Force ROTC in college in 1980. Between nearsightedness and a superabundance of qualified candidates with perfect vision from the Air Force Academy down in the Springs, the odds looked poor. My civilian pilots license was sneered at and valued as less than nothing, but I could train to be the GIB- Guy In Back, handling weapons systems and electronic countermeasures. While blowing things up could be exciting, what do you do when you get out? Naah.
Instead they tried to funnel most of us off into some missile squadron up at F.E. Warren AFB in Cheyenne, WY. It is an honorable slot for many good Americans, just not me. I lived an hour from there and had no interest in southeastern Wyoming or the Dakotas. There would be long stretches underground with someone authorized to shoot you if they doubt your sanity. The whole point of missileer training was to get the launch orders confirmed and the bird launched before the silo got cratered when Soviet MIRVs came sailing in from over the north pole. You can drive by missile silos in northeastern Colorado. Just don’t linger at the fence or a USAF vehicle with armed military police will pull up with considerable urgency and ask just exactly WTF you are doing.
A civilian commercial airline flying career in the 1970’s was complicated by the number of retired Viet Nam pilots who dominated the flying slots at the airlines, or so I was told. They had turbine engine time in complex, very fast aircraft and I had time with a 100 hp Lycoming horizontally opposed 4-cylinder engine poking holes in the sky at 95 knots. I was overly concerned about this I think.
Anyway, organic chemistry captured my fancy and I went for it. This was a constructive career whereas blowing things up was destructive. I chose the former.
Back in graduate school we had a postdoc in the group who was a chemistry professor on a 1-year sabbatical from the Beijing Normal School in China. He was a great guy, but like most professors, a bit rusty in the lab. One day a few of us were exchanging our respective backgrounds. When my turn came around I mentioned that as a child I grew up on an Iowa farm where we raised the usual spectrum of crops and livestock- Corn, soybeans, hogs, cattle, sheep, a couple of horses and 5 kids. He looked at me for a moment and then said “Ah, peasant!”
I was startled for a moment because I had never considered this description before. I had always thought of peasant as mildly derisive, but as I thought about it, he was exactly right. Our income was low and we subsisted on what we could grow and sell. We always had home grown beef and pork in the meat locker in town and apples, walnuts and canned veggies in the cellar. Summer evenings we would go to the lake, eat fresh watermelon while swatting the mosquitos and do a bit of fishing for bullheads. It was ordinary rural life like millions of others had. I was a young peasant boy.
Well, so what? As I watch Trump’s festering MAGA movement infect its way across the US and begin to spread and flex its muscles, I’ve been looking for the right words to describe it. For me, finding the right words for something has always been at the entrance to the path of understanding. Last night I finally found the right description- Peasant Uprising.
The electronic media tends to focus on MAGA people wearing their uber-patriotic apparel. My inner snark keeps whispering that they may not be on the higher end of the bell curve as far as smarts go. Many are attracted to QAnon and its bulging pantry of wacky conspiracy theories. It is easy to be lazy and make sweeping generalizations about idiocy, ignorance or stupidity. To be sure, there are highly educated people who are also aligned with Trump’s MAGA handwaving. Some may actually believe the conspiracy theories but others are just surfing the populist wave.
Throughout European history there are instances of peasant folk, serfs and artisans rallying together to put an end to the rigid control of landlords and upper echelons of society that keep them in poverty. Violence would often erupt and the rebellion would be put down or some compromise would arise. It didn’t always end well for the peasant class.
I’m not suggesting that what has evolved in the US since WWII is the same. But what has happened in the US is that the opportunity to accumulate wealth today remains out of reach for a large fraction of citizens. Tens of millions of citizens are living paycheck to paycheck with debt piled high, assuming they could get the credit to get that way. Inflation has pushed up prices across the board irrespective of whether or not business expenses actually rose in proportion to the inflation rate. An inflationary period is a great opportunity to raise prices because customers will go along with it. Prices are always what the customer is willing to pay.
