Last Tuesday, I headed down to the beautiful Bell House in the Gowanus section of Brooklyn for the latest Secret Science Club lecture featuring physicist and atmospheric scientist Dr Adam Sobel of Columbia University and the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory. The subject of the lecture was Superstorm Sandy, a topic very much on the minds of lecture attendees.
The key to understanding Superstorm Sandy is the chronology of the storm- the "Frankenstorm" which hit the Mid-Atlantic states. This storm was a combination of post-tropical storm Sandy and a winter storm, which could be likened the "parents" of the superstorm which made landfall centered on the Jersey Shore. If one were to search for "grandparents", one would have to discuss two climatic systems, the Madden-Julian Oscillation (a tropical system of eastward-progessing fluctuations in the amount of rainfall from the Western Indian Ocean to the Atlantic) and the North Atlantic Oscillation (which, true to its name, deals with atmospheric pressure fluctuations between Iceland and the Azores). Due to the North Atlantic Oscillation, the polar jet stream moves- a postive condition drives the jet stream northward, a negative condition drives the jet stream southward, bringing cold air to the Atlantic seaboard.
In Mid-October, an active Madden-Julian Oscillation moved into the Atlantic Ocean and the North Atlantic Oscillation pushed the jet stream southward. The conditions were conducive to both tropical and winter storms. Additionally, on 10/20/2012, a "blocking high", an area of high pressure which remains largely stationary, formed in the Western North Atlantic. Such blocking highs in this region prevent winter storms from moving east.
On 10/22, the National Hurricane Center named Tropical Depression 18, which was subsequently upgraded to Tropical Storm Sandy.
On 10/24, Sandy hit Jamaica as a category 1 hurricane. On 10/25, it hit Cuba as a category 2 hurricane.
Many computer models of the track of a storm are run due to the vagaries of chaos theory- small changes in one region of the atmosphere can result in large changes in weather elsewhere. In the case of Sandy, European computer models accurately predicted the track of the storm.
When Sandy made landfall in the mid-Atlantic states, it was a post-tropical storm interacting with an extratropical storm (the "winter storm" blocked from moving east by the stationary area of high pressure in the western North Atlantic). This interaction resulted in a condition known as the Fujiwhara Effect, which causes the vortices of two cyclones to orbit a mutual center and, sometimes, to merge. In the case of Sandy, the storms merged and the resultant storm was pushed ashore. When Sandy made landfall, it was not a hurricane (cyclones are typically symmetrical, while winter storms are asymetrical, usually comma-shaped)... Sandy had a high degree of asymmetry and was a vast storm... the windfield of the storm was approximately one thousand miles across. When Sandy hit landfall in New Jersey, no hurricane force winds were observed. The horrendous damage associated with Sandy was due to storm surge- high sustained winds pushed ocean water onto the shore.
Sandy's unprecedented storm surge was largely due to the unusual sharp westward angle of the storm track. Storm winds are stronger to the right of the track, and the onshore winds were associated with a very large wind field- this was the worst possible situation in terms of storm surge. Most cyclones which hit the New York metro area move up the cost and weaken, storms which take Sandy's track are exceptionally unusual. In terms of historic hurricane landfalls, Sandy's angle was unique. Stochastic models indicate that a category one hurricane making landfall at the angle which Sandy made landfall is a once-every-700-years event.
Tidal gauges at the Battery (the southern tip of Manhattan) indicated a three-meter storm surge on top of a five-foot tide (sorry about the mixed measurement metaphors). This was the highest storm surge ever recorded at this location.
As to whether climate change "caused" sandy, no single weather event can be attributed to climate change. As far as trends go, the best models give result in mixed predictions about whether the number of cyclones will change. Worldwide, there are typically 90-100 cyclones every year. While some models indicate that this number may even drop, there is much confidence that the most intense storms will become stronger. Of course, Sandy was not an intense storm when it made landfall, it was a category one storm rendered destructive by its size and the angle at which it hit. The distorted jet stream which resulted in the blocking high which prevented Sandy and its accompanying winter storm from moving eastward is associated with the loss of sea ice. The most simple link between climate change and the destruction resulting from Sandy is a rise in sea level. In the past century, the sea level in the NY metro area has risen a foot, largely due to the land subsiding post-Ice Age, and partially due to thermal expansion of the sea water.
In the Q&A, some bastard in the audience asked why, in light of atmospheric pressures lower than any recorded for the latitude, Sandy did not result in stronger winds. Because Sandy was such a vast storm, the pressure "contours" were wide- a smaller storm would have had smaller "contours", so the winds would have blown with greater velocity.
Once again, the Secret Science Club delivered a top-notch lecture, and a timely one. Sandy still looms large in the public's mind, and Dr Sobel's lecture did a lot to demystify the storm, even if such demystification didn't provide comfort to those who suffered loss.
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query sandy. Sort by date Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query sandy. Sort by date Show all posts
Sunday, November 25, 2012
Wednesday, October 29, 2014
Secret Science Club Post Lecture Recap: Sandy Anniversary
Last night, I headed down to the beautiful Bell House in the Gowanus section of Brooklyn for this month's Secret Science Club lecture. This month's lecture featured physicist and atmospheric scientist Dr Adam Sobel of Columbia University. Two years ago, Dr Sobel delivered a lecture on the science of Superstorm Sandy in the aftermath of the storm. On the two-year anniversary of Sandy, he returned to the Bell House to discuss people's reactions to scientific predictions.
Dr Sobel jumped right into the topic, showing a slide depicting the October 24th GFS forecast, a deterministic model of weather conditions. This particular model showed that the jetstream had dipped far south, and the 10/24 model produced by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts was an accurate model of the actual course of the storm. On the Wednesday before the storm hit the NY metro area, models indicated uncertainty about the eventual landfall- storms are chaotic systems so slight changes in the characteristics will result in larger eventual changes. On Thursday, the five-day forecast produced by the National Hurricane Center was dead-on. Dr Sobel noted that weather forecasts are great scientific achievements resulting from steady progress. Better computers allow forecasters to make better models, therefore they make better predictions.
When Sandy made landfall, it was a post-tropical storm- it was by no means a weaker storm, but it lacked the symmetry typical of tropical cyclones. Tropical storms are symmetrical and are warm at their center, they gain their energy from the warmth of the ocean. Winter storms are asymmetrical and get their energy from the jet stream- the temperature difference between the pole and the equator give them energy. Sandy was cold at the center- the storm was a merging of a tropichttp://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/national-hurricane-center-warning-system-article-1.1308130al storm and a winter storm. The wind speed was 65 knots, which placed it firmly in Category 1 of the Saffir-Simpson scale. The storm was vast, with a huge area of winds and a worse storm surge. Because the storm was post-tropical, the National Hurricane Center did not issue hurricane watches or warnings north of Virginia. Under NOAA's rules, a hurricane advisory could not be issued due to the nature of the storm, a policy which has been changed. Gale warnings were made, though. On 10/27, then-mayor Michael Bloomberg held a press conference urging New Yorkers to stay indoors and to avoid low-lying areas, while warning of MTA shutdowns.
Sandy was characterized by its dramatic storm surge, basically a slow pileup of water. While the local officials did many things right, they did not issue evacuation orders on Saturday due to the lack of hurricane advisories. Dr Sobel noted that the water gets high no matter what the storm is called. NOAA's current policy is to issue hurricane warnings even if dangerous storms are not technically hurricanes.
On Sunday, 10/28, evacuation orders were given for evacuation zone "A" and the transit system was shut down. There were attempts to protect infrastructure- the electrical signals in threatened subway tunnels were ripped out and certain adits to the system were boarded up. There was a partial pre-emptive shutdown of the power grid. No evacuation orders were given to nursing homes.
Ultimately, Sandy resulted in 117 deaths in the U.S. and 50-65 billion dollars in economic damage. Most of the loss of life occurred in low-lying areas such as barrier islands, which Dr Sobel characterized as "glorified sand dunes". Among the slides depicting the destruction wrought by the storm, a picture of Mantoloking, NJ was particularly scary, as was a photo of the Hoboken, NJ PATH station.
A perusal of the NYC inundation map reveals that every area that flooded was wetlands, landfill, or barrier islands. Dr Sobel noted that the original coastline of lower Manhattan was Water St. He wryly noted that the idea that there would be flooding in Lower Manhattan shouldn't have been shocking.
Two of the worst-hit areas were Breezy Point in Queens, which was ravaged by a wildfire as well as by flooding, and Staten Island's Oakwood Beach.
Half of Manhattan was affected by a power outage and there was substantial flooding as a result of a fourteen foot storm surge. Gasoline supply chains were disrupted for weeks in the region.
Wise short-term decisions that saved many lives and much property were made, such as zone A evacuations and the measures taken to protect the subway system. The region's infrastructure, though was unprepared to withstand the storm... the South Ferry subway station, renovated in 2009, was totaled, needing $600 million dollars in repairs.
Dr Sobel then went over damage estimates from old storms, mentioning a 1992 nor'easter which flooded PATH stations. In 2011, Hurricane Irene resulted in flooding, mainly in New England and upstate New York.
Sandy was a rare event, but no scientific assessment indicated that it was an impossible event. The timing of Sandy was particularly bad- the fourteen foot storm surge coincided with a five foot high tide. In contrast, the thirteen foot storm surge from the 1821 hurricane which hit NYC hit during low tide.
Dr Sobel then brought up the role of availability bias in our reaction to storms. If a particular issue isn't pressing, people tend not to pay much attention to it. If something happens all the time, there's no need to really think about our responses to it, it becomes the "new normal". It often takes catastrophic events to inspire actions meant to mitigate damage.
He brought up the Dutch response to the 1953 Delta Flood which resulted in approximately 1800 deaths and massive economic damage. The Dutch government responded with the "Delta Works", a system of flood barriers. The Thames flood barrier was modeled on the Dutch Delta works. In 1938, the hurricane known as the Long Island Express slammed into the Northeast, resulting in approximately 600 deaths. The estuary cities of Stamford, CT, New Bedford, MA, and Providence, RI were flooded. In the 1960's a hurricane barrier was built to protect Stamford.
Dr Sobel touched on plans to protect New York City from flooding, asking "What will happen post-Sandy?" He brought up PlaNYC, a blueprint for stability and resiliency for the city. He noted that there were no plans for great storm surge barriers in New York harbor- the plan relies on local flood walls and the elevation of infrastructure.
The lecture then moved on to the topic of climate change. Dr Sobel noted the Bloomberg headline: "It's Global Warming, Stupid." He noted that it's hard to pin one storm on climate change. Human influence is not clearly detected in any upward trend in storms- there is a lot of natural variability. Currently, it is thought that climate change may result in fewer tropical cyclones, but that the intensity of storms is likely to increase, on average. Little is known about storms like Sandy, which was peculiar due to its route and its tropical/winter storm hybridization. There is a clear link between global warming and sea level rise, though. This has a bearing on flooding- in the old Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale, each category of storm was typically categorized by three feet of storm surge. Sandy, however, was characterized by Category 1 winds and a Category 3 storm surge. With climate change, it's not unreasonable to jack up storm surge predictions one category. With sea-level rise, weaker storms will still result in higher surges.
Dr Sobel then stated that willful denialism of climate change is the most acute problem that we face in reacting to storms. Denialism makes taking long-term steps and unfamiliar risks to deal with storms. Availability bias is as much of a hindrance as a help. We can't wait for the problem to be compounded, though. He then ran down a quick summary of long-term predictions about weather events- the effect of climate change on tornadoes is largely unknown, but heat waves will definitely be more frequent, as will be coastal flooding. Climate change will probably simultaneously result in more droughts and more flooding. We will probably have fewer snowstorms.
The Q&A after the lecture was short and fast, and the Bastard in the audience didn't get to blurt out a question (for the record, he also had to pee like a racehorse by lecture's end). There was an interesting question about the lack of tropical cyclones in the Southeast Pacific and the South Atlantic- the climate is just not right for cyclones to form, a cold sea surface and strong wind shear combine to prevent this from occurring.
