Don't forget to celebrate on June 14th !

Sing along

Bugs

 There is a great series running on PBS right now, Bugs That Rule the World.  The first episode I watched featured dragonflies and the Preying Mantis, a species I've always enjoyed meeting up with.  I haven't seen any for a while now, and I think I may know why.

A fellow knocked on my door recently to propose exterminating troublesome insects.  He offered to kill all the ants and spiders inside and outside my house, and pointed up the street indicating other customers in the neighborhood.

While we do have some difficulties with the legion of tiny ants that live in the walls of our old house, I feel like we can deal with that without resorting to massively lethal measures.  Taking care to keep our counters clear of crumbs or other ant attractors minimizes the problem.  The black widow spiders we used to see around the house foundation never tried to come inside, and they were clearly helping to keep bug infestations in check.

So I'm hoping a lot of people will tune into the PBS series and start to appreciate the crucial role bugs play in the community of living things.

 

The Library

 This morning we visited a very fine exhibit at the Albuquerque Museum about the history of the Albuquerque Special Collections Library, Open to All: A Century of Access at the Special Collections Library.

Photo courtesy of the Albuquerque Museum

 

There is also a Youtube documentary (which includes an interview of Joe Van Cleave!)

The Spanish/Pueblo Revival style building was originally the main and only library in town for many years.  It now houses a non-circulating collection of books and artifacts including a collection of antique printing machinery.

The exhibit got me to thinking about how central to my life libraries have been everywhere I have lived.  My first library experience was visits by the local branch librarian to my West Seattle elementary school. She made presentations about the latest additions to the collection of children's books which always seemed very exciting to me.  I was always motivated to go immediately to the library to read the reviewed books.

Mr. Popper's Penguins was one of the books I recall first hearing about from the visiting librarian.  It seemed a great adventure story about charming animals at the time.  Looking back on it now, I am appalled by the idea of taking wild animals out of their natural environment to be household pets or circus performers.

Another book from those early days was the fictional tale of several children who escape the Japanese invasion of their island home using a sailboat.  The idea that children close to my age could play a heroic role in the recently concluded war was very captivating. I have tried several times to find that book over the years, but can't recall the book title and have been unable to track it down with search descriptions.

My elementary school had its own library as well, and from it I was able to read about Roy Chapman Andrews' life as an explorer in Mongolia. That book proved very influential in my life, motivating me to seek adventure in exotic locations.

These days, my library visits are most often to the Los Griegos branch of the Albuquerque Public Library.  There is a good collection of books there and a welcoming atmosphere.  A few years ago the branch manager, Nicholas Newlin, was very helpful to our New Mexico Film Photographers group in organizing a photo exhibit at the library.

 NM Film Photographers Exhibit -- Los Griegos Library, 2020

While I enjoy the opportunity to browse the book shelves at Los Griegos or the other branch libraries in town, I more often borrow Kindle books online through the library website. That is an especially nice option for me as much of my reading is of Spanish language novels.  Since Spanish is my second language I often want to look up the meaning of unfamiliar words, and that just requires a single click on the word when I am reading with Kindle. 

So the way I interact with libraries has undergone some changes over the years, but it is no less important to me now than it was when I was first hearing about new books to read from that Seattle librarian.

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* See also on PBS/Independent Lens

Free For ALL: The Public Library
How public libraries shaped a nation and remain a beloved sanctuary for Americans today.

Truth 1, Trump 0

 So Trump has put on another of his White House dog and pony shows in an attempt to humiliate another leader of an allied country with transparent lies.  Cyril Ramaphosa, the President of South Africa, responded with facts and unflappable dignity, making Trump look the fool.

Cyril Ramaphosa (Wikipedia)

* A check of Trump's false claims about white genocide in South Africa (REUTERS)

Thinking About Flying

There may be a job more stressful than that of air traffic controllers, but it is hard to imagine what that might be.  How are people motivated to take on such work in places like Newark or Washington D.C.?

Those are questions currently on the desk of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy.  He has proposed a massive reconstruction and modernization of the air traffic control system.  That is a process that will take at least four years, provided that the necessary billions are made available.

Trump, of course, places the blame for the currently disastrous state of the system on the Biden administration. Unmentioned is that fact that the proposal of Biden's transport secretary, Buttigieg, to massively invest in rebuilding the system was torpedoed by congressional Republicans.

It is also worthwhile to look back to the opportunity that was lost in 1981 when Ronald Reagan fired all the air traffic controllers who had struck for better working conditions. Reagan brought in active military controllers as strike breakers, and did an expert PR job of manipulating media accounts to minimize concerns then about controller job stress. That effectively set the pattern for the subsequent twenty-year development of failed policy and performance.

