Althouse

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• Front-yard farming at Meadhouse.
• What's the carbon footprint?
• "The past year has been very good to Howard University. One of its alumna — Kamala D. Harris — ascended to the vice presidency.... And last week, the university scored a coup..."
• Today's sunrise at 5:12 and 5:27.
• May I present a helping of Sunday-morning class politics — edgy but light and humorous, the way you like it, no?
• "A 62-year-old Texas man who waited hours to cast a ballot in last year’s presidential primary was arrested this week on charges that he had voted illegally."
• "I believe all National Parks should be closed to visitors unless they have been invited. There should be a selection process..."
• 5:11 a.m. and 5:26 a.m.
• There goes Robert E. Lee...

Front-yard farming at Meadhouse. Posted: 11 Jul 2021 04:41 PM PDT

What's the carbon footprint? Posted: 11 Jul 2021 02:36 PM PDT I see "Richard Branson completed a daring, barnstorming flight to edge of space Sunday, rocketing through the atmosphere in the spaceplane he'd been yearning to ride for nearly 20 years." That's the Washington Post dribbling enthusiasm like a sci-fi fanboy.  I have no idea what "edge of space" means, but I suspect it should be "the edge of space," and it's sloppy editing.  Anyway, WaPo is normally concerned about global warming and I don't know why the "daring barnstorming" of a billionaire gets a pass. How many home-to-work commutes in an SUV would it take to emit the carbon released in this old man's pleasure trip?  It's a long article, and it includes references to Jeff Bezos, who owns The Washington Post: By moving up his flight, [Branson] was able to beat Bezos to space by nine days.... Branson has repeatedly denied that he was in a race with Bezos and said in the interview that it was just "an incredible, wonderful coincidence that we're going up in the same month." But when asked about a rivalry with Bezos on CNBC, he couldn't help himself, saying "Jeff who?" Oh, isn't that darling?  There's nothing about the carbon footprint of this joyride. I wanted to read the comments over there to see if there's any discussion of climate change. But: "Comments are not available on this story."  Looking around at other news sites, I see this from E&E news: The emissions from a minutes-long Virgin Galactic spaceflight have been compared to a plane ride halfway around the world. While it would take thousands of launches for the emerging industry to have a significant climate impact, some detractors say they are worried about what might happen if space tourism truly takes off. Blue Origin envisions a "future where millions of people are living and working in space," and Virgin Galactic wants to "open space for everyone." Critics are concerned the U.S. government is doing too little to regulate the environmental impact of commercial space travel. And they have questioned the climate commitments of Bezos, Branson and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk. All three men have raised concern about global warming. And all three have taken steps to accelerate the commercial space industry.... If Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic begin regular spaceflights later this year and in 2022 as expected, the number of space travelers soon could outnumber the roughly 550 trained astronauts who've broken the Kármán line separating Earth's atmosphere from the cosmos. These pointless pleasure trips for the rich should have been banned long ago. I take it the "Kármán line" is what they mean by the babyish term "the edge of space." Supporters of the nascent sector say its contribution to climate change will be minimal, in the planetary scale of things. "I know why we focus on these things, because they are exemplary in some sense. And it isn't to say that what they do shouldn't be judged," said Gavin Schmidt, NASA's top climate adviser. "But in terms of the bigger picture, they're not a very big part of the big picture," he said of the growing ranks of wealthy space explorers.... This is how rich people with grossly huge carbon footprints always try to avoid responsibility! It's really all the millions and billions of little people with their tiny, tiptoe-y carbon footprints that really add up. Restrict them, but leave us rich people alone. There are so few of us that nothing we do — insanely extravagant though it may be — amounts to anything worth fussing over. Schmidt emphasized that he was speaking to E&E News in his personal capacity. That's not to say space tourism is an environmentally friendly endeavor. Branson has estimated that a minutes-long suborbital flight on Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo has a similar carbon footprint as a commercial jet flying between London and Singapore. But international flights of that sort generally carry hundreds of passengers at a time to a fixed destination. SpaceShipTwo's emissions are for a minutes-long roller coaster ride above the Kármán line and back. Researchers have found rocket emissions also can damage the ozone layer, which protects people and wildlife from dangerous levels of ultraviolet radiation. The full extent of the potential environmental harm, however, is an open question.... "Are there equity issues in all of this? Of course there are," said Schmidt, the NASA climate adviser. But he added, "That's a legislative or administrative thing [to resolve]." Is there any politician making an issue out of banning (or at least restricting) space tourism?

"The past year has been very good to Howard University. One of its alumna — Kamala D. Harris — ascended to the vice presidency.... And last week, the university scored a coup..." Posted: 11 Jul 2021 09:47 AM PDT "... announcing Nikole Hannah-Jones and Ta-Nehisi Coates as new faculty.... Long-standing concerns over the way the school treats survivors of sexual assault were put on display when College of Fine Arts dean and actress Phylicia Rashad — another recent high-profile hire — shared her support for 'The Cosby Show' co-star Bill Cosby after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court vacated his sexual assault conviction.... The backlash — from students and others outside the Howard community — was swift. The issue was personal for Aliya J'mari, a 2016 graduate who said she had trouble getting help from school officials when a professor physically assaulted her during her senior year.... 'I just felt a little sad for the students that are at Howard now that are going to be up under her leadership,' J'mari said...." Writes Lauren Lumpkin in "Nikole Hannah-Jones, Ta-Nehisi Coates appointments signal new era for Howard University/The recent growth at Howard University comes a few years after students waged a nine-day protest over conditions at the school and called for their president's resignation" (WaPo).  The highest-rated comment over there is: "As long as Howard continues to focus on celebrity over intellect, and to foster the concept of racial segregation for its student body, the university is doomed to a destiny of mediocrity. As proof, take a look at the SAT scores of incoming freshman at Howard versus the Ivy League schools — no comparison."