After the lecture, Dr Sobel was signing copies of his new book, Storm Surge: Hurricane Sandy, Our Changing Climate, and Extreme Weather of the Past and Future. The lecture itself was another triumph for the Secret Science Club- a timely exploration of a topic which has been on the minds of many New Yorkers, two years after one of the worst disasters the region has ever faced.
Dr Sobel jumped right into the topic, showing a slide depicting the October 24th GFS forecast, a deterministic model of weather conditions. This particular model showed that the jetstream had dipped far south, and the 10/24 model produced by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts was an accurate model of the actual course of the storm. On the Wednesday before the storm hit the NY metro area, models indicated uncertainty about the eventual landfall- storms are chaotic systems so slight changes in the characteristics will result in larger eventual changes. On Thursday, the five-day forecast produced by the National Hurricane Center was dead-on. Dr Sobel noted that weather forecasts are great scientific achievements resulting from steady progress. Better computers allow forecasters to make better models, therefore they make better predictions.
When Sandy made landfall, it was a post-tropical storm- it was by no means a weaker storm, but it lacked the symmetry typical of tropical cyclones. Tropical storms are symmetrical and are warm at their center, they gain their energy from the warmth of the ocean. Winter storms are asymmetrical and get their energy from the jet stream- the temperature difference between the pole and the equator give them energy. Sandy was cold at the center- the storm was a merging of a tropichttp://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/national-hurricane-center-warning-system-article-1.1308130al storm and a winter storm. The wind speed was 65 knots, which placed it firmly in Category 1 of the Saffir-Simpson scale. The storm was vast, with a huge area of winds and a worse storm surge. Because the storm was post-tropical, the National Hurricane Center did not issue hurricane watches or warnings north of Virginia. Under NOAA's rules, a hurricane advisory could not be issued due to the nature of the storm, a policy which has been changed. Gale warnings were made, though. On 10/27, then-mayor Michael Bloomberg held a press conference urging New Yorkers to stay indoors and to avoid low-lying areas, while warning of MTA shutdowns.
Sandy was characterized by its dramatic storm surge, basically a slow pileup of water. While the local officials did many things right, they did not issue evacuation orders on Saturday due to the lack of hurricane advisories. Dr Sobel noted that the water gets high no matter what the storm is called. NOAA's current policy is to issue hurricane warnings even if dangerous storms are not technically hurricanes.
On Sunday, 10/28, evacuation orders were given for evacuation zone "A" and the transit system was shut down. There were attempts to protect infrastructure- the electrical signals in threatened subway tunnels were ripped out and certain adits to the system were boarded up. There was a partial pre-emptive shutdown of the power grid. No evacuation orders were given to nursing homes.
Ultimately, Sandy resulted in 117 deaths in the U.S. and 50-65 billion dollars in economic damage. Most of the loss of life occurred in low-lying areas such as barrier islands, which Dr Sobel characterized as "glorified sand dunes". Among the slides depicting the destruction wrought by the storm, a picture of Mantoloking, NJ was particularly scary, as was a photo of the Hoboken, NJ PATH station.
A perusal of the NYC inundation map reveals that every area that flooded was wetlands, landfill, or barrier islands. Dr Sobel noted that the original coastline of lower Manhattan was Water St. He wryly noted that the idea that there would be flooding in Lower Manhattan shouldn't have been shocking.
Two of the worst-hit areas were Breezy Point in Queens, which was ravaged by a wildfire as well as by flooding, and Staten Island's Oakwood Beach.
Half of Manhattan was affected by a power outage and there was substantial flooding as a result of a fourteen foot storm surge. Gasoline supply chains were disrupted for weeks in the region.
Wise short-term decisions that saved many lives and much property were made, such as zone A evacuations and the measures taken to protect the subway system. The region's infrastructure, though was unprepared to withstand the storm... the South Ferry subway station, renovated in 2009, was totaled, needing $600 million dollars in repairs.
Dr Sobel then went over damage estimates from old storms, mentioning a 1992 nor'easter which flooded PATH stations. In 2011, Hurricane Irene resulted in flooding, mainly in New England and upstate New York.
Sandy was a rare event, but no scientific assessment indicated that it was an impossible event. The timing of Sandy was particularly bad- the fourteen foot storm surge coincided with a five foot high tide. In contrast, the thirteen foot storm surge from the 1821 hurricane which hit NYC hit during low tide.
Dr Sobel then brought up the role of availability bias in our reaction to storms. If a particular issue isn't pressing, people tend not to pay much attention to it. If something happens all the time, there's no need to really think about our responses to it, it becomes the "new normal". It often takes catastrophic events to inspire actions meant to mitigate damage.
He brought up the Dutch response to the 1953 Delta Flood which resulted in approximately 1800 deaths and massive economic damage. The Dutch government responded with the "Delta Works", a system of flood barriers. The Thames flood barrier was modeled on the Dutch Delta works. In 1938, the hurricane known as the Long Island Express slammed into the Northeast, resulting in approximately 600 deaths. The estuary cities of Stamford, CT, New Bedford, MA, and Providence, RI were flooded. In the 1960's a hurricane barrier was built to protect Stamford.
Dr Sobel touched on plans to protect New York City from flooding, asking "What will happen post-Sandy?" He brought up PlaNYC, a blueprint for stability and resiliency for the city. He noted that there were no plans for great storm surge barriers in New York harbor- the plan relies on local flood walls and the elevation of infrastructure.
The lecture then moved on to the topic of climate change. Dr Sobel noted the Bloomberg headline: "It's Global Warming, Stupid." He noted that it's hard to pin one storm on climate change. Human influence is not clearly detected in any upward trend in storms- there is a lot of natural variability. Currently, it is thought that climate change may result in fewer tropical cyclones, but that the intensity of storms is likely to increase, on average. Little is known about storms like Sandy, which was peculiar due to its route and its tropical/winter storm hybridization. There is a clear link between global warming and sea level rise, though. This has a bearing on flooding- in the old Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale, each category of storm was typically categorized by three feet of storm surge. Sandy, however, was characterized by Category 1 winds and a Category 3 storm surge. With climate change, it's not unreasonable to jack up storm surge predictions one category. With sea-level rise, weaker storms will still result in higher surges.
Dr Sobel then stated that willful denialism of climate change is the most acute problem that we face in reacting to storms. Denialism makes taking long-term steps and unfamiliar risks to deal with storms. Availability bias is as much of a hindrance as a help. We can't wait for the problem to be compounded, though. He then ran down a quick summary of long-term predictions about weather events- the effect of climate change on tornadoes is largely unknown, but heat waves will definitely be more frequent, as will be coastal flooding. Climate change will probably simultaneously result in more droughts and more flooding. We will probably have fewer snowstorms.
The Q&A after the lecture was short and fast, and the Bastard in the audience didn't get to blurt out a question (for the record, he also had to pee like a racehorse by lecture's end). There was an interesting question about the lack of tropical cyclones in the Southeast Pacific and the South Atlantic- the climate is just not right for cyclones to form, a cold sea surface and strong wind shear combine to prevent this from occurring.
After the lecture, Dr Sobel was signing copies of his new book, Storm Surge: Hurricane Sandy, Our Changing Climate, and Extreme Weather of the Past and Future. The lecture itself was another triumph for the Secret Science Club- a timely exploration of a topic which has been on the minds of many New Yorkers, two years after one of the worst disasters the region has ever faced.
Tuesday, October 29, 2013
A Year Since Sandy
Local news coverage has been dominated by tales from the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy, which was a combination of a post-tropical storm and a "winter" storm that converged on the Eastern Seaboard. My personal experience of Sandy wasn't exactly pleasant, I had to move about half a ton of material on the job as the storm bore down on the NY metro area, then I camped out in a cold, dark workplace because my coworkers were stymied by downed trees and flooded roads, besides, there was no gasoline to be had, so I was better off hunkering down than sitting in a gas line or at the side of a highway. I ended up staying on the job for a thirty-two hour endurance tour, with no heat or electricity, before the power was restored a week after the storm hit. Yeah, it wasn't pleasant, but I was one of the lucky ones... I live on a hill, away from the coast. The power never went out at Casa de Bastard... I was okay, the house was okay, work was acceptable. I lost nothing more than sleep while many lost everything.
Certain communities will never be the same. People's lives have been irrevocably harmed due to the loss of loved ones or homes.
Yesterday, I ran into my friend Mary Courtney, who was involved in benefit concerts on behalf of Sandy victims. A year after the storm, the topic is still very much on the minds of residents of the Tri-State Area. While grassroots relief efforts did incredible work, there are still claims to be paid, neighborhoods to renovate or raze, and displaced persons to find homes for. I'm not complaining about my week of discomfort and inconvenience.
Certain communities will never be the same. People's lives have been irrevocably harmed due to the loss of loved ones or homes.
Yesterday, I ran into my friend Mary Courtney, who was involved in benefit concerts on behalf of Sandy victims. A year after the storm, the topic is still very much on the minds of residents of the Tri-State Area. While grassroots relief efforts did incredible work, there are still claims to be paid, neighborhoods to renovate or raze, and displaced persons to find homes for. I'm not complaining about my week of discomfort and inconvenience.
Saturday, October 29, 2016
Four Years Ago
It was four years ago that Superstorm Sandy hit the New York Metropolitan Area. I worked the overnight shift the night Sandy hit, and aside from the loss of power to the worksite, escaped any major consequences. In the subsequent week, though, the unavailability of fuel (no gas to be had in my home neighborhood, no electricity to run the gas pumps near the jobsite) forced me to camp out on the job for four days, eating canned sardines and lamenting the fact that I was working in a dark, unheated building while I'd never lost power at home.
My Sandy experience was a walk in the park compared to that of a lot of New Yorkers and New Jerseyites, but it convinced me that the United States needs a major infrastructure overhaul. As I recall, and I blogged about the storm soon after it hit, Sandy was mainly characterized by strong sustained winds which created an unprecedented storm surge- if the power lines in the neighborhood in which I work had been buried, I probably would have spent the time with light and heat, not to mention the internet. This country needs jobs, and building an improved power grid and improved transportation system would be a lot better for us than building some goddamn stupid wall.
My Sandy experience was a walk in the park compared to that of a lot of New Yorkers and New Jerseyites, but it convinced me that the United States needs a major infrastructure overhaul. As I recall, and I blogged about the storm soon after it hit, Sandy was mainly characterized by strong sustained winds which created an unprecedented storm surge- if the power lines in the neighborhood in which I work had been buried, I probably would have spent the time with light and heat, not to mention the internet. This country needs jobs, and building an improved power grid and improved transportation system would be a lot better for us than building some goddamn stupid wall.
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Sandy Aftermath
Sandy, to put it succinctly, kicked my ass, but not to the extent that last year's hurricane Irene did. I got to work before the brunt of the storm hit, around 2PM on Monday, knowing that I would not be leaving the site before 9AM the following morning. I packed as if I were going on a camping trip- plenty of food and several changes of clothes.
When it hit my neck of the woods, Sandy differed significantly from a typical tropical storm in that there was comparatively little rainfall. Out of the several times when I had to be outside checking up on things, I only had to wear my rain poncho once. The wind, however, was pretty brutal. My workplace lost power around 11PM (two of my co-workers were also pulling all-night duty, one lost power early on, the other didn't lose power at all).
The weird thing about losing power in a public building is that there is emergency power that kicks in to provide enough lighting to allow an evacuation of the building. Of course, I was not evacuating... it's a bit eerie sitting in a dim building, watching the lights slowly dying, listening to the beeps of the alarm system growing fainter with time. Luckily, I had access to candles (during our nighttime fundraisers, we put lanterns up on site to provide "atmosphere"), and I made sure to "top off" my electronic devices throughout the evening while I still had power.
