Questions---Aliens---The Answer

    Wild mustard has painted the California central coast this spring.

     The pastoral settings are a "safe zone" to contemplate the profound most recent film from Paul Schrader, First Reformed.

      The veteran writer/director (written 24/directed 23) has given Martin Scorsese some of his best scripts and has directed films that carry impact; Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, Last Temptation of Christ, American Gigolo, Light Sleeper, The Canyons, Mishima:Life in Four Chapters, Rolling Thunder, Affliction, Dying by the Light, City Hall, Cat People and others. 

     In First Reformed Schrader wrestles with climate change, responsibility and theology. Yea, that's a heavy agenda, but he turns in a story that fully engages mind and heart.

     Ethan Hawke's portrayal is superb and as a minister he asks a question of our age-can we be forgiven for what we have done to this planet? For those who do not hew to a faith or spiritual cleave in how you regard life, the question can be reduced to what does it say about our intelligence and our regard for life. Atheist, agnostic or person of faith the question and the drama that carries it in First Reformed is valid and viable. 

      A character discusses his unborn child and recites likely environmental conditions on her 30th birthday. 
     "Will she look me in the eyes someday and ask, did you know this was coming? Did you know this would happen?"

     Schrader has a career of brilliant, penetrating, probing and unforgettable work. This is no less. For those who take theology, philosophy or faith seriously, you will marvel at the dialogue and the juxtaposition of individual responsibility and matters of action and belief. The ending is a mind blower and will likely be taught in film schools.

answers follow below

but first, the aliens are back

   The most recent San Luis Obispo Succulent and Cactus show offered more dazzling specimens and I wonder again what planet are they from? 

the answer is

the cool pool

   Yes, as you surmised the answer to the question in the previous post is a swimming pool changing hues.

   See you down the trail.

FRAUD RELIGION and LOOK AT DAVOS

    Balloons have lifted my spirit since I was a kid. They add cheer to anywhere, including an alley.

        Even the shadows are playful and teasing,

      and something to chase.

where a shadow haunts

Photo by Fabrice Coffrini Agency France-Presse

    The World Economic Summit has commenced again in Davos. 
    60 World leaders, countless corporate and business chieftains, academics and theoreticians gather each year to plumb the world's economy. This year there is more security than ever.

     Terror is a threat, in the form of armed zealots, but nature has done her part as well. A record 6 feet of snow has fallen. It is as though the planet's climate is demanding a place on the agenda.

Photo by Gian Ehrenzeller European Press Photo Agency

        There is also the growing terror of people dislocated by economics, war and disaster. There may have never been more refugees in history and more are likely. There may never have been a wider gap between the haves and the have-nots. The number of wealthy remains small-most of the rest of the world's population faces more struggle. A storm of another kind is brewing.

Photo by Fabrice Coffrini Agency France Presse

they wait for the rupture

    I attempt to avoid religion in these posts. A person's beliefs are their business, a most intimate and personal piece of being human. I think we should afford respect, but today I must speak.

     In the last couple of days two major news organizations have explored the support for donald trump by evangelical Christian groups, mostly right wing. There have been other pieces over the last year, but his recent profanity burst and the leak of his paying hush money to a porn star to be silent about their relationship prompted a new examination.

     They still back the vulgarian. That very support gives their brand of faith a black eye and a crushed credibility. 
     Trump is a liar, a swindler, a serial adulterer, an apparent racist, a sexual predator, a bully, worships money and is by most evidence stupid but conceited. All of that but the stupid makes him an ideal target for the evangelicals to capture- to change his heart, to convert him, to make him a better human being. But there is nothing in that to cause them to step away from the faith of Jesus to back  trump. They must have forgotten that Jesus was a radical rabbi who's rare display of anger was to turn over tables and toss out the swindlers. He spoke of eschewing all of the things that trump worships and does and how he lives and how he behaves.

    Can you imagine trump laying down his life for his followers, or living as a wandering vagrant, urging his followers to give what they have to less advantaged, or to decry violence, to be a peace maker, loving all, even those who are handicapped, or from Haiti, or Mexico, or Syria, etc, etc, etc.?

   So how do you justify going from a devotion to a Christ to a devotion to a trump? How? How in the hell do you do that? Ah, there is that!

      From my understanding of Jesus he would probably be the first to forgive trump and the first to try to bring him into the fold, but also the first to recognize the wrong or evil and perversion of the man's life and his devotion to himself. 
      Someone who purports to be a person with a genuine faith and who uses articles of that faith to support trump is, in my opinion, not to be trusted on matters of faith. Same for those who ignore trumps perversity of character.