Today's sunrise at 5:12 and 5:27. Posted: 11 Jul 2021 08:39 AM PDT

May I present a helping of Sunday-morning class politics — edgy but light and humorous, the way you like it, no? Posted: 11 Jul 2021 08:36 AM PDT I know it's tough for you because the Yale Club's guest rooms are closed until Labor Day, but you can ask your billionaire funder, Peter Thiel, if you can stay at his Park Avenue apartment. Seems like it has a nice view, just the thing for a down-to-Earth fella like yourself. pic.twitter.com/foJnFEhra9 — Max Kennerly (@MaxKennerly) July 11, 2021

"A 62-year-old Texas man who waited hours to cast a ballot in last year’s presidential primary was arrested this week on charges that he had voted illegally." Posted: 11 Jul 2021 07:01 AM PDT "The man, Hervis Earl Rogers of Houston, waited seven hours outside Texas Southern University to vote in the state's presidential primary in March 2020. On Wednesday, he was arrested and charged with two counts of illegal voting, a felony. According to court documents, the charges stem from ballots that Mr. Rogers cast on March 3, 2020, and on Nov. 6, 2018, while he was still on parole and not legally permitted to vote.... Mr. Rogers's story ricocheted around social media after he was identified as the very last person in line to vote at his polling place. Houston Public Media reported at the time that Mr. Rogers arrived at the polls just before 7 p.m. and waited roughly six hours to vote, long after the polls had closed and many others had left the line. 'It is insane, but it's worth it,' Mr. Rogers told Houston Public Media while waiting in line." From "Texas Man Who Waited Hours to Vote Is Arrested on Charges of Illegal Voting/Hervis Rogers was ineligible to cast a ballot in the 2020 presidential primary because he was still on parole, according to the state's attorney general. He now faces four decades in prison" (NYT). A link on "ricocheted around social media" goes here: Hervis Rogers is out. Here's what he had to say as he left the polling site. pic.twitter.com/AZV2b0xzzL — Nicole Hensley 📰 (@nkhensley) March 4, 2020

"I believe all National Parks should be closed to visitors unless they have been invited. There should be a selection process..." Posted: 11 Jul 2021 06:04 AM PDT "... and it should be based on intelligence, respect for nature and intent. No selfie sticks, no babies, no kids younger than an age where they can grasp their surroundings and the concept of nature. Littering and damaging nature in any way should be met with a fine so steep that no one would dare. In NYC, our parks and landmarks are overrun by the ugliest, rudest tourists one can imagine. They have ruined life here and with a welcome mat fro[m] officials who only see dollars." That's a comment at the NYT article, "How Crowded Are America's National Parks? See for Yourself. Americans are flocking to national parks in record numbers, in many cases leading to long lines and overcrowded facilities. Here's what four parks looked like over the holiday weekend." As the "See for Yourself" part of the headline indicates, there are lots of photos and video clips at the link showing beautiful landscapes obscured by roiling crowds of uncool people in summer clothes. Do people really love empty landscapes and solitude? Everyone's a photographer now, and no one — except these journalists documenting overcrowding — wants strangers doing selfies in their photographs. You go out to experience nature, and then you're stuck with whoever else chose the same vantage point. And some places are just terribly well-known vantage points that jump right onto all those bucket lists. There are many interesting rock formations all over the country where you might muse about what that rock looks like to you, but you've got to follow the signposts to Skull Rock, that one rock that been determined to look a particular thing, and you can stand in a group that must all think that indeed it looks like a skull.  Yet it's easy to avoid crowds. Hike to less accessible parts of crowded National Parks or just go some time other than summer. Much easier: Go to state parks. There are 66 state parks in Wisconsin — lots of variety — and it's easy to get to them — many just for day trips — and there's hardly anyone else there.  The most grandiose landscapes have been snapped up into National Parks, but if you genuinely love nature, you should value the mellower beauties of the state (and county) parks. Learn to look more closely and find details — especially if you are bringing children along. Those videos at the NYT link show some little children, and many of them look fussy and bored. They were dragged across the country, cooped up in cars, subjected to lines, exposed to glaring sun, and told what to look at, told it is amazing, told it belongs in their head as a memory. They should be grouchy. They should be outraged. But I wouldn't exclude them. No kids allowed! The commenter who says invitees only is, I hope, a satirist. But parents on their own ought to decide to scale down the encounters with nature. Way down. Maybe to the level of your own town or — it might be best — your own backyard.

5:11 a.m. and 5:26 a.m. Posted: 10 Jul 2021 05:07 PM PDT   By the way, there was a little wedding going on just to my left as I took the second photograph. This was the second time I've run into a wedding on my sunrise run.

There goes Robert E. Lee... Posted: 10 Jul 2021 05:03 PM PDT A friend was sitting on his porch in Charlottesville this morning and got to witness one final retreat pic.twitter.com/0y6HlaB8Oa — Clyde McGrady (@CAMcGrady) July 10, 2021

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