What I am suggesting is that there is a large fraction of the population in the US who have been passed by as ever advancing technology is improving our way of life. This has created previously unheard-of job opportunities but only for those with the right education. Organizations have required 4-year degrees or 2-5 years of experience in the field. A degree may or may not have educated the applicant in the particular field, but it does provide a credible credential that an applicant can start a challenging task and complete it over set timespan. I would say that this credential is nearly as important as the knowledge gained in college in judging the fortitude and character of an applicant. Obviously there are exceptions.
Many people find themselves stranded in modernity without sufficiently strong credentials to advance with the times. Anyone over 25 might face the prospect of enrolling in college to get the right credentials for a new profession or just to advance. This is difficult for most people to pull off. Children and debt can totally shut down this option for them. My guess is that a great many of Trump’s MAGA followers fit this description. Thus the comparison with a peasant uprising.
The MAGA movement may remain mostly bloodless or not. They represent a large group of angry and dissatisfied people who have an extremely varied level of understanding of civics. Many hold unfounded beliefs that are nothing more than boat anchors holding them back.
Libertarian utopianism suggests that everyone has the option of starting their own business. Some can do this, but most will find themselves under-capitalized and with no properly zoned facility in which to work. Yes, some people do get by making burritos and cupcakes in their kitchens or doing handyman work. But the market is limited for these services. The reality of rent/mortgages and health insurance make the cash flow requirements difficult to meet.
As a former peasant boy, this is what I’m observing.
This is an updated re-release of an old post from Dec 10, 2010. I have applied a bit of polish and a spit shine, but not much. Since I wrote this, political correctness has morphed into wokeness.
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I keep hearing comments by conservative people who are obsessed by what they call political correctness. In these commentaries, some kind of sarcastic parody is made regarding an alleged trend to ban the use of the phrase “Merry Christmas”. Neoconservatives latch onto this like barnacles on the bottom of a tramp steamer. Inside their heads they imagine that a cabal of liberals are scheming to take their guns and their religion from them.
At the most recent liberal cabal meeting, we decided to let the gun owners keep their damned guns. There was a vote, however, where a proposal was made to require gun owners to take turns cleaning up the blood and guts after a shooting and to pick up the funeral costs.
Ok, that was a joke. Actually, we voted on something else.
If other liberals are like me, then not only do we not want to deprive them of their damned firearms and religion, minimally we would simply like to be out of shooting range.
Christmas has a secular component and practice that even a bitter, crusty, non-religious liberal like myself can feel comfortable with. But as far as possible insensitivity to Christians, they’ll just have to get over it.
In my limited sphere I don’t know of a single liberal who is trying to replace “Merry Christmas” with “Happy Holidays”. The only time I hear of it is when a conservative repeats it sarcastically as a token of disapproval. Only conservatives carp about this. It’s a red herring promulgated by that famous dead yapping cur himself, Rush whatshisname, in the name of ratings.
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I’m moved to comment on what makes some people liberal. A recent article in Slate was written by a conservative, Daniel Sarewitz, who seems to be genuinely perplexed at the apparent trend of scientists, or at least academics in general, to be liberal. It is though he is talking about a smallpox epidemic. While I have no idea as to the conservative/liberal ratio of scientists and academics, I can say that from my perch on a small and obscure branch of the tree of science, scientists tend to be overall a bit left leaning. However, make no mistake, there are plenty of conservatives in the group as well.
Indeed, many of the industrial chemists I am in contact with are libertarians, religious conservatives or just plain-vanilla orthodox conservatives. So, from my limited data set, Sarewitz’s complaint appears a little specious to me.
He probably refers to the life and eco-sciences, earth science, astronomy, big-time-physics, etc. I suspect that the balance is different in these fields.