      I knew Billy Graham and even worked with him and his senior staff over the course of a couple of years. I was leery of evangelists, but Graham was sincere and devoted to preaching. I came to a new understanding of Graham, his role and impact. Something that he wrote and spoke of is how he had been emotionally and spiritually swindled by Richard Nixon, with whom he had a close relationship. As someone pointed out recently he never got over how he was "snookered" by Nixon.  It would behoove his son Franklin and other evangelicals who somehow find a way to support the behavior and action of trump to learn the Billy Graham lesson. 

     To those who say they are evangelical Christians and who support trump-would you want to spend eternity with him? Not that you have anything to say about that.

     One year of him in the White House has been a kind of hell for the majority of US citizens and others around the globe. Try to save him if you wish, pray for him, but to take a pulpit or a public forum and endorse him or his actions makes you a phony and a fraud, just like trump. Your faith is more important than just another one of us mere mortals with feet of clay. To support trump or to ignore his perversity is to make a mockery of what you say you believe.
      And a reminder to me and everyone else, the founders were right with this idea of separation of church and state.

     And on that note, God bless you and God bless America, please! In fact, God bless this whole planet.

     See you down the trail.

     

      

FACTS OF LIFE and STRAIGHT NEWS

twilight for the elders?

    They are the largest and among the oldest living things on  planet earth and after thousands of years they are in peril.

     A recent retreat to Sequoia National Park and the Sequoia National Forest produced a shocking bit of information.
     The keepers of these ancients say that because of global climate change they can no longer guarantee the health and well being of the giants.

    I am among those who are awed, inspired and spiritually moved by the magnificence of these ancients. They have stood silent witness to the history of this globe for millennia. 

     Now we are told that, for whatever reason(s) you may chose to ascribe as the cause(s), the climate change is doing what nothing else has, threatening these giant elders of life  on this blue marble.

     It seems we are of an age where we must endure and brave incalculable loss and violence to our own species and to our elders.

straight news

    All news organizations have spent more time dealing with Donald Trump's character than with his policies according to new data from the Pew Research organization.
     This is true for news operations with right or left leaning audiences and for those with a mixed audience.
      However the research on over 3000 stories found a wide variance in the "sources" used by the 24 news platforms that were studied. The important take away is that right leaning news organizations used fewer sources, fewer types of sources and less comparison in their reporting.
      Right leaning news organizations offered more positive and fewer negative evaluations of trump and the reporters "were less likely to challenge something the president said than those with audiences that were more balanced or were left leaning."

     It is telling that the lowest use of Trump or his administration as a source for reporting came from the right leaning administration. That combined with the fact right leaning news groups used fewer sources in reporting a story should be a warning to those who rely on them.

sad

    Californians are shell shocked and deeply saddened by the fires in Napa, Sonoma and Mendocino. The devastation and loss of life is horrendous. To our friends in that part of the state, the best we can do for you now is send prayers and thoughts. Rebuilding efforts will prompt more response later.

      See you down the trail.

Finding Focus

     Something is going on, changing deep in the inner universe that is consciousness, mine and perhaps yours too.

      Maybe it is age, or the jarring reality of recent social change. I'm at a bridge where personal interests are being over taken by a concern for those who will live when I no longer do. 

      No, this not that sort of post or motivation. Certainly am not rushing wanting to depart. I'm fortunate to enjoy life and living but some measurements are beginning to change, lengthening and even broadening.

      Climate, resource protection and reclamation, changes in nature, pressure points in the human food chain, ethical treatment of human suffering and misery, political order, anticipating the impact of artificial intelligence, burgeoning medical technology, the wonders of regenerative medicine, evolution of our specie, preserving life in an interdependent eco system, genetic manipulation and more that present us with profound issues and questions. First, are we even mature enough to deal with the consequence. 

       There is a positive charge in engaging in something that will go beyond our own shadows. Strategizing, trying to establish and enable dynamics, systems and adaptations for a future. I am no scientist as my chemistry lab partner Janice Anderson discovered many years ago and as I have been reminded many times when I struggle to read science tracts and research. I am awed by those who advance knowledge and understanding. I appreciate their touching the arc of history and from time to time I have interpreted their efforts for a reading or viewing audience. I am not a man of science, but a man of words.