Knowing the power would not come on for a while, I had to engage in "resource management"- I had to use the gigantic rechargeable flashlight sparingly and conserve phone battery power (the phone is an emergency light source as well as a communication device in instances like this). I only used my phone frivolously once, to snap a picture of a tired, unshaven, raggedly looking bastard working by candlelight:
It was pitch dark but luckily I had a torch and a match in my inventory.
About every three hours, I did a walkabout to gauge water levels on the site (Irene was primarily a flooding event in my neck of the woods) and checked for storm damage to the buildings on site. A sizable branch had narrowly missed my car, but we survived pretty much unscathed. During one of my rambles I saw what appeared to be an intense, though extremely localized, fireworks display- probably a transformer explosion. The police, fire department, EMTs, and ConEd work crews were out and about- the night was punctuated by wailing sirens and flashing lights. By the time the site director and site manager arrived at 9AM, the storm had subsided, and I had a comprehensive report on the extent of the minor damage done to the site. I sent several text messages to my department head to appraise him of my situation and convey the reports of my two overnighting co-workers.
I returned home on deserted roads and found that my neighborhood had never lost power. A large oak tree came down right where I usually park my car... I joked to my neighbor that I was lucky I worked an all-nighter- it's not the first time my car missed getting totaled by a falling tree by virtue of my work schedule. She joked about inviting all of her powerless friends over for the day- "If you have any frozen steaks you don't want to spoil, bring them over!"
I crawled into bed, bone tired, and zonked out until about 3PM, when I received a call from the guy who was supposed to work Tuesday afternoon- he was stuck at home by flooded roads and downed trees. Damn, damn, damn, I had to go back. Luckily, I had re-charged my cell phone- I arrived to find that the power was still out at work. Knowing that the power would probably be out, I made sure I had a fat, lurid paperpack, purchased for a quarter at a library book sale, and my wind-up radio/LED combo with me. Around 5PM, the Chief Financial Officer of the organization came over to conduct a spot inspection (much to my surprise). I took him on a Cook's destruction tour, pointing out the minor damage that the site had incurred. The rest of the night was uneventful- it involved using my resources sparingly, reading my trashy novel, and listening to radio reports of the massive damage that coastal areas received. I'm still not really caught up on current events, but Sandy pretty much supersedes everything as far as media coverage in these parts.
When it hit my neck of the woods, Sandy differed significantly from a typical tropical storm in that there was comparatively little rainfall. Out of the several times when I had to be outside checking up on things, I only had to wear my rain poncho once. The wind, however, was pretty brutal. My workplace lost power around 11PM (two of my co-workers were also pulling all-night duty, one lost power early on, the other didn't lose power at all).
The weird thing about losing power in a public building is that there is emergency power that kicks in to provide enough lighting to allow an evacuation of the building. Of course, I was not evacuating... it's a bit eerie sitting in a dim building, watching the lights slowly dying, listening to the beeps of the alarm system growing fainter with time. Luckily, I had access to candles (during our nighttime fundraisers, we put lanterns up on site to provide "atmosphere"), and I made sure to "top off" my electronic devices throughout the evening while I still had power.
Knowing the power would not come on for a while, I had to engage in "resource management"- I had to use the gigantic rechargeable flashlight sparingly and conserve phone battery power (the phone is an emergency light source as well as a communication device in instances like this). I only used my phone frivolously once, to snap a picture of a tired, unshaven, raggedly looking bastard working by candlelight:
It was pitch dark but luckily I had a torch and a match in my inventory.
About every three hours, I did a walkabout to gauge water levels on the site (Irene was primarily a flooding event in my neck of the woods) and checked for storm damage to the buildings on site. A sizable branch had narrowly missed my car, but we survived pretty much unscathed. During one of my rambles I saw what appeared to be an intense, though extremely localized, fireworks display- probably a transformer explosion. The police, fire department, EMTs, and ConEd work crews were out and about- the night was punctuated by wailing sirens and flashing lights. By the time the site director and site manager arrived at 9AM, the storm had subsided, and I had a comprehensive report on the extent of the minor damage done to the site. I sent several text messages to my department head to appraise him of my situation and convey the reports of my two overnighting co-workers.
I returned home on deserted roads and found that my neighborhood had never lost power. A large oak tree came down right where I usually park my car... I joked to my neighbor that I was lucky I worked an all-nighter- it's not the first time my car missed getting totaled by a falling tree by virtue of my work schedule. She joked about inviting all of her powerless friends over for the day- "If you have any frozen steaks you don't want to spoil, bring them over!"
I crawled into bed, bone tired, and zonked out until about 3PM, when I received a call from the guy who was supposed to work Tuesday afternoon- he was stuck at home by flooded roads and downed trees. Damn, damn, damn, I had to go back. Luckily, I had re-charged my cell phone- I arrived to find that the power was still out at work. Knowing that the power would probably be out, I made sure I had a fat, lurid paperpack, purchased for a quarter at a library book sale, and my wind-up radio/LED combo with me. Around 5PM, the Chief Financial Officer of the organization came over to conduct a spot inspection (much to my surprise). I took him on a Cook's destruction tour, pointing out the minor damage that the site had incurred. The rest of the night was uneventful- it involved using my resources sparingly, reading my trashy novel, and listening to radio reports of the massive damage that coastal areas received. I'm still not really caught up on current events, but Sandy pretty much supersedes everything as far as media coverage in these parts.
Thursday, November 1, 2012
Romney, Wrong on the Role of the Federal Government
Sitting in the dark on the job for two days, one has time for contemplation. Because I was sitting in the dark as a result of a major storm, disaster response has been on my mind. I'm going to riff off of one of the last blog posts I read before losing the electricity, Bette Noir's "compare and contrast" post about President Obama's approach to disaster relief and Mitt Romney's statements about disaster relief in one of the primary debates. Here's an excerpt from the transcript of the debate, hosted by CNN's John King:
“FEMA is about to run out of money, and there are some people who say do it on a case-by-case basis and some people who say, you know, maybe we're learning a lesson here that the states should take on more of this role,” Mr. King said. “How do you deal with something like that?”
Romney’s response: "Every time you have an occasion to take something from the federal government and send it back to the states, that's the right direction. And if you can go even further and send it back to the private sector, that's even better.
“Instead of thinking in the federal budget, what we should cut – we should ask ourselves the opposite question,” Romney continued. “What should we keep? We should take all of what we're doing at the federal level and say, what are the things we're doing that we don't have to do? And those things we've got to stop doing, because we're borrowing $1.6 trillion more this year than we're taking in. We cannot ...”
King interjected: “Including disaster relief, though?”
Romney replied: “We cannot – we cannot afford to do those things without jeopardizing the future for our kids. It is simply immoral, in my view, for us to continue to rack up larger and larger debts and pass them on to our kids, knowing full well that we'll all be dead and gone before it's paid off. It makes no sense at all.”
A quick glance at the map of Superstorm Sandy demonstrates the stupidity of Mitt Romney's proposal for diminishing the role of the federal government in disaster response. Hurricane Sandy was a vast storm which ravaged the Atlantic Coast of the United States from North Carolina to Massachusetts, with lesser, though significant effects felt as far west as Ohio. Simply put, the storm was too vast for any single state to be able to handle disaster response and relief. Damage to the infrastructure within a state hampers the coordination of relief efforts. Even now, days after the storm, there are communication problems (I have electricity, and I am having problems getting through on the phone for various reasons, those without power are even worse off). In much of the New York tri-state area, gasoline is in short supply. To put the burden of disaster relief on the overburdened states is asinine. Just because I want to twist the knife, so to speak, Mitt Romney's record as a governor responding to a natural disaster is not a good one.
In times of disaster, it is important to remember the original motto of the United States, E Pluribus Unum, which is Latin for "out of many, one". Combined, the states form a more powerful whole. In times of natural disaster, the federal government can coordinate the response more readily than the states which have been hit. The United States is a vast country, the nature of disasters differs from location to location- while different states can concentrate on their areas of expertise, a central coordinating agency is better able to marshal resources that will be needed after local resources are exhausted.
To compound Romney's idiocy, his assertion that he'd rather have the private sector administer disaster responses is truly a howler. Of course, Romney's not really an idiot- he's the sort of sociopath who would prefer that there's an executive skimming off the top when funds are allocated for disaster aid. If Romney gets elected president, expect well-connected wealthy insiders to get even wealthier on the misery of disaster victims. In anticipation of such a (literal) windfall, Jeb Bush has founded a for-profit disaster response corporation. If disaster response is privatized, there will be a two-tier approach to relief and recovery operations- the rich folks will be whisked out of the disaster area in luxurious helicopters with fully-stocked bars while Joe and Jane Schmo will die horribly... the executives have to make a profit, after all. I imagine Jeb Bush's privatized disaster response will be just as successful as his brother George's privatized war.
In the '90's the town of Rye Brook, New York decided to experiment with privatized firefighting services. The private firefighting corporation cut corners with wages, ensuring that the workers were poorly-trained and had a high turnover rate, and they refused to engage in a mutual assistance agreement with neighboring municipalities, and the result was disastrous. Imagine how poorly a private corporation, with an eye towards maximizing profits, would handle a disaster of the magnitude of a Sandy.
Hopefully, the example of Sandy will wake voters who would vote for Mitt Romney out of spite. Romney is unfit to run the country- Chris Christie, a man I can't stand, has praised President Obama's disaster response and is being lambasted by his former admirers for it. Former Republican and wishy-washy "third way" flack Mike Bloomberg has endorsed President Obama's candidacy. In the face of disaster, real leadership and a genuine desire for public service is needed. Mitt Romney is a callow, hollow simulacrum of a man, and his history of failed disaster response and putting personal profits over the public need renders him unacceptable as a President.
“FEMA is about to run out of money, and there are some people who say do it on a case-by-case basis and some people who say, you know, maybe we're learning a lesson here that the states should take on more of this role,” Mr. King said. “How do you deal with something like that?”
Romney’s response: "Every time you have an occasion to take something from the federal government and send it back to the states, that's the right direction. And if you can go even further and send it back to the private sector, that's even better.
“Instead of thinking in the federal budget, what we should cut – we should ask ourselves the opposite question,” Romney continued. “What should we keep? We should take all of what we're doing at the federal level and say, what are the things we're doing that we don't have to do? And those things we've got to stop doing, because we're borrowing $1.6 trillion more this year than we're taking in. We cannot ...”
King interjected: “Including disaster relief, though?”
Romney replied: “We cannot – we cannot afford to do those things without jeopardizing the future for our kids. It is simply immoral, in my view, for us to continue to rack up larger and larger debts and pass them on to our kids, knowing full well that we'll all be dead and gone before it's paid off. It makes no sense at all.”
A quick glance at the map of Superstorm Sandy demonstrates the stupidity of Mitt Romney's proposal for diminishing the role of the federal government in disaster response. Hurricane Sandy was a vast storm which ravaged the Atlantic Coast of the United States from North Carolina to Massachusetts, with lesser, though significant effects felt as far west as Ohio. Simply put, the storm was too vast for any single state to be able to handle disaster response and relief. Damage to the infrastructure within a state hampers the coordination of relief efforts. Even now, days after the storm, there are communication problems (I have electricity, and I am having problems getting through on the phone for various reasons, those without power are even worse off). In much of the New York tri-state area, gasoline is in short supply. To put the burden of disaster relief on the overburdened states is asinine. Just because I want to twist the knife, so to speak, Mitt Romney's record as a governor responding to a natural disaster is not a good one.
In times of disaster, it is important to remember the original motto of the United States, E Pluribus Unum, which is Latin for "out of many, one". Combined, the states form a more powerful whole. In times of natural disaster, the federal government can coordinate the response more readily than the states which have been hit. The United States is a vast country, the nature of disasters differs from location to location- while different states can concentrate on their areas of expertise, a central coordinating agency is better able to marshal resources that will be needed after local resources are exhausted.
