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And then there’s… — 20 Comments

  1. I hope Melania and Barron explore Camp David. He can build campfires and she can go outside witout all the reporters.

  2. LOL–#4 must have gotten edited out. I no longer remember what #4 was. I’ll make #5 into #4.

  3. In a meeting with Netanyahu, Trump continues ……repairing relations with Israel. The article happens to mention that the two leaders have a relationship that “reaches back to the 1980s.”

    May be the repair in its way:
    Speaking during the cabinet meeting on Sunday, Netanyahu addressed

    Netanyahu went on to say: “The time has come for positions and appointments to be made to the Israeli side as well. Should there be an appropriate appointment, we will consider it.

    Livni’s UN gig a win-win for everyone, even Netanyahu

  4. Melania certainly has good reasons to dislike the hothouse of DC. What with Carl Berstein’s son called her a “Hooker.”

    She is probably safer in NYC anyway,

    Trump is threatening the Deep State which can be dangerous.

  5. The geology paper is interesting, but it has almost nothing to do with what’s described in the newspaper article. I can’t even begin to imagine how it came to be dragged into the muck about CO2 and the environment.

    The original paper was published in a very expensive journal, but I’d be happy to email a copy to anyone who’s interested. (I’m assuming the number would be small.)

  6. Cornflour:

    OMG carbon in the mantle! What about all the silicates in the crust (AKA magma). Oh noes!!! The newspaper article could have been from the Onion. I remember reading about the fluorine toxicity and morbidity that resulted from a prolonged eruption of a volcano on Iceland in the last 200 yrs. It affected Europe, not just Iceland. But carbon is worse! Right.

  7. Mike Flynn’s name has come up a fair amount in books I’ve been recently reading, notably by Emma Sky and David Kilcullen, Stanley McChrystal (Flynn was is right-hand man for years), and Joby Warrick. I should perhaps also reread Michael Hastings’ book — though he’s despicable. Hastings did the hit-piece article for Rolling Stone which ended up causing McChrystal to resign.

    I never got the impression that Flynn was naé¯ve or unintelligent. I don’t feel like I precisely understand what happened. I have the feeling, however, that Mattis (for one) probably knows what went down, and will act accordingly.

  8. I have to wonder about the lake of molten carbon. We’re talking about the upper mantle. Carbon is light, and it will rise to the top of a liquid like the mantle, right? The core is nickel-iron, and lighter substances above it. I’d be surprised if there weren’t a LOT of lakes of molten carbon, or beryllium, or such other light elements, all over the place.

  9. Of course Melania is unhappy, now that her husband is president the is a huge amount of carbon under the USA, coincidence I think not. It’s Trump’s fault and furthermore there is a distinct fear that he will sell huge quantities to Israel and as we know, Carbon Dioxide is dangerous and carbon is a main ingredient in Carbon Dioxide.

    When Obama was in office we didn’t have these problems and fears and now, due to high level information leaks we have this big mess of carbon to worry about. Funny how bad things become within the first month of a Republican presidency.

  10. “…carbon is a main ingredient in Carbon Dioxide.”

    Tongue-in-cheek aside, carbon is also the main ingredient in oil and natural gas – that’s why we call them hydrocarbons.

    Could it be that oil and natural gas are not really “fossil” fuels but are synthesized by other, natural, means within the earth.

  11. McCarthy’s article reinforces what I’ve been “ranting” about for the last several comments.

    BOTH sides need to be held accountable.

    trump’s own derogatory comments about anyone and anything, particularly wrt those in our own institutions just escalates things.

    McCarthy puts together a nice case of how that just blows up on itself.

    There are a lot of “wrongs” done all around in this episode.

    Pointing to the left and their narrative, or to the IC who may (or may not) be obama supporters and questioning their motive is only one part of the puzzle, ignoring trump’s (and his team’s) contribution.

    Hope trump’s other picks are MUCH smarter than Gen Flynn.

  12. For those few who might be interested in the geology paper, here’s the abstract:

    “We report from converted seismic waves, a pervasive seismically anomalous layer above the transition zone beneath the western US. The layer, characterized by an average shear wave speed reduction of 1.6%, spans over an area of ∼ 1 . 8 é— 10 6 km 2 with thicknesses varying between 25 and 70 km. The location of the layer correlates with the present location of a segment of the Farallon plate. This spatial correlation and the sharp seismic signal atop of the layer indicate that the layer is caused by compositional heterogeneity. Analysis of the seismic signature reveals that the compositional heterogeneity can be ascribed to a small volume of partial melt (0.5 ± 0.2 vol% on average). This article presents the first high resolution map of the melt present within the layer. Despite spatial variations in temperature, the calculated melt volume fraction correlates strongly with the amplitude of P—S conversion throughout the
    region. Comparing the values of temperature calculated from the seismic signal with available petrological constraints, we infer that melting in the layer is caused by release of volatiles from the subducted Farallon slab. This partially molten zone beneath the western US can sequester at least 1 . 2 é— 10 17 kg of volatiles, and can act as a large regional reservoir of volatile species such as H or C.”

    I’m not qualified to critique the paper, but it’s a little too speculative for my tastes. Still, we’re talking about interpreting a large seismic survey of the upper mantle, so maybe the choice is speculation or saying nothing.

    I’m truly baffled as to how this paper came to be reported as “news.” One of the authors is quoted a few times in the “Daily Mail” article, and he does himself no favors by trying to make the research seem relevant to the average climate-change phobic. In doing so, he makes himself sound ridiculous and puts his credibility at risk.

    There’s no lake of carbon — or of anything else. To explain the results of a large seismic survey, they’ve posited an anomalous amount of carbon and hydrogen in a layer of the upper mantle beneath the western US. This area would correspond to subducted Farralon plate. The elevated concentration of hydrogen and carbon would reduce the melting temperature and lead to partial melting, which would cause the observed pattern in the seismic survey.

    Whether their model is true or not, it has absolutely nothing to do with global warming or any other environmental issue.

    End of rant.

  13. My favorite airport book author described the CIA 10 years ago as, “a few very good people trying to stay afloat in a sea of left-wing bureaucrats.”
    Since not even the NYT could squeeze out anything wrong from Flynn’s conversations, Occam’s Razor tells us that the reason offered for his departure was the truth — he misled the Vice-President. Anybody can see how important Pence is to this administration, but even if he weren’t, that is a firing, Do Not Pass Go, offense.

    OldTexan – You’re wrong: the main ingredient in carbon dioxide is oxygen (1 C to 2 Os, right?). So obviously, we must cut back on the amount of oxygen in the atmosphere. I call for strict curbs on oxygen production (get rid of that rainforest, Brazil!) and imposition of an oxygen tax which will rid our planet of this toxic pollutant!

  14. Oh, no! First, it was dead Soviets. And now, the dreaded Israeli connection. Is there anyone who will not, or anything that will not, influence our election?

    – – –
    Melania Trump is a strong women with a well developed character. She will survive, adapt, and prosper as her husband serves the two parties to the Constitution: the People and our Posterity.

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