        Words matter too. They are the glue that gives our purposes structure. Getting older, reflecting on a life in journalism, study of philosophy, spirituality, religion, creeds, social compacts and decades of politics I think I have emerged as a kind of postulant ethicist. No one appointed me. There are few professional ethicists, but it is the "ethics of living" that have begun to calibrate and reboot in my inner mind, making me an unwitting accomplice in this concern about the future. As the latest iteration of human bipeds perhaps we all should consider the ethics of human existence on this verge of something.

         Living in the orbit of Silicon Valley, I am perpetually fascinated at advancements in artificial intelligence, mixed reality, virtual reality, bio medicine, big data and the like. But I have begun to also note that we make jumps and leaps without giving prior thought to what it will mean; i.e. how will this likely change things, or how could this go wrong, could it be weaponized, that sort of thought.

       We make giant leaps at a time when more people think only as deeply as 140 characters, or their Facebook news, when we see increasing evidence of a decline in critical reasoning skills, when history is barely known, when classics are replaced by Marvel, as we seek happiness in what we buy or own.

      Have you given any thought to what it means to be a human being? What makes us human? A brain, a heart, emotion, love, what?  Now consider how many implants or  replacements, or memory chips in the brain, or bio mechanical organs, prosthetics or synthetic blood do we need before human life, as we know it, ceases and something new emerges? 
       These wonderful but profoundly changing circumstances will have more impact on our children and grand children than us.

      Probably few people have given it much thought and that in itself is an ethical issue. We cannot nor should we impede science and research or healing systems and technologies. In just one simple query-how well equipped are societies for extended life spans?
       Isn't now the appropriate time that humanity deliberates, before epochal changes? Sci-fi writers and directors have long toyed with these themes but would we be content to see life imitate art?

     For the record we've had 8.7 inches of rain on the California central coast since January 1. That is more than we had for the full year 2013-2014. Total for the season is 20.93 making it the most since 2010-2011. Yes, there have been mud and rock slides. Historic Santa Rosa Creek road caved and it will be some time before repairs are made. Scenic Highway 1, the Pacific Coast Highway, has also taken some abuse, but after 4-5 years of drought, we are happy we've been blessed with the rain.

The bluff trail north of Cambria

standing together

    A lot of people are pushing the White House Correspondents Association and other Washington based media groups to push back against early signs the new administration intends to play rough and dirty with some media outlets.

    Tough questions are simply part of the process. An adversarial relationship is the nature of the game and everyone, the White House, the media and the electorate are served when the media plays a watch dog role.  

     Divide and conquer is a technique of this administration. Combine that with the too common "careerist" motivation of some of the press corp and we could be on a slippery slope. Reminding the outlets that if one is targeted or banned, all could be has been the effort of many around the country. This is no time to forget the important role of the 4th estate.

     One thing they need to do a better job of is pressing this administration for details. We still haven't seen the health care plan that is supposed to replace the Affordable Care Act. Nor does the president elect ever give much detail. At some point we hope he realizes he's got to be presidential. He seems stuck in the mode of being the hustler on the campaign trail.  He's done nothing to convince me he's not an narcissistic idiot incapable of a complex sentence, let along thought. But maybe I'm wrong.

     See you down the trail.

CONVERSATIONS-

THE VIEW FROM HERE

JESUS AND THE DONALD

    It is one of the strangest political videos ever, at least from my view.  Donald Trump being "prayed over" by an ecumenical group.

   And so it prompted an imaginary conversation between Jesus and the Donald.

"Hey Donald?"

"That yew Jezus?"

"Yes Donald.  Follow me"

"What'cha mean?  I got this thing going on?"

"Follow me.  Become a fisher of men?"

"Whatcha talkin bout? Fishin' for men?"

"Follow me.  Give away your wealth.  Give it to the needy."

"Hey now, yer gettin' inta my expertise.  You see we can cut their taxes and then they can get jobs. Low paying' at first, but you know how that works"

"Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, give to the Lord what is the Lords?"

"You Crazy? I'm tryin to do something here about greatness. That aint giving the government anymore. We got these laws you can use. And who you talking about being the Lord. That's who I thought I was."

"The first will be last and the last will be first."

"Now you ain't makin no sense!  Didn't you read the art of the deal?"

"It is harder for a rich man to attain heaven than it is to drive a camel through the eye of a needle."

"You are one crazy bastard."

"Will you sacrifice yourself as an atonement?"

"Uh, hey, Security.  We got an issue here.  How'd this guy ever get into this room?"

TWILIGHT OF REASON 

   We are continuing to watch the old Pine in a neighboring field, hoping it will survive until rainy season.  So many of its forest mates have not.