But why would scientists trend towards a liberal viewpoint? I have some ideas. First, the scientific approach to the world relies on study, measurement and analysis. Scientists tend to study analytically or, to use another term, critically. Critical study of the physical world requires a willing suspension of belief. A formal education in science takes the student through many, many opportunities to see how scientific knowledge was acquired by successive approximations and sometimes led into fruitless cul-de-sacs. A scientist must keep a loose grip on theoretical viewpoints because experimental results frequently contradict fundamental assumptions. Fame and glory in science goes to those who tip over the apple cart of concepts and theories. All scientists are excited at the prospect of looking at something in a new way or bringing a puzzle into sharper focus.
“But, it’s just a theory …” I hear this ignorant comment frequently. A theory is just a model of a particular aspect of reality that is then strengthened or weakened by experiment. It is not uncommon for theories to be tossed aside in the junk pile when data or a better theory comes along. Science advances by successive approximation. One does not “believe in” a theory. It is not a “devotional” thing. You agree with it to some extent or you dispute its accuracy. It’s an “analytical” thing. A theory does not have to be completely accurate to be useful. Even a faulty theory may provide certain perspectives that are useful.
Many conservatives whom I know also appreciate study and measurement. Numbers people are greatly influenced by numerical data regardless of their political stripe. But in the religious realm there is often a trend towards devotional study rather than critical study. Devotional study is about finding a greater understanding of doctrine or greater fidelity with a catechism of beliefs.
Religionists upset with the notion of the separation of church and state often assert their right to be heard and to express their religiosity in public spaces. Some might take this as a simple matter of freedom of speech. And if that is all the religionists want, that would be fine. But if you look closely, they don’t want just speech, often times they want government endorsement of their doctrine. They want equal time in the public schools. They want to bring the civil sphere into alignment with their beliefs. “Go ahead and teach Darwinian evolution, but Creationism should get equal time.” Creationism is just a Christian conservative flavor of denialism. It is the denial of evidence in favor of a magical world of spirits and things that cannot be physically evaluated.
Religious services are about the veneration of the sacred. The word “sacred” means that which is beyond question or understanding. In a real sense, holding something sacred is to set apart a concept or doctrine from critical analysis. Religionists are not interested in a public critical analysis of their precepts. They are interested in broader devotional coverage, i.e., the fruits of evangelism.
It isn’t unusual for a liberal person to be compelled to do critical analysis of their basic beliefs over a lifetime. The very notion of spiritual sacredness is antithetical to one who seeks analytical truth. The policy that some belief systems are beyond analysis is simply a form of thought control and is more suited to the iron age than the present. Being a nontheist I hold human life sacred. I’m very partial to kindness too. But this does not require that I believe in a supernatural universe.
For a great many people, college is a time and a place for intellectual experimentation and exploration. It is a place where you can have chance or purposeful encounters with new ideas, people and careers that were beyond your previous horizon. The university is an institution where critical analysis of the great world systems takes place. The active examination and betterment of our world is the realm enjoyed by the progressive. Progressives push the boundaries of knowledge and thought. Sometimes focused analysis reflects well on our human or national institutions and sometimes it does not. But knowledge hidden is knowledge abused. That universities are loaded with liberals is a natural outcome of the youthful intellectual adventure the students are taking. It is a journey of discovery of the self and one’s place in it. It can be both joyous and a bit disappointing. New lands and new boundaries are there to be found.
The current efforts by American conservative Christian nationalists to scour out all traces of liberalism in education is worrisome and frankly, a little stupid. The assault on New College by the governor of Florida is a dark example of state government taking a giant step backwards by imposing one-sided political controls on a public resource. This in itself shows that American education has failed a great many people. America has generally failed in citizen’s knowledge and practice of civics and the long, troubled path of history to the present.
