Saturday Morning, April 6, 2019, T+94, Part 3 -- More Meanderings -- Nothing About The Bakken

Immigration: I find the southern border immigration immensely fascinating. FDR said the only thing to fear was fear itself. Now that some time has passed, and I am able to put the southern surge into perspective, I am no longer fearful. I don't think it even bothers me any more. Why am I not concerned/worried? Except for President Trump, no US government politician currently in office seems to be concerned. And now, even President Trump, seems less concerned. He is giving Mexico another year -- which means he has dropped the subject completely -- to stop the caravans. LOL. If the citizens of California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas are not concerned, should anyone be concerned? Some of these states, notably California have gone so far as to provide sanctuary cities and I think I read somewhere that California was even considering going the full Monty, becoming a sanctuary state. There will be winners and losers, to be sure, but I think much of the outcome will turn out to have been counter-intuitive. If that makes sense.

Federal gasoline tax: lots of talk. It will be interesting to follow. Apparently "everyone" in Washington, DC, including President Trump supports it. A gasoline tax: the most regressive tax out there. 

NPR -- the never-ending story: I very, very, very seldom listen to NPR but on Saturday mornings when driving into work there is absolutely nothing on the radio that is worth my attention, so pushing the pre-set buttons (NPR is a pre-set button for my wife) I sometimes accidentally tune into NPR.

It may be only me but it certainly seems like PBS (television) and NPR (radio) are having huge budgetary / financial problems. In the old days, it seemed either had fund-raising campaigns only twice a year. Now, it seems the fund-raising is never-ending. This morning, yes, NPR is back to fund raising. LOL And I swear NPR was fund raising just a couple of months ago. And even when NPR is not fund-raising 24/7, they have these on-going raffles. Here in north Texas: $100 for a chance to win a cruise. Only 1700 tickets available. $170,000 seems a pittance. That hardly covers the annual salary of the director's assistant's secretary. And, oh by the way, that particular contest was extended by a week or so -- obviously they did not sell anywhere near the original allotment of 1700 tickets. I assume the cruise line is "donating" the one cruise to the lucky winner.

Measles: so far, 15 states.

From January 1 to March 28, 2019, 387 individual cases of measles have been confirmed in 15 states. This is the second-greatest number of cases reported in the U.S. since measles was eliminated in 2000. The states that have reported cases to CDC are Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Texas, and Washington.

One can add Indiana to the list -- first case reported in today's news. New Mexico? Not on the list, so far. So we know it has nothing to do with the southern surge. LOL.

This will be great for physicians in training -- getting to see something they've only read about. I wonder if ObamaCare "covers" measles?

Smallpox: eradicated years ago. Specimens in only "two labs." If one wants to worry about something, that's something to worry about.

Hurricanes: researchers (and if it's NOAA, I use the term loosely), predict a "below-average" hurricane season this year.

Dinosuars: wow, that Bowman - Marmath metroplex story does not quit -- is Bowman/Marmath a metroplex or should we refer to them as the Twin Cities? Whatever. The other day a writer suggested the dinosaur story coming out of North Dakota was very likely a scam / a hoax / a fake story because we all know that "researchers" (and again I use the term loosely) scam the NEA for research grants and this guy made up this story to get research money. It turns out the reader may be correct. Here, from one of my favorite sites:

It’s a fun read, though some scientists have been expressing skepticism—perhaps borne of jealousy?

The research hasn’t been published yet in a peer-reviewed journal!

What—do we need to replicate an asteroid strike to be sure? But beyond scientific nit-picking, you just knew some liberal fossils would give the dinosaurs a run for their money in the going-extinct department. Today’s Nature magazine summary offers this short item about the article:

Scientists greeted the news with astonishment and scepticism, reports Science — partly because the big claims about dinosaurs made in the New Yorker piece have yet to be published in a scientific paper. Some have raised concerns about cultural sensitivity, saying the story has been reported as one of a white ‘Indiana Jones-like’ character in the “lonely expanses” of North Dakota, obfuscating the existence and knowledge of the Indigenous people whose ancestral territory it is. [What! You have to be fricking kidding me.]

Peer-reviewed articles: speaking of a research project not published in a peer-reviewed journal, that was the same story with the original Leigh Price paper that correctly predicted the potential of the Bakken formation. That study was never published and will probably never be published, certainly not by Leigh Price, in any peer-reviewed journal at least not on Earth.