To compound Romney's idiocy, his assertion that he'd rather have the private sector administer disaster responses is truly a howler. Of course, Romney's not really an idiot- he's the sort of sociopath who would prefer that there's an executive skimming off the top when funds are allocated for disaster aid. If Romney gets elected president, expect well-connected wealthy insiders to get even wealthier on the misery of disaster victims. In anticipation of such a (literal) windfall, Jeb Bush has founded a for-profit disaster response corporation. If disaster response is privatized, there will be a two-tier approach to relief and recovery operations- the rich folks will be whisked out of the disaster area in luxurious helicopters with fully-stocked bars while Joe and Jane Schmo will die horribly... the executives have to make a profit, after all. I imagine Jeb Bush's privatized disaster response will be just as successful as his brother George's privatized war.
In the '90's the town of Rye Brook, New York decided to experiment with privatized firefighting services. The private firefighting corporation cut corners with wages, ensuring that the workers were poorly-trained and had a high turnover rate, and they refused to engage in a mutual assistance agreement with neighboring municipalities, and the result was disastrous. Imagine how poorly a private corporation, with an eye towards maximizing profits, would handle a disaster of the magnitude of a Sandy.
Hopefully, the example of Sandy will wake voters who would vote for Mitt Romney out of spite. Romney is unfit to run the country- Chris Christie, a man I can't stand, has praised President Obama's disaster response and is being lambasted by his former admirers for it. Former Republican and wishy-washy "third way" flack Mike Bloomberg has endorsed President Obama's candidacy. In the face of disaster, real leadership and a genuine desire for public service is needed. Mitt Romney is a callow, hollow simulacrum of a man, and his history of failed disaster response and putting personal profits over the public need renders him unacceptable as a President.
Sunday, October 29, 2017
Slight Touch of Déjà Vu
Five years ago, Superstorm Sandy hit the area, imiserating millions of persons in the NY metro area. I escaped unscathed, though I did have to camp out on the job for four days without heat or electricity because no gasoline was to be had, so a lot of my co-workers were unable to get to work, and it fell on me to 'shelter in place' on the job, which was preferable to getting stuck on the side of the road with an empty gas tank.
Well, today we're experiencing a tropical storm, with heavy rains and potentially hazardous winds. While this storm is piddly compared to Sandy, it was enough to get us to cancel our fall fundraisers for the evening. I spent a good deal of time outdoors making sure that people who hadn't checked their email for cancellation notices were turned away in a diplomatic fashion. I also made sure the drains and sewer grates weren't blocked by fallen leaves and pine needles, and put some flood barriers and absorbent synthetic 'sandbags' in the basement in case of local flooding.
The power is on, as you can surmise by this post, and the storm isn't nearly as fierce as Sandy, but I can't help but feel a twinge of déjà vu. Five years ago, one of the managers and I were scrambling madly around the site, taking down lanterns and lantern-stakes to prevent wholesale breakage. Tonight, we were making sure the hatches were battened down in the main building, and turning away visitors. It wasn't as frantic as it was then, but the general feeling that we've been through this storm-crap before is unshakeable.
Well, today we're experiencing a tropical storm, with heavy rains and potentially hazardous winds. While this storm is piddly compared to Sandy, it was enough to get us to cancel our fall fundraisers for the evening. I spent a good deal of time outdoors making sure that people who hadn't checked their email for cancellation notices were turned away in a diplomatic fashion. I also made sure the drains and sewer grates weren't blocked by fallen leaves and pine needles, and put some flood barriers and absorbent synthetic 'sandbags' in the basement in case of local flooding.
The power is on, as you can surmise by this post, and the storm isn't nearly as fierce as Sandy, but I can't help but feel a twinge of déjà vu. Five years ago, one of the managers and I were scrambling madly around the site, taking down lanterns and lantern-stakes to prevent wholesale breakage. Tonight, we were making sure the hatches were battened down in the main building, and turning away visitors. It wasn't as frantic as it was then, but the general feeling that we've been through this storm-crap before is unshakeable.
Monday, October 29, 2012
You Look Familiar, I Think I Met Your Sister
Wow, three days without a post... it's been crazy here in Bastardstan. My last post was on Thursday, the last moment of calmness I've had in a while. Thursday night, I returned to work one of our major fall fundraisers after getting a whopping three hours of sleep. Friday? I slept until noon, then got my act together and headed back to work the fundraiser that night. After five and a half hours of sleep, I headed down to Manhattan to teach, then traveled straight to work, stopping only to get a couple of slices of pizza.
As you can imagine, I passed out when I got home and slept until noon yet again on Sunday. When I got to work at 3PM, I found that our last fundraising night was cancelled due to the impending Hurricane Sandy (a sizable contingent of our cast and crew commutes up from NYC and the MTA suspended train service at 7PM. Instead of working the event, I helped break the sets down and collected a metric fuckton of hardware off the site. One of my co-workers jokingly told me, "I don't mean to offend you, but you're a beast." No offense was taken, one's gotta do what one must, even if it's exhausting.
Today, I got to work early to beat the fury of the predicted Frankenstorm. I'm just as safe at work as I would be at home, and I'm a hell of a lot safer than I'd be on the roads. I made sure I packed as if I were going on a camping trip- I have several changes of clothes, plenty of food, and I made sure I filled several large bottles with water just in case the shit hits the fan. My first order of business on the job was making sure that mah preshus kittehs were safely locked in their dwellings and supplied with plenty of cat food. Can't have them running around in a titanic gale.
Hilariously, one of the young ladies in the event crew had made a joke about disaster preparedness: "Stock up on condoms and frozen vegetables. If you are stuck with no place to go, you can just have sex until you're sore, then you can use the frozen vegetable packages as ice packs, and you can eat them when they thaw out." Well, this comment made me revise my disaster preparedness plans... "Whatever you do, make sure you are stranded with this girl if there is a disaster."
Unfortunately, the only one I'm stranded with Sandy, and she's looking a lot like her sister Irene, with whom I spent the night. Because of the timing, and the storm's effect on our fundraisers, I am also reminded of last year's late October blizzard. The forecasters have indicated that Sandy could be with us for up to 36 hours.
It's going to be a long, rough couple of days and I'm all out ofbubblegum frozen vegetables.
As you can imagine, I passed out when I got home and slept until noon yet again on Sunday. When I got to work at 3PM, I found that our last fundraising night was cancelled due to the impending Hurricane Sandy (a sizable contingent of our cast and crew commutes up from NYC and the MTA suspended train service at 7PM. Instead of working the event, I helped break the sets down and collected a metric fuckton of hardware off the site. One of my co-workers jokingly told me, "I don't mean to offend you, but you're a beast." No offense was taken, one's gotta do what one must, even if it's exhausting.
Today, I got to work early to beat the fury of the predicted Frankenstorm. I'm just as safe at work as I would be at home, and I'm a hell of a lot safer than I'd be on the roads. I made sure I packed as if I were going on a camping trip- I have several changes of clothes, plenty of food, and I made sure I filled several large bottles with water just in case the shit hits the fan. My first order of business on the job was making sure that mah preshus kittehs were safely locked in their dwellings and supplied with plenty of cat food. Can't have them running around in a titanic gale.
Hilariously, one of the young ladies in the event crew had made a joke about disaster preparedness: "Stock up on condoms and frozen vegetables. If you are stuck with no place to go, you can just have sex until you're sore, then you can use the frozen vegetable packages as ice packs, and you can eat them when they thaw out." Well, this comment made me revise my disaster preparedness plans... "Whatever you do, make sure you are stranded with this girl if there is a disaster."
Unfortunately, the only one I'm stranded with Sandy, and she's looking a lot like her sister Irene, with whom I spent the night. Because of the timing, and the storm's effect on our fundraisers, I am also reminded of last year's late October blizzard. The forecasters have indicated that Sandy could be with us for up to 36 hours.
It's going to be a long, rough couple of days and I'm all out of
Friday, September 14, 2018
Florence and the Rain Machine
I've been periodically checking in on the progress of Hurricane Florence, and I am reminded of 2011's Hurricane Irene and 2012's Superstorm Sandy. Florence, like Irene, is a slow moving rain machine- while 'only' a category one hurricane at landfall, the main damage will be due to storm surge, largely an effect of the storm's 500 mile (800 kilometer) diameter, and the flooding rainfall. Here in the Northeast, Superstorm Sandy's destructive effects were due to storm surge while Irene wreaked havoc in New England due to its slow pace and heavy rains. Florence looks like it'll hit the Carolinas with a combination of both.
The real 'elephant in the room' is the development of the Outer Banks, the barrier islands along the North Carolina coast, which are being inundated, and other low-lying coastal areas. Even under the best conditions, barrier islands are ephemeral- they go, move, shift with the currents. I'm not a big Bible reader, but there's something to be said about not building a house on a foundation of sand.
To compound the dangers of flooding, North Carolina is infamous for its pig manure lagoons which, if flooding causes them to overtop their 'banks', will contaminate rivers and groundwater before the fecal flood pollutes the coastal waters, possibly causing algal blooms and sea life die-off. Even worse than the pigshit is the coal ash from power plants, which contains heavy metals, which are even worse than fecal coliforms. I'm of the opinion that a 'war on coal' is a good thing, but I'm one of those 'nanny state' regulation junkies.
One concern that I have is that the coastal devastation in the wake of Florence will result in an orgy of Disaster Capitalism. One particularly vulnerable population is the Gullah Geechee community of the low country and offshore islands, who have largely preserved their African heritage through the centuries. The Gullah Geechee are already beleaguered by global warming and predatory developers, and a destructive storm might be the factor which pushes them over the edge.
At any rate, I have a suspicion that Florence will be another unmitigated disaster, partly due to Trumpian incompetence, partly due to rapacious disaster capitalism.
Post title taken from one of contemporary pop music's most dramatic performers...
The real 'elephant in the room' is the development of the Outer Banks, the barrier islands along the North Carolina coast, which are being inundated, and other low-lying coastal areas. Even under the best conditions, barrier islands are ephemeral- they go, move, shift with the currents. I'm not a big Bible reader, but there's something to be said about not building a house on a foundation of sand.
To compound the dangers of flooding, North Carolina is infamous for its pig manure lagoons which, if flooding causes them to overtop their 'banks', will contaminate rivers and groundwater before the fecal flood pollutes the coastal waters, possibly causing algal blooms and sea life die-off. Even worse than the pigshit is the coal ash from power plants, which contains heavy metals, which are even worse than fecal coliforms. I'm of the opinion that a 'war on coal' is a good thing, but I'm one of those 'nanny state' regulation junkies.
One concern that I have is that the coastal devastation in the wake of Florence will result in an orgy of Disaster Capitalism. One particularly vulnerable population is the Gullah Geechee community of the low country and offshore islands, who have largely preserved their African heritage through the centuries. The Gullah Geechee are already beleaguered by global warming and predatory developers, and a destructive storm might be the factor which pushes them over the edge.
At any rate, I have a suspicion that Florence will be another unmitigated disaster, partly due to Trumpian incompetence, partly due to rapacious disaster capitalism.
Post title taken from one of contemporary pop music's most dramatic performers...
Tuesday, August 29, 2017
From NY to Texas, We Love You, Stop Voting for Assholes
I have expressed anger at Texas' senators for holding up relief funds for New York and New Jersey post-Sandy, but, not being a monster, I have to hold myself to a better standard than those assholes... I can't sit by and do nothing for the people of Southeast Texas in the face of Hurricane Harvey. I am not a believer in big charities- I have seen too much about even seemingly reputable charities using funds to pay unreasonable executive compensation and fundraising costs. Accordingly, I have donated by dollars to local groups- the Central Texas Food Bank and the San Antonio Food Bank. These organizations will be handling the care and feeding of evacuees for the foreseeable future, so I figure they are two of the best bets for money actually getting to the needy.
Being a New Yorker, therefore someone who forgets nothing, I will never forgive the Texas congressional Republican coterie for holding up post-Sandy aid, and I will especially never forgive these assholes for making me think 'screw those people, they didn't come out to help us when we needed them' for even one second. If I am to claim that I am a better person than Cruz et al., I have to be, you know, a better person.