Just take a long look at the MAGA movement. Make America Great Again. When was this actually? If you look below the surface in any period of US history, you’ll find political problems and upheavals galore. There have always been social struggles in our history. Formerly venerated American Heros like Buffalo Bill Cody and the near extinction of the buffalo. General Custer and what he was really doing at the little Bighorn. Or the revered westward expansion with the Gold Rush and migration of the pioneers which were part of our celebrated manifest destiny. These were national enthusiasms that have been endlessly celebrated and woven into textbooks for generations of school kids.
The ugly truth to much of the actions of our ancestors is that a great many innocent people died as settlers began to occupy North America. Land was stolen, European diseases were spread, native Americans were murdered and robbed of their land and resources and their children were reprogrammed in government schools. Survivors were herded into reservations with little in the way of amenities or natural resources that we take for granted. Treaties were made and broken. This is also part of our history.
There is no benefit in self-flagellating ourselves over the sins of the past. However, what we need to do is to take note of the mistakes of the past and steer a better path to the future.
Do I believe that American conservative thinking and liberal thinking are equally right? Not at all. I’ll take progressive liberalism any day.
During a recent trip to Texas, I rented a car as one does. It was a 2023 Jeep something-or-other. What kind of Jeep? A white one. It turns out that I own and drive a 1998 Jeep Cherokee. Obviously, there have been continuous upgrades over the years. One of the “improvements” is the graphic user interface, GUI, controlling the radio, ventilation and navigation. Maybe some other things- I couldn’t tell. Annoyingly, the thing searches for your phone as soon as the car powers up and complains when it can’t make a connection. It’s the goddamned internet of everything slithering up around my ankles insisting on my attention.
At the risk of sounding like a Luddite, I have to say that I find the trend towards automotive graphic user interfaces quite annoying. Certain features that were once controlled by knobs or buttons are now controlled on the GUI. If you want to adjust the air conditioning while driving, there is no longer a knob to grab without taking your eyes off the road. A knob can be turned on bumpy roads without looking at it. A GUI requires that you make a precise finger contact with a screen and not have it slide around.
Auto manufacturers have known forever that car customers are like baboons when it comes to buying cars. Any shiny new thing on the vehicle will draw their attention and increase the odds of a sale. The GUI in a new car will attract customers like flies to a dung heap, they thought. The appeal of automotive modernism is a sure thing for car makers. It’s true.
The appearance of the GUI in automobiles was no doubt preceded by a highly focused sales campaign by the electronics industry. I can just see it. Conference rooms packed with C-suite executives watching slick presentations touting the inevitability of the automotive GUI and the excitement of customers swarming dealerships waving cash at the sales team. What a wondrous future it is that lies before us. How can we cram every bell and whistle into these blessed touch screens? How can we print money even faster?
I am making a stand here and now to keep the control knob and the button, well known by the ancients to be reliable and simple. So it was and so it shall be.
The GUI is something that I will resist until I move from being on the top of the grass to 6 feet below the grass. Ok, I guess I am being a Luddite here but I don’t care.
Colorado’s very own congressperson, the twice elected Rep. (R) Lauren Boebert of the 3rd Congressional District, was caught misbehaving during a theater presentation of Beetlejuice at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts the other day. Besides vaping and some very mild hooliganism, she was caught on surveillance video making out with her date. Like many others who have attended Beetlejuice, they couldn’t resist the urgent pull of their tingly bits. You may recall that Pee Wee Herman had a similar problem as well.
Let me emphasize that there is nothing wrong with making out, mind you. I know many who claim to have done this. After all, this was the true purpose of the drive-in movie theater in years past. Heaven only knows how many solid citizens walking around today were conceived at a drive-in. I think that the move away from bench seating in the automobile had a negative effect in this. But I digress.
Colorado’s 3rd District covers quite a bit of turf as you can see. Most of it is desiccated and somewhat vertical so the overall population density is low, thus the large size. A lot like Wyoming. There is a bit of agriculture but no real corn and soybean acreage like a proper farm state.