Duffy, to his credit, cut short the DOGE initiative to include controllers in their firing spree, but the subsequent loss of FAA analysts and support staff cannot be without consequences.  That shortsightedness seems due in part to overwhelming emphasis on equipment upgrades while continuing to minimize the centrality of human preparedness and performance.

* A Newark air traffic controller on how it felt when systems went dark (NPR)

Damage Assessment

A lot of media attention was given to the Signalgate incident where it was revealed that top Administration officials were using an unofficial and  possibly insecure chat service to discuss ongoing operations. So far, the only casualty has been the meeting organizer, Mike Waltz, and he has only been shuffled off to the walking wounded job of UN ambassador.

Larger issues of national security vulnerability have gone under the radar.  A recent nytimes article gives some hints at what might be usefully considered:

"... The C.I.A. plans to cut more than 1,000 staff positions through attrition over the next few years as the Trump administration shrinks the federal government..."

"... A spokeswoman for the agency did not directly confirm the plan to reduce its size but said in a statement that John Ratcliffe, the C.I.A. director, was 'moving swiftly; to ensure that its work force was responsive to the administration’s national security priorities.'..."

Perhaps we should be reassured that the administration has taken time to set some priorities, though the possibility that those priorities might actually pertain to security seems a little remote.

Cutting a thousand jobs from something as complicated as the intelligence establishment presents some obvious threats to performance and efficiency.  However, of even more concern is the immediate outcome of the staff cuts, which is that there will be a multitude of former analysts and operatives out looking for jobs.

It is a good bet that those job-hunters' resumes - complete with pictures - are even now flooding the internet and sparking the interest of corporate recruiters.  You can also be sure that those hungry, often disgruntled former agency staffers will come under scrutiny by the foreign intelligence agencies of Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea. All of whom, of course, have massive capabilities for online surveillance, and plenty of expertise in the cultivation of double agents.
 

As irritated as those job hunters might be at the course of events, the vast majority are patriots, and have no doubt received special training to alert them to possible threats. Still, it is not inconceivable that one out of that thousand might be tempted by an opportunity for retribution and enrichment.  And, after all, that has happened before.

It might be argued that the people let go have been severed from ongoing operations, but of course they took a lot of knowledge with them, and many friendships will continue with active agency staff. 

So, recognizing the potential for damage, what might be done?  Having dealt itself a crippling blow, the agencies are ill prepared to keep an eye on where all the discards go.  Probably the most effective and economical strategy would be just to hire them all back.

Big Pharma - Big Bucks

 The best dissection of Big Pharma I have come across is the recent article by David Armstrong at ProPublica, 

In The Price of Remission Armstrong uses his own experience with cancer treatment as a starting point for explaining the complexities of drug development and the exploitation of human misery to make stratospheric profits.

The implications of how RFK Jr. and the DOGE team will make things even worse are not directly dealt with in the article, but they are easily deduced.

It is also worth noting that Big Pharma contributions to politicians are nearly equally divided between the two major parties, with the Republicans having only a slight edge.

At the Museum

 Two big exhibits at either end of the Albuquerque Museum.

Light, Space, and the Shape of Time

April 5 - July 20, 2025

 

Plastic, glass and neon with a '60s vibe.  I am not very moved by these kinds of large, abstract sculpture installations.  The show did not live up to its rather pretentious title.  I thought the most interesting and fun piece was the one featured at the entrance to the gift shop.

 

Focus on Youth

May 3 – June 1, 2025

A big photography show by Albuquerque public school students with lots of polished, inspiring work that is as good or better than what can be found in art gallerys around town.

 

Trevor Martinez, Guitar Highlights, Sandia High School, Grade 12

Mayday Mayday Mayday

 An early futurist take on the development of artificial intelligence was that it would replace the need for human labor and usher in an age of leisure for everyone.  At this point the effects on job availability are uncertain, but the rosy glow of the early predictions is fading fast.

For a more realistic view it is worth looking at how things have developed in the social media industry.  In that trillion-dollar undertaking the tangible benefits have gone overwhelmingly to the billionaire class.  Useful, objective news has been subverted by an avalanche of lies and conspiracy theories. The early promise of the internet to empower ordinary people has been undermined by kowtowing to authoritarianism.

Resistance is still possible.  There is still access available to independent initiatives, online and offline. The time to speak up and to act is now.

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Tyrants like Trump always fall – and we can already predict how he will be dethroned

Simon Tisdall in The Guardian