Now, my Texan friends, please take some time to perhaps consider not electing total assholes to represent you?
Being a New Yorker, therefore someone who forgets nothing, I will never forgive the Texas congressional Republican coterie for holding up post-Sandy aid, and I will especially never forgive these assholes for making me think 'screw those people, they didn't come out to help us when we needed them' for even one second. If I am to claim that I am a better person than Cruz et al., I have to be, you know, a better person.
Now, my Texan friends, please take some time to perhaps consider not electing total assholes to represent you?
Thursday, January 7, 2010
City of "Why?"
Wow, I put up a lovey-dovey post on the City of Yonkers, and what the hell happens the following day?
Yeah, you got it- a scandal on the front page:
Three Indicted in Yonkers Vote-Selling Scam.
Yonkers was once known as the "City of Gracious Living". Now, Yonkers is known as "The City of Hills, Where Nothing is on the Level" due to it's topography, and reputation for corruption. As a snarky aside, Yonkers was once immortalized in the musical Hello Dolly, more recently, it's been rendered undead in World War Z.
Not being a starry-eyed naif, I have to confess that this scandal does not come as a surprise, but I am disappointed in the role played by hometown girl Sandy Annabi, who I was a fan of, for several reasons (on a serious note, she started out as a good progressive and a tireless advocate for her constituents). Well, the prosecutors claimed she sold her vote on the proposed Ridge Hill development "for baubles and trinkets". Well, all that eyeliner doesn't come cheap.
Sandy, you broke my heart.
Yeah, you got it- a scandal on the front page:
Three Indicted in Yonkers Vote-Selling Scam.
Yonkers was once known as the "City of Gracious Living". Now, Yonkers is known as "The City of Hills, Where Nothing is on the Level" due to it's topography, and reputation for corruption. As a snarky aside, Yonkers was once immortalized in the musical Hello Dolly, more recently, it's been rendered undead in World War Z.
Not being a starry-eyed naif, I have to confess that this scandal does not come as a surprise, but I am disappointed in the role played by hometown girl Sandy Annabi, who I was a fan of, for several reasons (on a serious note, she started out as a good progressive and a tireless advocate for her constituents). Well, the prosecutors claimed she sold her vote on the proposed Ridge Hill development "for baubles and trinkets". Well, all that eyeliner doesn't come cheap.
Sandy, you broke my heart.
Saturday, December 14, 2013
7.62mmoloch
It's a bit of a relief that the massive winter storm hitting the northeast has largely driven coverage of the first anniversary of the "Sandy Hook" massacre from the news. Even more thankfully, the bad weather seems to be keeping the trolls out of the Newtown, Connecticut area.
I took the news of the Sandy Hook horror pretty hard, spending a good portion of the weekend with little kids on a regular basis. That being said, I am weary of the pieties that always seem to characterize remembrance, while nothing is done to address the original problem. Forget the memorials in the cathedrals and churches, the deity most commonly worshiped in this country isn't the Gentle Nazarene. This country's gods are Mammon and Moloch. The servants of Mammon keeping raking in the profits resulting from the ongoing sacrifice of children to the 7.62mm Moloch.
I took the news of the Sandy Hook horror pretty hard, spending a good portion of the weekend with little kids on a regular basis. That being said, I am weary of the pieties that always seem to characterize remembrance, while nothing is done to address the original problem. Forget the memorials in the cathedrals and churches, the deity most commonly worshiped in this country isn't the Gentle Nazarene. This country's gods are Mammon and Moloch. The servants of Mammon keeping raking in the profits resulting from the ongoing sacrifice of children to the 7.62mm Moloch.
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
Cowardly, Callous, and Cruel
Never mind the Fiscal Cliff kerfuffle- what really chaps my ass is Republican Speaker of the House John Boehner's decision to abandon a vote on a Superstorm Sandy aid package.
I have made no bones about having an enormous amount of contempt for NJ Governor Chris Christie, and I have absolutely no use for odious GOP Representative for New York's Long Island Peter King. To summarize my assesment of these jerks- Christie is a loudmouth faux tough guy who doesn't give a damn for Johnny and Janie Paycheck, and King is a rabble-rousing anti-Muslim bigot who ignores the needs of the 9/11 first responders he invokes in his prejudiced tirades. Today, I view these clowns as the proverbial stopped clock- both Republicans have had choice words about House Speaker John Boehner.
Peter King first lambasted Boehner on the floor of the House of Representatives. King was even more pointed in his criticism of Boehner afterwards, going so far as to urge New York and New Jersey Republicans to stop donating money to the Republican Campaign Committee:
Christ Christie also came down on the Boehner like a two ton heavy thing:
Of course, Christie mendaciously throws in a criticism of New Jersy Senate Democrats, in order to play the "both sides do it" card.
Not content to passively ignore the impassioned pleas of New York and New Jersey representatives to bring this vote to the floor, Boehner apparently lashed out at NJ Republican Frank LoBiondo. The latest development in the case is that Boehner, cowed by the vehemence of his fellow Republicans has promised to bring Sandy aid up for a vote after the new Congress is sworn in. Too callous to bring up the vote on Tuesday, too cowardly to stand by his prior position.
John Boehner's a godawful fool-
He's cowardly, callous and cruel.
I have made no bones about having an enormous amount of contempt for NJ Governor Chris Christie, and I have absolutely no use for odious GOP Representative for New York's Long Island Peter King. To summarize my assesment of these jerks- Christie is a loudmouth faux tough guy who doesn't give a damn for Johnny and Janie Paycheck, and King is a rabble-rousing anti-Muslim bigot who ignores the needs of the 9/11 first responders he invokes in his prejudiced tirades. Today, I view these clowns as the proverbial stopped clock- both Republicans have had choice words about House Speaker John Boehner.
Peter King first lambasted Boehner on the floor of the House of Representatives. King was even more pointed in his criticism of Boehner afterwards, going so far as to urge New York and New Jersey Republicans to stop donating money to the Republican Campaign Committee:
Christ Christie also came down on the Boehner like a two ton heavy thing:
Of course, Christie mendaciously throws in a criticism of New Jersy Senate Democrats, in order to play the "both sides do it" card.
Not content to passively ignore the impassioned pleas of New York and New Jersey representatives to bring this vote to the floor, Boehner apparently lashed out at NJ Republican Frank LoBiondo. The latest development in the case is that Boehner, cowed by the vehemence of his fellow Republicans has promised to bring Sandy aid up for a vote after the new Congress is sworn in. Too callous to bring up the vote on Tuesday, too cowardly to stand by his prior position.
John Boehner's a godawful fool-
He's cowardly, callous and cruel.
Thursday, January 17, 2013
Prognostication's Not Pork!
It's a relief that the House of Representatives passed Superstorm Sandy relief in a 228-192 squeaker. In truly asinine fashion, the GOP congresscritters wanted to cut $13 million from the National Weather Service. Leave it to Republicans to want to cut funding from the National Weather Service in the wake of a huge weather-related catastrophe (I am reminded of Bobby Jindal's scornful remarks about "volcano monitoring", delivered while Alaska's Mt. Redoubt was being monitored due to an eruption threat). It's also reminiscent of their 2011 decision to cut funding for NOAA's hurricane tracking satellite system.
In the case of Sandy, continual monitoring was crucial, because the path of the storm was atypical, a once-every-700-years event. The European tracking models more accurately predicted the path of the storm than the American ones... thankfully, those socialistic scientists like to share data. If there hadn't been accurate models, the toll of death and destruction would have been unthinkable.
Once again, the Republicans have shown a willingness to continue their war on science... hell, they have Creationists sitting on the House Science Committee. In the case of their attitude toward the monitoring of natural phenomena that can result in mass death, their hostile attitude toward science can result in real harm.
Prognostication ain't pork, people.
Cross-posted at Rumproast
In the case of Sandy, continual monitoring was crucial, because the path of the storm was atypical, a once-every-700-years event. The European tracking models more accurately predicted the path of the storm than the American ones... thankfully, those socialistic scientists like to share data. If there hadn't been accurate models, the toll of death and destruction would have been unthinkable.
Once again, the Republicans have shown a willingness to continue their war on science... hell, they have Creationists sitting on the House Science Committee. In the case of their attitude toward the monitoring of natural phenomena that can result in mass death, their hostile attitude toward science can result in real harm.
Prognostication ain't pork, people.
Cross-posted at Rumproast
Wednesday, April 20, 2016
New York Values, Revisted
Back in January, I wrote a post on Ted Cruz' New York Values crack. In light of the fact that Ted Cruz won zero delegates from New York and lost to non-candidate Ben Carson in some counties, I figured I'd revisit that subject. Texan and blogroll member Nasreen Iqbal, in a comment on Monday's post, noted that Ted Cruz has pretty much been a big no-show regarding the needs of New Yorkers:
In other news, I have survived Houston's third major flood in less than a year. After the last one - last Memorial Day - Sentaor Cruz stood behind and verbally supported our mayor in asking for federal disaster assistance. He had opposed that for Hurricane Sandy, a storm with the good sense to hit a place other than Texas.
Yep, Ted Cruz opposed federal relief after Superstorm Sandy, while asking for federal relief after flooding in his home state. He also voted against the Zadroga Act, which sets aside funds for the medical expenses of 9/11 first responders who were exposed to a toxic cloud that Republican Christine Todd Whitman insisted was safe. New Yorkers never forget, so Cruz was pretty much DOA from the get-go in New York, even with his recent stupid ads running against Bill De Blasio.
An integral ingredient of New York values is our support for each other when the chips are down. If you fuck with one New Yorker, you fuck with all of this. Ted Cruz, in a very real sense, fucked with New Yorkers in need with his votes against federal aid paid for with taxes which New York pays to Washington in excess of monies received.
New Yorkers help each other, we also help others, such as Texans... you don't see any of our senators blocking federal aid to states with GOP representatives. Once again, I'll take our New York values over anything that creepy sociopath Ted Cruz espouses.
In other news, I have survived Houston's third major flood in less than a year. After the last one - last Memorial Day - Sentaor Cruz stood behind and verbally supported our mayor in asking for federal disaster assistance. He had opposed that for Hurricane Sandy, a storm with the good sense to hit a place other than Texas.
Yep, Ted Cruz opposed federal relief after Superstorm Sandy, while asking for federal relief after flooding in his home state. He also voted against the Zadroga Act, which sets aside funds for the medical expenses of 9/11 first responders who were exposed to a toxic cloud that Republican Christine Todd Whitman insisted was safe. New Yorkers never forget, so Cruz was pretty much DOA from the get-go in New York, even with his recent stupid ads running against Bill De Blasio.
An integral ingredient of New York values is our support for each other when the chips are down. If you fuck with one New Yorker, you fuck with all of this. Ted Cruz, in a very real sense, fucked with New Yorkers in need with his votes against federal aid paid for with taxes which New York pays to Washington in excess of monies received.
New Yorkers help each other, we also help others, such as Texans... you don't see any of our senators blocking federal aid to states with GOP representatives. Once again, I'll take our New York values over anything that creepy sociopath Ted Cruz espouses.
Friday, December 14, 2018
Six Years, No Progress
Six years ago, practically in my backyard, twenty children and the six teachers and administrators who defended them were slain by a disturbed young man whose mother stockpiled guns out of fear of her neighbors should an economic collapse have occurred. I was hit hard by the news of the massacre, having to spend the next morning with children, many of them the approximate age of the children killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School. The very idea of harming helpless little kids is unspeakably horrifying.
In the six years since the Sandy Hook slayings, things have not gotten better. 2018 surpassed other years in terms of school shootings. No legislation regulating gun purchases and possession can pass the Republican dominated Congress and the Dotard's veto pen. A growing number of Americans want gun regulations, but the, as Dashiell Hammett would have put it, red harvest continues. I'd characterize it as an intractable problem, but there is a potential solution, and that would be putting the Republican Party out of our misery... our ballots vs their bullets.