As with other western states, Colorado has a mix of folks of polar opposite politics who find themselves concentrated in separate zones. Running down the middle of the state is the majority of the population stretching from Ft. Collins to Colorado Springs. Nobody can decide if Pueblo is part of this corridor despite being on I-25. This is the urban corridor along interstate highway I-25 and west to the start of the Rocky Mountains. This band of settlement has for the last few election cycles voted majority Democrat and has driven state politics in the legislature and the governor’s office. Oh, and the House of Representatives and the Senate too. This includes the I-70 corridor running west halfway to Utah. There are scattered islands of liberalism like Durango smack in the middle of Boebert country. I feel for them- really, I do.
Some have tried to explain away Boebert’s behavior as being not uncommon for a refugee from that Fertile Crescent of sweaty redneck-ism, Florida. She is after all a pistol packin’ grandma at age 36 and close to being properly “deevorced.” Regardless of her background, she has lifted herself from the obscurity of the swamps to become a full-throated Centurion of MAGAstan. It is a real accomplishment.
America is now a place where audio and video tapes of titillating content starring national politicians will not lead to their downfall. Instead, they get an uptick in their popularity by rabid apologists who will make urgent whataboutism style counter-claims about Hunter’s laptop. MAGA folk cheer their politicians like people do at a professional wrestling match- with vigor and encouragement of more violence.
East of the I-25 corridor you soon encounter another conservative swatch of the state, border-to-border between two state panhandles- Nebraska and Oklahoma. This area has much more pivot irrigated farmland than in the western side of the state. Corn, wheat, and sugar beets are popular crops east of the interstate. Through what I suspect were underhanded dealings in the past, Oklahoma is said to have been paid to be a buffer between Colorado and Texas. Many will say that this was a smart move. (Relax- it’s a joke)
In Colorado we have two bookend corridor cities that are well known for their politics. Boulder, northwest of Denver, is to Colorado what San Francisco is to California, but without Silicon Valley or a suspension bridge. It is liberal progressive and a bit on the exotic side. The Hippie movement arrived in the 60’s and never faded away completely. In the 70’s and 80’s you could see ex-hippies with thinning gray ponytails tooling around town in their Beamers. No one bats an eye when weird news sprays out of there. It’s expected. Every state should have a Boulder. Look at Texas of all places- they have Austin.
Colorado Springs, on the other hand, is deeply entangled with far-right conservative Christian evangelicals. Add to this mix a large population of very conservative retired military and you have something very special. The city plays host to Fort Carson and the North American Air Defense Command, NORAD, deep within Cheyenne Mountain southwest of town. You can bet that the Russian and Chinese strategic commands have the exact coordinates of this facility. The US Air Force Academy resides in the forest north of town with its unique chapel jutting proudly above the landscape.
Located at the base of Pikes Peak, “The Springs” enjoys considerable scenic splendor and a conservative upper middle-class tenor. None of my liberal friends contemplate moving there no matter how splendiferous the place may be. It’s a cryin’ shame. This is the city where the wedding cake bakery went to the Supreme Court to protect their right to decline to make a wedding cake for a gay couple. They won. If I were a bakery owner who didn’t want to do business with someone, I would have given an outrageous price or a 12-month lead time or both with payment up front. There are easy yet subtle ways to poison an awkward business deal.
It will be interesting to see if Lauren gets reelected in 2024 given her antics. I have a nauseating feeling that she will be reelected given the demographics of her district. It’s one of those “she may be an idiot, but she’s OUR idiot” things that MAGAstan people can relate to. We’ll see.
The news cycle is presently focused on the meeting of Putin with a certain dictator of an impoverished nuclear state. Evidently, they agreed to hold hands against western imperialism and hegemony. That agreement just drips with irony about fighting imperialism. But it’s in the nature of dictators to claim to protect the state against the very thing they bring to their nations.
Having to stoop to sourcing arms and making nice with the waddling leader of the land of missiles and starvation must nauseate Putin in his reflective moments. But for now, he is tarting up the relationship as “statesmanship” with a former client state. Ok, maybe he’ll have to share secret rocket science technology and lessons in orbital mechanics with the tin-pot dictator of Asian Lilliput. Has to be done, I s’pose.
