E.M. Schultz

Eighty years ago - close to Alamogordo, New Mexico - humanity realized twenty eight months of work. Engineering a device to squeeze metal so hard that it will fight the fundamental forces of the universe to not be in that state.

Three weeks and 3 days later, it would be used over Nagasaki.

GDPNow Provides a

Huh... it's almost as if alienating people who want to buy your stuff, firing people without knowing about any of the work they do, and acting like a cargo cult version of government isn't a recipe for economic growth and stability.

Who would've thunk it?

www.atlantafed.org/cqer/researc...

Russia is the nation-state equivalent of trailer trash. One and a half cities of unwarranted and undeserved self importance masquerading as a cultural force.

A culture so bereft of thought and originality that their best ideas were outright stolen from other, better, states and peoples.

Regarding today's news between the U.S. and Ukraine, I'm haunted by this quote:

"It takes the Navy three years to build a ship. It will take three hundred years to build a new tradition."

-FADM Andrew Cunningham, 1941

And for those who wish a reference:

constitution.congress.gov/browse/essay...

ArtI.S9.C8.4:

"No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State."

If foreign aid and education were net negatives in terms of returns on investment, then China would be quickly divesting from its Belt and Road initiative.

But they aren't.

After a mentally disastrous November of 2016, I kept a firm promise to myself and my friends. That rule, which I've kept to since December 2016, is to drink only in the company of friends. I haven't had a drink alone in 8 years.

But the current state of things? God damn do I ever want one.

In 11 days, the administration has done their damndest to kneecap the U.S.'s scientific and technical advantages.

If I were an antagonistic foreign power, I'd be scrambling to offer priority visas, research grants, and guaranteed employment to poach as many researchers I could get my hands on.

Six years ago I visited Vienna for only a day and a half. By accident, I came across the Judenplatz Holocaust Memorial.

Zum Gedenken an die mehr als 65 000 österreichischen
Juden, die in der Zeit von 1938 bis 1945 von den
Nationalsozialisten ermordet wurden.

Do not ever forget, especially now.

If you're going to follow Gandhi's principles to win people over to your cause, make sure your opposition is on the verge of bankruptcy and their base of support has been absolutely depleted from two of the deadliest wars in human history spaced 30 years apart.

Regardless of whether the story is true or myth, the origin of the Nobel Prize is a good parable. When Alfred Nobel was confronted with criticism, he made one of the most prestigious prizes on the planet.

When wealthy people are criticized today, they get pouty and act like toddlers.

It is incredible what can and will be achieved by sociopaths when cynical opportunism, zealotry, and profound cowardice collide.

Totally topical, but I can never forgive Tom Brokaw for popularizing the term "The Greatest Generation".

For a quarter century it has been a rallying cry and cudgel - hijacked by their coddled, immature, children to belittle and ignore the struggles of their own children and grandchildren.

Damn, I had dinner there with my mom on Friday. And the serious lack of restaurant options in Los Alamos will make this loss - even if it's temporary - especially hard.

ladailypost.com/lafd-extingu...

Sunset obscured by smoke and ash from the Los Conchas Wildfire - Jacona, New Mexico - 1 July 2011.

Sunset obscured by smoke and ash from the Los Conchas Wildfire - Jacona, New Mexico - 1 July 2011.

People insulated by age and wage will allow these tragedies to continue to happen.

However, we can stem the course... if we're willing to think beyond ourselves.

If we realize that we're a part of a broader community, not just islands of self-superiority.

If we stop acting childish.

Ash and smoke obscured skies some 20 miles from the hypocenter of the Las Conchas Wildfire - Jacona, New Mexico - 27 June 2011.

Ash and smoke obscured skies some 20 miles from the hypocenter of the Las Conchas Wildfire - Arroyo Jacona - Jacona, New Mexico - 27 June 2011.

Las Conchas burned an acre a second for the first 12 hours, ejecting burning debris 20 miles from the hypocenter. In the end, 243 square miles were obliterated.

The fire temperatures were so extreme that engine blocks melted and rocks exploded due to their moisture turning into steam. 2/

The sun obscured by a pyrocumulus cloud from the Los Conchas Wildfire - Los Alamos, New Mexico - 26 June 2011.

The sun obscured by a pyrocumulus cloud from the Los Conchas Wildfire - Los Alamos, New Mexico - 26 June 2011.

The primary pyrocumulus cloud column from the Los Conchas Wildfire - as seen from the intersection of 9th and Myrtle Streets - Los Alamos, New Mexico - 26 June 2011.

The initial pyrocumulus cloud column from the Los Conchas Wildfire - as seen from the intersection of 9th and Myrtle Streets - obscuring all light - Los Alamos, New Mexico - 26 June 2011.

I sympathize with Los Angeles. Thirteen and a half years ago, thousands of us in Los Alamos had to flee an unprecedented inferno.

Nothing gives you pause like watching a land you love turned to ash. And few things more angering than people saying the drought which scoured the land is a hoax. 1/

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It's been years since I've visited Tsankawi Pueblo. And did it ever let me know how it felt about my absence.

As the sun dropped, the wind and the grit yelled at me. Not out of anger or malice, but annoyance. Annoyance that, while no longer wearing the green and gray, I don't visit often. 1/

A sepia-tone image of a cat sitting on a carpet, looking towards the camera.

A black cat sitting on a blanket in a pet bed.

A black cat sitting on a blanket in a pet bed, looking towards the camera.

Cats. They can be difficult muses to photograph, but always fun from a technical perspective.

A picture of a cat in a squatting position, looking with curiosity towards the camera.

A cat in a squatting position, looking towards the camera.

New camera, who this?

I mean... that's just an immutable fact. Just the same as saying Soldier Field's 2003 renovation is an architectural abomination, or that Willis is a terrible name for the tallest building in the city.

But Chicago Style is objectively the best style of pizza. I will fight and die on that hill.

I do wish I could be a little more open with my opinions.

But I fully acknowledge the tenuousness of my current situation. I work in a regulatory environment that - despite the arguments by the public to the contrary - is brittle and could easily be classified as an unnecessary legal impediment.

Everything You Wanted to Know About TIME’s Person of the Year How the choice is made, how editors keep it a secret and why inanimate objects are eligible

Source: time.com/3626016/pers...

And to quote: "The criterion is 'the person or persons who most affected the news and our lives, for good or ill, and embodied what was important about the year.' A lot of news is bad news and a lot of people who make bad news are very powerful people. TIME’s editors aren’t immune to that reality."

With Time's "Person of the Year", remember these other Cold War (pre-'92) luminaries and their impact:

Joseph Stalin: 1939, 1942
Nikita Khrushchev: 1957
Richard Nixon: 1971, 1972
Henry Kissinger: 1972
Deng Xiaoping: 1978, 1985
Ruhollah Khomeini: 1979
Ronald Reagan: 1980, 1983
Yuri Andropov: 1983