Oddly enough, as I was hitting 'Publish', I realized that this song was playing on the radio:
It never made me melancholy before.
In the six years since the Sandy Hook slayings, things have not gotten better. 2018 surpassed other years in terms of school shootings. No legislation regulating gun purchases and possession can pass the Republican dominated Congress and the Dotard's veto pen. A growing number of Americans want gun regulations, but the, as Dashiell Hammett would have put it, red harvest continues. I'd characterize it as an intractable problem, but there is a potential solution, and that would be putting the Republican Party out of our misery... our ballots vs their bullets.
Oddly enough, as I was hitting 'Publish', I realized that this song was playing on the radio:
It never made me melancholy before.
Thursday, December 20, 2012
Another Right-Wing Perspective on Newton
In my last post, I broke the odious Bryan Fischer's take on the Newton school massacre down to its essence:
"The gun is good, the penis is evil!"
In this post, I will examine an entirely different right-wing perspective on the Newton massacre, that of the equally odious Charlotte Allen, a member of the thankfully rare right-wing Ladies Against Women... a successor to Phyllis Schlafly, who famously traveled around the country telling audiences that women should stay at home. In a piece posted at America's Shittiest Website, Allen blamed the shooting on the "feminization" of the Sandy Hook School:
There was not a single adult male on the school premises when the shooting occurred. In this school of 450 students, a sizeable number of whom were undoubtedly 11- and 12-year-old boys (it was a K-6 school), all the personnel - the teachers, the principal, the assistant principal, the school psychologist, the "reading specialist" - were female. There didn't even seem to be a male janitor to heave his bucket at Adam Lanza's knees. Women and small children are sitting ducks for mass-murderers. The principal, Dawn Hochsprung, seemed to have performed bravely. According to reports, she activated the school's public-address system and also lunged at Lanza, before he shot her to death. Some of the teachers managed to save all or some of their charges by rushing them into closets or bathrooms. But in general, a feminized setting is a setting in which helpless passivity is the norm. Male aggression can be a good thing, as in protecting the weak - but it has been forced out of the culture of elementary schools and the education schools that train their personnel. Think of what Sandy Hook might have been like if a couple of male teachers who had played high-school football, or even some of the huskier 12-year-old boys, had converged on Lanza.
Shorter Allen: "The gun is good, the penis is bulletproof!"
Of course, Allen ignores the obvious- if there had been one less man on site, none of those children would have been killed... but I digress. In Allen's world, the heroics of the three women who sacrificed their lives to save children is unimpressive. If there had been men on site, the shooting would have been thwarted by the manly, aggressive men... or husky manish boys.
You see, men are more bullet resistant than women... women have soft, succulent flesh that is easily penetrated... uhhh... IBIMB. Whoa, where was I before I was distracted by soft, succulent flesh? This reminds me, leg of lamb is on sale at ShopRite... Oh, yes, talking about Charlotte Fucking Allen and her lady-hatin' ways. Of course, getting back to the flesh for a moment, Pupienus Maximus would beg to differ with me about the ease with which men could be penetrated. Whoa, another digression... would a husky 12-year-old boy really be any more bullet resistant than, say, a Chunky Reese Witherspoon? As I seem to recall, Chunky Reese Witherspoon was not penetrated- maybe Ross Douthat would have had more luck with a husky 12-year-old boy... it is irresponsible not to speculate.
Getting back to the subject at hand, Allen's self-loathing misogyny denigrates the mind-boggling heroism of Mary Sherlach, Dawn Hochsprung, and Victoria Soto. In her desperation to blame anything but the bloodthirsty gun culture (which may soon claim more lives than our negligent car culture), she perpetrates a calumny against all women. To think that a man with a bucket, a fucking bucket, could have accomplished more than the three brave women who were martyred to gun nuttery, is ludicrous and vicious.
It would not be reasonable to assume that, in Charlotte Allen's twisted world, a penis somehow provides magical protective powers to its owner. I guess I'm not quite as much of a man as those in Charlotte's fantasies, I've never blocked a bullet with my cock... I do occasionally use it to crack walnuts, though.
Of course, the preceding post is firmly in the Bastardian tradition of coping snark. I tend to cope with stress and horror through snark and gallows humor- I like my humor like I like my coffee and my presidents, black.
"The gun is good, the penis is evil!"
In this post, I will examine an entirely different right-wing perspective on the Newton massacre, that of the equally odious Charlotte Allen, a member of the thankfully rare right-wing Ladies Against Women... a successor to Phyllis Schlafly, who famously traveled around the country telling audiences that women should stay at home. In a piece posted at America's Shittiest Website, Allen blamed the shooting on the "feminization" of the Sandy Hook School:
There was not a single adult male on the school premises when the shooting occurred. In this school of 450 students, a sizeable number of whom were undoubtedly 11- and 12-year-old boys (it was a K-6 school), all the personnel - the teachers, the principal, the assistant principal, the school psychologist, the "reading specialist" - were female. There didn't even seem to be a male janitor to heave his bucket at Adam Lanza's knees. Women and small children are sitting ducks for mass-murderers. The principal, Dawn Hochsprung, seemed to have performed bravely. According to reports, she activated the school's public-address system and also lunged at Lanza, before he shot her to death. Some of the teachers managed to save all or some of their charges by rushing them into closets or bathrooms. But in general, a feminized setting is a setting in which helpless passivity is the norm. Male aggression can be a good thing, as in protecting the weak - but it has been forced out of the culture of elementary schools and the education schools that train their personnel. Think of what Sandy Hook might have been like if a couple of male teachers who had played high-school football, or even some of the huskier 12-year-old boys, had converged on Lanza.
Shorter Allen: "The gun is good, the penis is bulletproof!"
Of course, Allen ignores the obvious- if there had been one less man on site, none of those children would have been killed... but I digress. In Allen's world, the heroics of the three women who sacrificed their lives to save children is unimpressive. If there had been men on site, the shooting would have been thwarted by the manly, aggressive men... or husky manish boys.
You see, men are more bullet resistant than women... women have soft, succulent flesh that is easily penetrated... uhhh... IBIMB. Whoa, where was I before I was distracted by soft, succulent flesh? This reminds me, leg of lamb is on sale at ShopRite... Oh, yes, talking about Charlotte Fucking Allen and her lady-hatin' ways. Of course, getting back to the flesh for a moment, Pupienus Maximus would beg to differ with me about the ease with which men could be penetrated. Whoa, another digression... would a husky 12-year-old boy really be any more bullet resistant than, say, a Chunky Reese Witherspoon? As I seem to recall, Chunky Reese Witherspoon was not penetrated- maybe Ross Douthat would have had more luck with a husky 12-year-old boy... it is irresponsible not to speculate.
Getting back to the subject at hand, Allen's self-loathing misogyny denigrates the mind-boggling heroism of Mary Sherlach, Dawn Hochsprung, and Victoria Soto. In her desperation to blame anything but the bloodthirsty gun culture (which may soon claim more lives than our negligent car culture), she perpetrates a calumny against all women. To think that a man with a bucket, a fucking bucket, could have accomplished more than the three brave women who were martyred to gun nuttery, is ludicrous and vicious.
It would not be reasonable to assume that, in Charlotte Allen's twisted world, a penis somehow provides magical protective powers to its owner. I guess I'm not quite as much of a man as those in Charlotte's fantasies, I've never blocked a bullet with my cock... I do occasionally use it to crack walnuts, though.
Of course, the preceding post is firmly in the Bastardian tradition of coping snark. I tend to cope with stress and horror through snark and gallows humor- I like my humor like I like my coffee and my presidents, black.
Monday, March 25, 2019
Survivor Guilt, Plus a Year-Long Litany of Abuse
In an upsetting coda to the horror of last year's Parkland mass shooting, two of the survivors, and the father of a Sandy Hook shooting victim, have taken their lives recently. Besides being witnesses to horror, and coping with survivor's guilt, these individuals have been subject to torrents of abuse online, and at the hands of well-payed arms industry shills.
After every mass shooting, the trolls come out of the woodwork, with their accounts of 'crisis actors' and 'false flags'. This American Life had a recent episode about Lenny Pozner, father of Sandy Hook victim Noah Pozner, and his efforts to turn the tables on the trolls who have hounded him from residence to residence with their accusations of deception and, in extreme cases, their death threats. Mr Pozner comes across as a tough, competent, experienced individual, the sort of person who can weather the barbs and brutalities of his tormentors. Sydney Aiello and the unidentified sophomore who took his life, were teenagers, more vulnerable to anonymous tormentors.
I can't fathom the sort of cruelty which would lead people to bully the bereaved. The natural human instinct, the natural mammalian instinct, is to console the suffering... what the hell is wrong with anyone who would harangue and harass someone who has been a witness to utter horror?
After every mass shooting, the trolls come out of the woodwork, with their accounts of 'crisis actors' and 'false flags'. This American Life had a recent episode about Lenny Pozner, father of Sandy Hook victim Noah Pozner, and his efforts to turn the tables on the trolls who have hounded him from residence to residence with their accusations of deception and, in extreme cases, their death threats. Mr Pozner comes across as a tough, competent, experienced individual, the sort of person who can weather the barbs and brutalities of his tormentors. Sydney Aiello and the unidentified sophomore who took his life, were teenagers, more vulnerable to anonymous tormentors.
I can't fathom the sort of cruelty which would lead people to bully the bereaved. The natural human instinct, the natural mammalian instinct, is to console the suffering... what the hell is wrong with anyone who would harangue and harass someone who has been a witness to utter horror?
Wednesday, May 16, 2018
Secret Science Club Post Lecture Recap: Finally, a Twin Study!
PREFACE: The mad geniuses at Riddled are often yukking it up about twin studies, so I figured I'd give them a shoutout before writing the bulk of this post...
Last night, I headed down to the beautiful Bell House, in the Gowanus section of Brooklyn, for this month's Secret Science Club lecture. This month's lecture marked the triumphant return of Dr Christopher Mason, associate professor of physiology & biophysics and computational biomedicine at Weill Cornell Medical College, member of the Yale Law School Information Society Project, and director of the WorldQuant Initiative for Quantitative Prediction. Dr Mason's previous lecture concerned his famous 'subway swabbing' project.
The topic of Dr Mason's lecture was 'Subterranean, Pan-Earth, and Inter-Planetary Genomics'... Dr Mason quipped that he is a fan of preposterous talk titles. The broad topic of the lecture involved a study to determine what the human body looks like in space. He displayed NASA's dramatic graphic showing their plans to put boots on Mars by 2035:
Dr Mason then showed the image of the SpaceX Tesla roadster, which is predicted to settle into an orbit just outside the orbit of Mars. He called attention to the library inside the Tesla, and informed us that the creation of a lunar library is scheduled for 2020, with a Mars library to follow in 2030. Dr Mason then mused, "What if it were a human body in that car?" What would the effects of space travel be on that human body. He noted that mutations can change a normal cell to a tumor cell, and that genetic mosaicism increases with age- specifically that cells can shed X chromosomes. He described an 'inexorable molecular march to oblivion'- mutations increase with age, telomeres shrink... the genetic 'bookends' fall away. He posed the question, 'how long can the body survive the slings and arrows of space?' Overall, mortality among astronauts has been significantly higher than for the general public- Dr Mason noted that space travel is not for the sheepish.
An unprecedented opportunity to study the effects of space travel on the human body presented itself when astronaut Scott Kelly was tapped to spend approximately a year on the International Space Station while his twin brother Mark remained on Earth. Dr Mason joked that the first task that NASA undertook was designing a patch for the mission:
He insisted that the patch reference epigenetics.
The Kelly twin study involved a lot of blood testing, and Dr Mason illustrated the complications of astrophlebotomy by showing a video of Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata drawing blood on the ISS:
After blood is drawn, it is centrifuged and the blood cells are frozen, the frozen cells being sent back on a Soyuz capsule, touching down in Kazakhstan.