Over time, many of Russia’s institutions have been hollowed out to a husk by corruption and theft. Was this a symptom or a feature of Tsar Putin’s leadership? Maybe that is how you retain power- allow people to pilfer but rack-up debt to the leader.
At minimum, an influx of arms from what’s-his-name can only mean prolonging the Putin-Ukraine war. Putin’s people will do battle with garden tools if he so desires it. Ole Pootie-poot is just followin’ in the footsteps of Uncle Joe.
It’s very interesting. The post with the most hits on this blog is for one I wrote May 15, 2008, titled Neutron Lethargy: This Weeks Obscure Dimensionless Quantity. It receives hits nearly every day. Is it revealing atomic secrets? No, it does not. Here is part of it-
“Neutron lethargy, or logarithmic energy decrement, u, is a dimensionless logarithm of the ratio of the energy of source neutrons to the energy of neutrons after a collision: u = ln(Eo/E), or, u2-u1 = ln(E1/E2). So, if you plot a curve of E vs u (E = Eo*exp(-u)), you see an exponential decay of energy per unit collision showing that the greatest delta E’s of energy result from the early collisions.
Basically, it shows that in order to obtain thermal neutrons from fission decay neutrons, you have to contain them so that they can rattle around and dump energy before they fly out of the area of interest. As to the number of collisions that are needed? Well, that is a different issue.
Source- Glasstone & Edlund, The Elements of Nuclear Reactor Theory, Van Nostrand, 1952, p 146.”
Now mind you, this does not necessarily mean it was a glistening contribution to the nuclear zeitgeist of 2008. It’s more like the title attracted clicks. Excellence and clicks don’t overlap much. It shows that my intuition on what a popular post looks like is completely off.
I am going to bring up some observations that may be uncomfortable to many of my fellow citizens of the US. It has to do with the idea of “Greatness” that is frequently bandied about.
Definition: Bandied about
Phrasal verb; to mention something often, without considering it carefully. Source: Cambridge Dictionary.
Commonly, the word “greatness” is carefully chosen to swell the patriotic pride of American citizens. Swinging around the idea of greatness in public is often used as a rhetorical device to align people to a particular point of view. We are raised to see ourselves as the good guys. The use of “greatness” is a favorite buzzword of far-right conservatives to rub people’s noses into.
The conglomeration of US ultranationalist groups- a different name for homegrown fascism- along with Christian dominion ideology has produced a vocal a far-right political group who, on one hand demand libertarian-type free market dominance in lieu of government, while on the other sees protestant Christian reconstructionism providing guidance for a leading role in national and world affairs. The motivation is two-fold: first is to bring humanity under close Biblical law and the second is to prepare for the prophesied apocalypse and second coming of Christ. Many believed that Trump was to have a role in this. Imagine, the guy who invented DNA and set the galaxies spinning picking a bloviating wealthy-narcissistic-real estate developer-shyster-philanderer from Manhattan. Seriously? Something is wrong with this picture. For a preview of Biblical law, have a look at the bronze-age Book of Deuteronomy. Interesting as ancient history but, as a foundation for modern legal procedure, we can do a lot better going forward.
At the present time it is in vogue for the far right to parade around signaling their disapproval of US support of Ukraine in their battle against Russian invaders. Their grasp of history and judgement is sadly lacking.
- Some Republicans have stated that the funds and war materiel sent to Ukraine could be better used at home.
- Who believes that the Republican leadership would actually direct these savings to issues at home? Directing these funds internally for aid would be dismissed as “socialism” and ignored. Some insist that money that can be spent on Ukraine’s defense can also be cut altogether.