    I am challenged to understand how those who argue that climate change is not real can explain away what is remarkable change by disputing data, arguing the government is fudging on technical data, or that it is a conspiracy. Intelligent people, even some who have science backgrounds dispute that change abounds.  

    Undeniable occurrences of "super storms" longest droughts in history, migration changes in wildlife, temperature variances, warmer oceans and more are real and not made up.  In the face of that how can one argue something is changing?

    There is a condition today that explains a lot, about this argument and in fact so much of political discourse today.

     CONFIRMATION BIAS-

     From Science Daily-in psychology and cognitive science, confirmation bias (confirmatory bias) is a tendency to search for or interpret information in a way that confirms one preconceptions, leading to statistical errors. Confirmation bias is a type of cognitive bias and represents an effort of inductive inference toward confirmation of the hypothesis under study.

    From Psychology Today  A Confirmation bias is a type of cognitive bias that involves favoring information that confirms previously existing beliefs or biases. 

     There is a lot of that going on today in many arenas.  There's another way to get to root issues, political alliances and economic agendas.  Who pays for "studies?"

     And there is observation, pure observation. When we see weather that is in fact historic-the breaking of records-the most, the first, the most severe of something and we see how rapidly and frequently these historic levels are coming at us and when we see data about repercussions that are dire, simply to err on the side of caution seems only wise. That is my bias-better safe than sorry.

     See you down the trail.

DISPATCHES FROM MOTHER AND A STEELY DAN

ARE WE BETTER FOR IT?

    Earth Day was born in a setting very much like this. In fact the actual site was 2 hours south along Santa Barbara. Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson had seen the ugly tragedy of the 1969 west coast oil spill and conceived of a day to spark an awareness of planet health and to take advantage of the political activism of that era.

    It was a far different age in 1970.  Democrat Nelson got the cooperation of California Republican Pete McCloskey to serve as his co-chair and the rest is history. But what kind of history has it been?

    Environmentalism is an international movement, but some deride environmental awareness. Nations now have Environmental Protection Agencies and clean air and water laws, but politicians in cahoots with industry find ways to put money first.

    Precious forests are being cut or burned, waters are poisoned, there are dead zones in the ocean, the air is unbreathable in cities, the climate is changing and industry groups pay billions to stop remedial efforts or change laws.
    An alarmist view is sounded by author Naomi Klein who says the world's economic systems are at war with planetary health and well being. At another extreme some refuse to acknowledge the planet's climate is changing at all, even by natural causes.
   We can recall Earth Days that have been celebratory, noting passage of laws and clean ups of hazardous sites and spills. Today Earth Day strikes me as an effort at emergency triage. We know what's wrong. We know how to prevent or fix most of it. But we seem emasculated. Rather than vigorously pursue planetary health which is also the health of human kind, we continue sewing seeds of demise. The leading player in this tragic farce is greed.
    Earth Day is too important about which to become passé.
What do you think?  Do we need a shot of activism? Would it make difference? What do you think is to come?

SNAPSHOTS FROM THE MOTHER SHIP 

   A group of folks gathered recently at lands end and on old earth and seabed to learn from geologist Dr. David Chipping.

    The play of earth and sea never ends.  Faults and other forces of nature create and change terra firma.

  The story of centuries are written in layers of rock and stone. As Dr. Chipping said of the cut away below "There's a nice picture. It tells a story."  

   Layers that speak to ages of sea, wind, sand and earth in continuous dance and tumble.

BY-THE-WIND-SAILORS

   Warmer than normal Pacific waters teamed with wind currents have produced an unusual phenomena along the central coast-millions of Velella velella. They are zooids but rather mysterious. Something like Portuguese Man of War, they have a sail that carries them over the water. In the last week, they have been washing ashore along California beaches.

   They bleach out and loose the top sail and the vibrant blue, but become a kind of wave marker.

GOOD FOR THE PLANET'S EARS

  Recently saw Walter Becker and Donald Fagan and friends, AKA Steely Dan in a kind of pre-tour warm up. They will hit the road for a major tour this summer, sharing a bill with Elvis Costello.  If they come to a venue near you, and if you like mastery of sound in a rock/jazz fusion, make sure to see them.

  They lay out a sound structure, like a building. It is an intricate combination of individual instruments and voices that you can follow or you can widen out and hear some of the most intricate, complex and sweet musical creation on the planet.  

   These guys stopped touring until they could master the intricate sound system required to capture the artistry they produce.  This is a link to a quick look at some of the best musical players on mother earth.

    See you down the trail.