After 340 days, Scott Kelly made it back to the Earth, and the stress of space travel was immediately apparent- his post-flight cognition was slightly impaired and his cytokines had shifted. Unused to clothing touching his skin, anything that touched his skin caused a burning sensation. He wanted to wander around naked- Dr Mason joked that that was like a typical Saturday for him.
Genetically, mutations and structural variations had occured. DNA methylation and DNA hydroxymethylation had occurred, as had RNA methylation. Scott Kelly's genome wasn't exactly the same as it had been- for example, the length of his telomeres had increased while he was in orbit, then shrank while he was back on Earth. The press coverage of the study was sensationalized and less-than-accurate- one headline screamed 'Space Made Scott Kelly Taller and Younger'. Dr Mason dryly noted that, due to time dilation, Scott Kelly was, relativistically, .1 second younger than he would have been if he'd stayed on the Earth.
Love level DNA transcription inversions were apparent, and some genetic damage persisted after Scott Kelly had returned to Earth. There was an increase of cell-free DNA in his bloodstream... as cells underwent apoptosis, the cell-free (extrasomatic) DNA was released into the blood. In particular, there was a spike of mitochondrial DNA in his blood. It was also apparent that his white blood cells had launched DNA into his blood to fight invaders. In the absence of gravitational forces, fluids shift around in the body, causing, among other things, facial puffiness.
Dr Mason then shifted the topic of the lecture to epigenetics. The ACGT genome is really just the beginning of gene expression- epigenetic factors control when and where genes are activated.
In one case of epigenetics, DNA methylation can predict an individual's age, which has great forensic utility. Dr Mason joked that YOLOIDs is now obsoletel because now bouncers can sequence a patron's DNA to check their age. Besides age, there are other reasons for epigenetic shifts- in the case of Scott Kelly, the epigenetic age was dynamic, early in the mission it appeared lower, mid-mission it appeared higher, then it appeared lower after he landed. In the three to six month range, there were 6,976 changes in gene expression. In the 6-12 month range, the amount of changes was seven times higher. 93% of the gene expression returned to normal when he landed, but 7% did not- a phenomenon promptly dubbed 'space genes'. The 'space genes' were disrupted by space flight, but Dr Mason noted that permanent genetic change only occurs when a subject is dead.
In response to the dramatic reports that 7% of his DNA had changed, Scott Kelly joked that he didn't have to call Mark his twin brother anymore. Even The Daily Show had a segment on Space Genes. NASA stepped in to set the record straight, noting that Scott and Mark Kelly are still identical twins, and that if 7% of Scott Kelly's DNA had changed, he'd have to be considered a different species. Dr Mason described this overly sensational media coverage and the subsequent scientific correction as 'a good teachable moment'.
Dr Mason then cataloged the factors which may have caused the changes in Scott Kelly's genetic expression- hypoxia, hyperemia, immune system responses, DNA repair, and disruptions to bone formation. In the ISS, carbon dioxide levels fluctuate. High levels of mitochondrial DNA in Scott Kelly's blood were thought to come from platelets and white blood cells, indicating a response to stress.
Dr Mason went on to discuss changes to Scott Kelly's microbiome- there are more than just human cells in the human body. In space, microbial diversity was largely maintained, but there was a slight shift in the Firmicutes to Bacteroidetes ratio. Dr Mason noted that it was hard to collect fecal samples in space, but refrained from describing the process. He noted that fecal and oral samples allowed researchers to determine what Scott Kelly had been eating, noting that the DNA of vegetable matter tends to survive in poop. At one point, it was suggested that Mark Kelly maintain a similar diet to synch up with his brother Scott, but he refused to do so... there aren't any 5-star restaurants in space.
The genetic study of Scott Kelly marked the first 'cartography' of a body in space, but more samples are needed, a problem compounded by the fact that there are only 556 total subjects- there just aren't many astronauts out there. Questions remain- are the patterns of changes linear, quadratic, or exponential? One potential advance is the sequencing of DNA in space- at $10K/kilogram for sending stuff into orbit, nanosequencers would make this feasible. Dr Mason joked that the first order of business was producing a Biomolecule Sequencer patch:
Sadly, the DNA sequencer was a casualty of the Falcon 9 rocket explosion. As Scott Kelly put it: "Space is hard."
To lighten the mood after that bummer, Dr Mason showed us a funny video of researcher Andy Feinberg attempting to microgravity pipetting on the 'Vomit Comet':
Eventually, a commercial DNA sequencer, MinION, was used by astronaut/microbiologist Kate Rubins to sequence DNA in space for the first time, a feath that Dr Mason described as a game-changer. A billion genes have been sequenced in space susequently, notably a sequence of E. coli's genome. Now, new infections in the ISS can be sequenced in real-time.
Dr Mason then posed the question- where else can sequencing take place? The Gowanus Canal? The subway? This was a perfect segue into the topic of his grand subway swab. He began with a great aphorism: In the absence of knowledge, the best thing is to discover. His goal was to conduct a Metropolitan Genome Project, an exploration of the metropolibiome, if you will. In the course of the subway swab, fifty percent of the DNA recovered had never been seen before- half of the world under our fingertips is unknown. He joked that, from a biological standpoint, a subway railing should be as inspiring as a rainforest. The species diversity varies by area of the city, with one particularly interesting locale being the South Ferry subway station, which had been flooded by Superstorm Sandy. Post-Sandy, the South Ferry station has exhibited a persistent molecular echo of cold ocean water. One particular organism, Shewanella frigidmarina, which was located there can produce eicosapentaenoic acid, the consumption of which may reduce suicide rates. Dr Mason seems to be particularly plagued by sensational media responses to his research- the Gothamist headline about his subway genome project read: Licking Subway Poles "Probably Fine," Says Expert. The hygiene hypothesis posits that bacterial exposure early in childhood is important in immune system function. Dr Mason then introduced us to the work of Heather Dewey-Hagborg, an artist who uses DNA from discarded cigarette butts and chewing gum to create 3d images of faces WHICH IS NOT CREEPY AT ALL!!!
In another project, 2010 Census data was campared to humans' molecular echoes, to determine if neighborhoods could be distinguished using DNA samples. Regarding privacy, an individual can choose, to some extent, what DNA they leave behind... at any rate, one should not avoid riding the subway out of privacy concerns. Dr Mason then showed images of the early morning subway cleanings, comparing these daily events to forest fires, with the subsequent press of commuters representing a 'reseeding'.
The Metasub project is a multi-city transit system metagenome project- once a year, multiple subway systems throughout the world will be swabbed for genetic material to sequence. The next big swabbing project will take place on June 21 of this year.
Other topics are ripe for research... Where does antibiotic resistance arise? Can an engineering approach be brought to medicine? Can we tweak something and predict what will happen if engineering occurs? Pigs could be genetically engineered to grow human organs. Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy repair can be performed in fetuses. Fragile X syndrome can be repaired. Using genetic engineering, how can astronauts be 'armored'? Could TP53 be enhanced to guard their DNA? What about the prospects of adding chloroplasts to human cells to allow photosynthesis? In that case, a surface area of two tennis courts would be needed to replace one hour's worth metabolic needs fueled by eating. Dr Mason characterized the prospects of such research both terrifying and exciting- there is a real chance that NASA could meet its precision medicine goals, but what if we do something wrong?
The lecture was followed by a Q&A session, led off by some bastard in the audience asking if there had been genetic surveys of people who have spent large amounts of time in underwater environs. Dr Mason indicated that there haven't been any genetic testing of SCUBA enthusiasts, but that there is currently a twin study of mountaineers who are tackling Everest. Another question regarded the percentage of subway microbes which are pathogenic- about 98% of subway microbes are not pathogens, but Dr Mason wryly noted that some of the microbes in the subway could kill you if you were a lobster. If the subway were swarming with pathogens, we all would have died already. That being said, there is a danger from aerosolized particles- it's best to avoid red-eyed, sneezing people. The odds of getting sick from subway exposure are low.
Regarding twin studies, Dr Mason joked, "I wish you all had a twin." He noted that the fact that the Kelly brothers the only twin astronauts, and that even then they had both been in space, so Mark wasn't a perfect 'control', even though Scott's time in space was orders of magnitude longer.
Another question regarded telomere elongation- one proposed mechanism is that enzymes regulating telomere length become more active. In cancer cells, telomeres tend to be too long.
The last question of the night was hilarious, a real doozy: "Given a CRISPR and no ethical qualms, how would you engineer the perfect spacer?" Dr Mason suggested that smaller size would be beneficial, as would cancer repair, photosynthetic enhancement, and a tweak to the LRP5 gene to maintain bone density. He then noted that, like Dr Moreau, geneticists in popular fiction are usually depicted as evil, he then flatly stated, "We're not evil." Yeah, you're not evil, in fact you're awesome!
Kudos to Dr Mason for another fantastic lecture, a heady blend of molecular biology, outer space adventure, dry wit, and a cautionary note about sensationalistic science reporting in the popular media. Once again, Dr Mason hit one out of the park. Special thanks to Margaret and Dorian, and the staff of the beautiful Bell House as well. High fives all around.
Now, here's a video of Dr Mason delivering a TED talk about genetics, epigenetics and the Kelly twin study:
Pour yourself a beverage and soak in that science!
Last night, I headed down to the beautiful Bell House, in the Gowanus section of Brooklyn, for this month's Secret Science Club lecture. This month's lecture marked the triumphant return of Dr Christopher Mason, associate professor of physiology & biophysics and computational biomedicine at Weill Cornell Medical College, member of the Yale Law School Information Society Project, and director of the WorldQuant Initiative for Quantitative Prediction. Dr Mason's previous lecture concerned his famous 'subway swabbing' project.
The topic of Dr Mason's lecture was 'Subterranean, Pan-Earth, and Inter-Planetary Genomics'... Dr Mason quipped that he is a fan of preposterous talk titles. The broad topic of the lecture involved a study to determine what the human body looks like in space. He displayed NASA's dramatic graphic showing their plans to put boots on Mars by 2035:
Dr Mason then showed the image of the SpaceX Tesla roadster, which is predicted to settle into an orbit just outside the orbit of Mars. He called attention to the library inside the Tesla, and informed us that the creation of a lunar library is scheduled for 2020, with a Mars library to follow in 2030. Dr Mason then mused, "What if it were a human body in that car?" What would the effects of space travel be on that human body. He noted that mutations can change a normal cell to a tumor cell, and that genetic mosaicism increases with age- specifically that cells can shed X chromosomes. He described an 'inexorable molecular march to oblivion'- mutations increase with age, telomeres shrink... the genetic 'bookends' fall away. He posed the question, 'how long can the body survive the slings and arrows of space?' Overall, mortality among astronauts has been significantly higher than for the general public- Dr Mason noted that space travel is not for the sheepish.
An unprecedented opportunity to study the effects of space travel on the human body presented itself when astronaut Scott Kelly was tapped to spend approximately a year on the International Space Station while his twin brother Mark remained on Earth. Dr Mason joked that the first task that NASA undertook was designing a patch for the mission:
He insisted that the patch reference epigenetics.
The Kelly twin study involved a lot of blood testing, and Dr Mason illustrated the complications of astrophlebotomy by showing a video of Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata drawing blood on the ISS:
After blood is drawn, it is centrifuged and the blood cells are frozen, the frozen cells being sent back on a Soyuz capsule, touching down in Kazakhstan.
After 340 days, Scott Kelly made it back to the Earth, and the stress of space travel was immediately apparent- his post-flight cognition was slightly impaired and his cytokines had shifted. Unused to clothing touching his skin, anything that touched his skin caused a burning sensation. He wanted to wander around naked- Dr Mason joked that that was like a typical Saturday for him.