The US has seen much cultural achievement since our inception but sadly we have not been a universal force for good. Like everyone else, we have strengths and weaknesses. Sometimes we’ve been on the wrong side of history. Our treatment of native Americans from the very beginning was simply criminal. As if that wasn’t enough, an estimated 620,000 people died in a bloody civil war to shut down slavery, then we failed miserably at promised reconstruction. Women have long been denied equality and have received it only grudgingly. African Americans had long labored under the Jim Crow laws until only recently. Our government has meddled in the affairs of many nations in the Americas and elsewhere, with some of it blowing up in our faces (e.g., Cuba and Iran). We invaded Iraq in Gulf War II resulting in the violent death of hundreds of thousands of Iraqi citizens based on deception from the Bush administration.
On the other side, we’ve pushed medical advances like drug development and vaccination, brought food to the starving and saved millions of lives around the world. America has been generous with its growing base of scientific knowledge by publishing results obtainable from open sources. The American University-Industrial-Governmental research complex has produced wonders especially from WWII to this very day in everything from aerospace, electronics, pharmaceuticals and agriculture. The explosive growth of knowledge and technology in the 20th century is unparalleled in human history and the US has had a big part in that.
However, as comfortable as it may be, the theory of American exceptionalism has a few holes in it. Our practical capitalistic economics has some blind spots. Innovation usually moves forward only if a development has the possibility of creating profit and only if a small group of money people can be convinced of it. So, you say, this is just good sense. Why is that a blind spot?
Basic research is a hard sell to businesses. Stockholders must be convinced of a rapid payoff from the investment in discovery. It has been said that necessity is the mother of invention. This proverb traces back to Plato. If a business is plugging along making a satisfactory profit at maximum output, what is the motivation to rock the boat for a possible improvement? The answer is the prospect of even more profit via some improvement. But, what if that improvement would require something entirely new outside the capability of current technology and in-house resources? There is necessity but invention is out of reach.
While American industry has produced a tremendous range of innovations with in-house resources, it has done so greatly aided by the contributions of our university and government institutions. Universities provide industry with an educated R&D workforce, largely as a result of the application of government funding. Indeed, my graduate and postdoctoral work was supported by the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health. I have been applying my business, chemistry and synthetic skills to the operation of private business for decades. And so does everyone else in industrial chemical R&D.
Here is the thing. The government funds the research universities which produces R&D results and an educated workforce. Most of the published academic R&D is of a fundamental nature and in the public domain. Chemical companies make good use of this information as a basis for their own R&D for product development. Sometimes the process Development part is begun quicker because the Research groundwork is mostly done by academia. With this, business gets invention quicker and cheaper with less risk because someone else initiated the necessity (the investigator/professor) and government funding paid for it. This represents industry getting a refund on some of their taxes.
In the military aerospace business, the US military provides the necessity by offering contracts for equipment under stringent specifications. Meeting the specs usually requires that materials and processes be developed to meet them. This is an example of the government providing necessity so industry will provide the invention.
- A favorite notion in the US that persists is the “Greatness” of what has been a long period of leading financial and military power since WWII. Obviously, we in the US have a potent military and economy. The federal government plays a big role in these areas by supporting industrial and military readiness.
- The US was not the first to put a satellite or man in orbit or land a craft on the moon. It was Russia. The US entered into the “space race” to primarily to match the threat of USSR’s space program. The USSR and communism were perceived as an existential threat to the US. Advances in rocketry could carry people, satellites or nuclear payloads. Did we win the race to the moon just because the USSR failed midway?
- The US reacted vigorously to Albert Einstein’s warning of the possibility of a Nazi nuclear weapon. The Nazi secret program was under the guidance of Professor Werner Heisenberg. Rattled, the US put together a massive effort to beat the Nazis to the nuclear punch. Later, it was found that they were unable to produce a working nuclear reactor or weapon.
- After the fall of Nazi Germany, the US scooped up a few of their best scientific minds, certainly more than the Russians did. The US benefitted greatly in rocketry and aerospace as well as engineering and physics.
- The 1930’s was a decade of much advancement in the area of turbojet engines everywhere in the world but the US. We were late comers into turbojet engines. But post WWII we seized on the idea and did well.
US politics has been soured by a few extraordinarily awful people. I’m thinking of #45 in particular but many like-minded citizens have glommed on to his flying circus of bad ideas. Many people conflated business success with aptitude for governance. What they failed to consider was that a business is a type of dictatorship. It is not a democracy. It is run strictly from the top down. There is no bill of rights in business or first amendment. Trying to directly apply business experience to being chief executive of a democratic nuclear state is a fool’s errand. But, people still hold out hope for him.
- Trump sailed into office in 2016 partly on his credentials as a “successful” businessman and television personality. For many voters, he was “famous for being famous.” Voters made the extrapolation that if he is a billionaire property developer in New York City then he was “obviously” qualified to be a president.
What nobody considered was that #45 was the CEO and major shareholder of his many private businesses. Not having experience leading a publicly owned corporation, he enjoyed zero transparency in his business activities. As CEO of his private companies, he never had fiduciary responsibilities to public stockholders. A private company is a dictatorship where he thrived.
The allies won the Second World War for many reasons. What made the US stand out in that effort was the fact that North America was geographically isolated and was harder to bomb or invade at that time. The wealth of natural resources and industrial capacity in the US certainly enabled our ability to carry the war to the enemies. The notion of some kind of intrinsic moral superiority held by some is just a fantasy. The US had talented leadership and a workforce willing and able to stand up and be counted. This was not a uniquely American quality. Most nations can and will do this if resources and their leadership will allow it. Being rich in lumber, petroleum, steel and uranium gave the US a distinct advantage.
The US is an amazing country among other amazing countries, but there is much yet to do. My goal is to help sustain basic liberal democratic ideals and one of the pillars is simple kindness. Let’s back off on the self-congratulation and cultish adulation of a despicable billionaire and focus on the basics of operating a democratic republic under the rule of law and with equal protection for all of its citizens.
It turns out that I have no aptitude at all for ball sports or dancing. My long suffering spouse has been forced to dance without me. My natural athletic abilities are concentrated on my uncanny ability to jump out of the way or just standing back. This proclivity is rich in survival benefits. For instance, I’ve never torn a ligament sliding into first base or cracked my head on the dance floor. Nor have I ever taken an elbow to the eye in basketball. No abrasions or grass stains from flag football either.
I do rather like to watch rugby though. I admire the pre-game Māori Haka demonstration for its drama and its sincere invitation to rumble. Hockey is another one I can watch at the game. The puck is always in motion. Unlike baseball, with hockey or rugby something is always happening. Even if a rugby player is injured, they continue to play around the body. I admire that.
Baseball games are just too damned long, even with the new rules. Ninety minutes should do it. They just stretch it out for concession sales. Some folks like to guzzle $9 utility beers and gnaw on $14 slices of pizza to the sound of old timey organ music. I can go maybe once a season, but more? Nope.
Watching golf is a colossal snooze fest. I do enjoy watching chess matches though- even that is more exciting than golf. And the muted voices of the announcers as if they have to keep their voices low. Gimme a break. Golf is for idlers. It is a meaningless difficult task. I understand that golf is hard. I just don’t care. My conception of hell involves watching golf in church.
Basketball? If you can dunk the ball, the hoop is just too low. For crying out loud. Enough said.
NFL football? Good gravy. I just watch the last 5 minutes. The manufactured gladiator drama pitting millionaires against each other is just nauseating. And the guys delivering the play-by-play color in the background yammering on about failed strategy as if randomness had no part in it. With all of the rules, it is nearly a technology, not a game.
Soccer? Good grief. Need I say it?
Ok, time to come clean. It isn’t the sports so much as it is the immense crowds at these live events. I truly despise being in a crowd. In fairness, the crowd probably despises me back.
Lamentations on Chemistry 
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