Genetically, mutations and structural variations had occured. DNA methylation and DNA hydroxymethylation had occurred, as had RNA methylation. Scott Kelly's genome wasn't exactly the same as it had been- for example, the length of his telomeres had increased while he was in orbit, then shrank while he was back on Earth. The press coverage of the study was sensationalized and less-than-accurate- one headline screamed 'Space Made Scott Kelly Taller and Younger'. Dr Mason dryly noted that, due to time dilation, Scott Kelly was, relativistically, .1 second younger than he would have been if he'd stayed on the Earth.
Love level DNA transcription inversions were apparent, and some genetic damage persisted after Scott Kelly had returned to Earth. There was an increase of cell-free DNA in his bloodstream... as cells underwent apoptosis, the cell-free (extrasomatic) DNA was released into the blood. In particular, there was a spike of mitochondrial DNA in his blood. It was also apparent that his white blood cells had launched DNA into his blood to fight invaders. In the absence of gravitational forces, fluids shift around in the body, causing, among other things, facial puffiness.
Dr Mason then shifted the topic of the lecture to epigenetics. The ACGT genome is really just the beginning of gene expression- epigenetic factors control when and where genes are activated.
In one case of epigenetics, DNA methylation can predict an individual's age, which has great forensic utility. Dr Mason joked that YOLOIDs is now obsoletel because now bouncers can sequence a patron's DNA to check their age. Besides age, there are other reasons for epigenetic shifts- in the case of Scott Kelly, the epigenetic age was dynamic, early in the mission it appeared lower, mid-mission it appeared higher, then it appeared lower after he landed. In the three to six month range, there were 6,976 changes in gene expression. In the 6-12 month range, the amount of changes was seven times higher. 93% of the gene expression returned to normal when he landed, but 7% did not- a phenomenon promptly dubbed 'space genes'. The 'space genes' were disrupted by space flight, but Dr Mason noted that permanent genetic change only occurs when a subject is dead.
In response to the dramatic reports that 7% of his DNA had changed, Scott Kelly joked that he didn't have to call Mark his twin brother anymore. Even The Daily Show had a segment on Space Genes. NASA stepped in to set the record straight, noting that Scott and Mark Kelly are still identical twins, and that if 7% of Scott Kelly's DNA had changed, he'd have to be considered a different species. Dr Mason described this overly sensational media coverage and the subsequent scientific correction as 'a good teachable moment'.
Dr Mason then cataloged the factors which may have caused the changes in Scott Kelly's genetic expression- hypoxia, hyperemia, immune system responses, DNA repair, and disruptions to bone formation. In the ISS, carbon dioxide levels fluctuate. High levels of mitochondrial DNA in Scott Kelly's blood were thought to come from platelets and white blood cells, indicating a response to stress.
Dr Mason went on to discuss changes to Scott Kelly's microbiome- there are more than just human cells in the human body. In space, microbial diversity was largely maintained, but there was a slight shift in the Firmicutes to Bacteroidetes ratio. Dr Mason noted that it was hard to collect fecal samples in space, but refrained from describing the process. He noted that fecal and oral samples allowed researchers to determine what Scott Kelly had been eating, noting that the DNA of vegetable matter tends to survive in poop. At one point, it was suggested that Mark Kelly maintain a similar diet to synch up with his brother Scott, but he refused to do so... there aren't any 5-star restaurants in space.
The genetic study of Scott Kelly marked the first 'cartography' of a body in space, but more samples are needed, a problem compounded by the fact that there are only 556 total subjects- there just aren't many astronauts out there. Questions remain- are the patterns of changes linear, quadratic, or exponential? One potential advance is the sequencing of DNA in space- at $10K/kilogram for sending stuff into orbit, nanosequencers would make this feasible. Dr Mason joked that the first order of business was producing a Biomolecule Sequencer patch:
Sadly, the DNA sequencer was a casualty of the Falcon 9 rocket explosion. As Scott Kelly put it: "Space is hard."
To lighten the mood after that bummer, Dr Mason showed us a funny video of researcher Andy Feinberg attempting to microgravity pipetting on the 'Vomit Comet':
Eventually, a commercial DNA sequencer, MinION, was used by astronaut/microbiologist Kate Rubins to sequence DNA in space for the first time, a feath that Dr Mason described as a game-changer. A billion genes have been sequenced in space susequently, notably a sequence of E. coli's genome. Now, new infections in the ISS can be sequenced in real-time.
Dr Mason then posed the question- where else can sequencing take place? The Gowanus Canal? The subway? This was a perfect segue into the topic of his grand subway swab. He began with a great aphorism: In the absence of knowledge, the best thing is to discover. His goal was to conduct a Metropolitan Genome Project, an exploration of the metropolibiome, if you will. In the course of the subway swab, fifty percent of the DNA recovered had never been seen before- half of the world under our fingertips is unknown. He joked that, from a biological standpoint, a subway railing should be as inspiring as a rainforest. The species diversity varies by area of the city, with one particularly interesting locale being the South Ferry subway station, which had been flooded by Superstorm Sandy. Post-Sandy, the South Ferry station has exhibited a persistent molecular echo of cold ocean water. One particular organism, Shewanella frigidmarina, which was located there can produce eicosapentaenoic acid, the consumption of which may reduce suicide rates. Dr Mason seems to be particularly plagued by sensational media responses to his research- the Gothamist headline about his subway genome project read: Licking Subway Poles "Probably Fine," Says Expert. The hygiene hypothesis posits that bacterial exposure early in childhood is important in immune system function. Dr Mason then introduced us to the work of Heather Dewey-Hagborg, an artist who uses DNA from discarded cigarette butts and chewing gum to create 3d images of faces WHICH IS NOT CREEPY AT ALL!!!
In another project, 2010 Census data was campared to humans' molecular echoes, to determine if neighborhoods could be distinguished using DNA samples. Regarding privacy, an individual can choose, to some extent, what DNA they leave behind... at any rate, one should not avoid riding the subway out of privacy concerns. Dr Mason then showed images of the early morning subway cleanings, comparing these daily events to forest fires, with the subsequent press of commuters representing a 'reseeding'.
The Metasub project is a multi-city transit system metagenome project- once a year, multiple subway systems throughout the world will be swabbed for genetic material to sequence. The next big swabbing project will take place on June 21 of this year.
Other topics are ripe for research... Where does antibiotic resistance arise? Can an engineering approach be brought to medicine? Can we tweak something and predict what will happen if engineering occurs? Pigs could be genetically engineered to grow human organs. Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy repair can be performed in fetuses. Fragile X syndrome can be repaired. Using genetic engineering, how can astronauts be 'armored'? Could TP53 be enhanced to guard their DNA? What about the prospects of adding chloroplasts to human cells to allow photosynthesis? In that case, a surface area of two tennis courts would be needed to replace one hour's worth metabolic needs fueled by eating. Dr Mason characterized the prospects of such research both terrifying and exciting- there is a real chance that NASA could meet its precision medicine goals, but what if we do something wrong?
The lecture was followed by a Q&A session, led off by some bastard in the audience asking if there had been genetic surveys of people who have spent large amounts of time in underwater environs. Dr Mason indicated that there haven't been any genetic testing of SCUBA enthusiasts, but that there is currently a twin study of mountaineers who are tackling Everest. Another question regarded the percentage of subway microbes which are pathogenic- about 98% of subway microbes are not pathogens, but Dr Mason wryly noted that some of the microbes in the subway could kill you if you were a lobster. If the subway were swarming with pathogens, we all would have died already. That being said, there is a danger from aerosolized particles- it's best to avoid red-eyed, sneezing people. The odds of getting sick from subway exposure are low.
Regarding twin studies, Dr Mason joked, "I wish you all had a twin." He noted that the fact that the Kelly brothers the only twin astronauts, and that even then they had both been in space, so Mark wasn't a perfect 'control', even though Scott's time in space was orders of magnitude longer.
Another question regarded telomere elongation- one proposed mechanism is that enzymes regulating telomere length become more active. In cancer cells, telomeres tend to be too long.
The last question of the night was hilarious, a real doozy: "Given a CRISPR and no ethical qualms, how would you engineer the perfect spacer?" Dr Mason suggested that smaller size would be beneficial, as would cancer repair, photosynthetic enhancement, and a tweak to the LRP5 gene to maintain bone density. He then noted that, like Dr Moreau, geneticists in popular fiction are usually depicted as evil, he then flatly stated, "We're not evil." Yeah, you're not evil, in fact you're awesome!
Kudos to Dr Mason for another fantastic lecture, a heady blend of molecular biology, outer space adventure, dry wit, and a cautionary note about sensationalistic science reporting in the popular media. Once again, Dr Mason hit one out of the park. Special thanks to Margaret and Dorian, and the staff of the beautiful Bell House as well. High fives all around.
Now, here's a video of Dr Mason delivering a TED talk about genetics, epigenetics and the Kelly twin study:
Pour yourself a beverage and soak in that science!
Thursday, October 1, 2015
It Begins
October is our 'hell month' on the job- we have several concurrent fundraisers occurring simultaneously. My standard line about October is that I pull a Captain Nemo- I'm going into the submarine and I'll surface sometime in November. This month, it's particularly nutty because one of the guys in my department is recovering from a fractured humerus (that's no joke) and will be out for an additional two weeks under optimal circumstances.
To compound matters, my volunteer coaching gig starts this Saturday- I will put in a cameo appearance on the first day and discuss the upcoming weeks with the other coaches. There are usually four or five of us in the judo room, so I can take three weeks off if necessary. Things get really quiet come November. As things stand, I'll be working at one site from about 3PM to 7PM, then work another site from 10PM to 6AM. This schedule is pretty much set in stone, but hopefully will be adjusted if my co-worker is able to return to work.
As if this baseline craziness isn't bad enough, this weekend is supposed to be characterized by horrible weather- we are already experiencing a flooding rain, and Hurricane Joaquin might be making landfall in the vicinity (at any rate, we'll get a ton more rain from the storm). I have already stockpiled cans of sardines in case I have to camp out on the job like I did post-Sandy. I'll have to top off the gas tank in the car tomorrow when I finish the overnight shift- I still have over half a tank from my last fill-up, but I've been bouncing from site-to-site due to the manifold tasks I've been performing (luckily, I get reimbursed for mileage and drive a small car, so I make out nicely). On a smaller scale, one of the electricians working on site setting up for an event jumped a curb in the parking lot and knocked down a light pole that was crowned with a wireless router for our point-of-sales computers. GOOD TIMES!
The month is not exactly starting off on the most auspicious note, but it's adversity that makes one strong and resilient. In thirty-one days, things will get extremely quiet, and remain so for the next six months. It's a cushy job, except when it's not, and October is when I pay my dues.
To compound matters, my volunteer coaching gig starts this Saturday- I will put in a cameo appearance on the first day and discuss the upcoming weeks with the other coaches. There are usually four or five of us in the judo room, so I can take three weeks off if necessary. Things get really quiet come November. As things stand, I'll be working at one site from about 3PM to 7PM, then work another site from 10PM to 6AM. This schedule is pretty much set in stone, but hopefully will be adjusted if my co-worker is able to return to work.
As if this baseline craziness isn't bad enough, this weekend is supposed to be characterized by horrible weather- we are already experiencing a flooding rain, and Hurricane Joaquin might be making landfall in the vicinity (at any rate, we'll get a ton more rain from the storm). I have already stockpiled cans of sardines in case I have to camp out on the job like I did post-Sandy. I'll have to top off the gas tank in the car tomorrow when I finish the overnight shift- I still have over half a tank from my last fill-up, but I've been bouncing from site-to-site due to the manifold tasks I've been performing (luckily, I get reimbursed for mileage and drive a small car, so I make out nicely). On a smaller scale, one of the electricians working on site setting up for an event jumped a curb in the parking lot and knocked down a light pole that was crowned with a wireless router for our point-of-sales computers. GOOD TIMES!
The month is not exactly starting off on the most auspicious note, but it's adversity that makes one strong and resilient. In thirty-one days, things will get extremely quiet, and remain so for the next six months. It's a cushy job, except when it's not, and October is when I pay my dues.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
