So I was poking around Amazon looking at books by Walker Percy, considered by some to be one of the great novelist and essayists of the 20th century. I stumbled upon The Message in the Bottle: How Queer Man Is, How Queer Language Is, and What One Has to Do with the Other, a book of essays about language and culture. Surprisingly it had 797 reviews. Wow, and for Walker Percy. So I started looking at the reviews and wonder of wonder if they all weren't about Nicholas Sparks' trashy romance novel Message in the Bottle.
So being the good little retired librarian I am, that offended me and I thought it would be an easy matter to report the error to Amazon. I first tried chat but clearly there was no human on the other end as the responses were completely silly and unrelated to my query. So I clicked on the call me button. After going through a list of potential concerns (endless) I found one that sort of indicated "none-of-the-above." Entered my phone number and was called back instantly by customer service (kudos for that.) When I explained the problem to the very nice fellow on the other end, he didn't get it. He was sure I wanted to order the book and was having problems. Finally got through and he referred me to the Kindle division where another nice guy after I gave him the ASIN number and he read some of the reviews realized the problem. He submitted the error report, but to my amusement and perhaps dismay never got the incredible irony of mixing up the reviews for these two books, something I found very funny.
Oh well, not for nothing did I get the Illinois cerebral humor award. I do wish they had an easier way of submitting error reports. Goodreads (owned by Amazon and linked to their database) had the reviews correct, thank goodness. Then again correcting errors there is really easy.
Tuesday, March 19, 2019
Jon Meacham on What We Can Learn from History
We decided to have dinner in front of the TV the other night as the dining table was covered with computer parts and artwork. After about three minutes of news, pundits yelling at each other, totally depressed, I decided to fall back on my usual refuge, C-Span, creator of BookTV and History TV. Sure enough, we had stumbled on Jon Meacham giving a talk at the Civil War Museum's Library of Virginia entitled the "What We Can Learn from History." (Link .) It is excellent. It was poignant, enlightening, hopeful, insightful, and occasionally humorous.
I find history to be very calming; that many of the tribulations we bemoan are not new but reflect a divisiveness that has been faced before. There is a creed that all of us can agree upon, Meacham proposes, so magnificently articulated by Jefferson, "we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal...." That philosophy which both conservatives and progressive would hold as an ideal, can provide the structural basis for moving forward. (Even though this was from a man who took money from the public Treasury to fund a newspaper in opposition to his president.) Meacham, ultimately, is hopeful. As long as two or three of our five institutions, the presidency, legislature, judiciary, press, and people, push back, the republic will survive. (His comments on the ability to create fake history through technical manipulation are a bit frightening and warrant constant skepticism.)
He told a couple of funny stories. the stupidest things he said to governors. The first was in a conversation with George W. Bush. They were chatting about Sam Houston when Meecham said, "You know, governor, that I'm from Tennessee and were it not for Tennessee, Texas would still be part of Spain. Bush said he thought that was pretty funny, asshole." The second was with Chris Christie who had called him up to talk about Jefferson. During the conversation, Christie mentioned he was really more of a "Hamilton guy, i.e., an investment banker." Meecham, ever the dry wit, replied, "that's great Governor, but at least my guy didn't get shot in Jersey." Damned if then Meecham didn't have trouble crossing the bridge into New York.
The republic is a reflection of who we are and we only have ourselves to blame for what we have. "Our politicians mirror us, they don't mold us." The trend in presidents from Washington to the incumbent does seem to prove Darwin wrong, however. One of the problems we have was succinctly put by Walter Lippman in 1922: "Americans define and see rather than see and then define." That's the crux of it.
Meecham's most recent book, The Soul of America: The Battle for Our Better Angels,
is about how Americans regroup and move toward that equality Jefferson spoke about. It's about the long struggle for civil rights, Meacham argues that it is “incumbent on us, from generation to generation, to create a sphere in which we can live, live freely, and pursue happiness to the best of our abilities. We cannot guarantee equal outcomes, but we must do all we can to ensure equal opportunity.” We must always have hope. He reminds us that in 1924, the Klan had a presence in all 48 states. In something we might consider today, Meacham notes that middle America saw the Klan under attack by eastern journalists and so figured it couldn't be all bad.
From the first part of his book, this quote from Lincoln's first inaugural address: "I am loath to close. We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature."
Watch it.
https://www.c-span.org/video/?458243-1%2Fjon-meacham-civil-war&fbclid=IwAR0fKWlrFHppO46udGHDlCrZcGNrRM2kO0O5a6ioVWM2nSY6ohzbwpjjZ6A
I find history to be very calming; that many of the tribulations we bemoan are not new but reflect a divisiveness that has been faced before. There is a creed that all of us can agree upon, Meacham proposes, so magnificently articulated by Jefferson, "we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal...." That philosophy which both conservatives and progressive would hold as an ideal, can provide the structural basis for moving forward. (Even though this was from a man who took money from the public Treasury to fund a newspaper in opposition to his president.) Meacham, ultimately, is hopeful. As long as two or three of our five institutions, the presidency, legislature, judiciary, press, and people, push back, the republic will survive. (His comments on the ability to create fake history through technical manipulation are a bit frightening and warrant constant skepticism.)
He told a couple of funny stories. the stupidest things he said to governors. The first was in a conversation with George W. Bush. They were chatting about Sam Houston when Meecham said, "You know, governor, that I'm from Tennessee and were it not for Tennessee, Texas would still be part of Spain. Bush said he thought that was pretty funny, asshole." The second was with Chris Christie who had called him up to talk about Jefferson. During the conversation, Christie mentioned he was really more of a "Hamilton guy, i.e., an investment banker." Meecham, ever the dry wit, replied, "that's great Governor, but at least my guy didn't get shot in Jersey." Damned if then Meecham didn't have trouble crossing the bridge into New York.
The republic is a reflection of who we are and we only have ourselves to blame for what we have. "Our politicians mirror us, they don't mold us." The trend in presidents from Washington to the incumbent does seem to prove Darwin wrong, however. One of the problems we have was succinctly put by Walter Lippman in 1922: "Americans define and see rather than see and then define." That's the crux of it.
Meecham's most recent book, The Soul of America: The Battle for Our Better Angels,
is about how Americans regroup and move toward that equality Jefferson spoke about. It's about the long struggle for civil rights, Meacham argues that it is “incumbent on us, from generation to generation, to create a sphere in which we can live, live freely, and pursue happiness to the best of our abilities. We cannot guarantee equal outcomes, but we must do all we can to ensure equal opportunity.” We must always have hope. He reminds us that in 1924, the Klan had a presence in all 48 states. In something we might consider today, Meacham notes that middle America saw the Klan under attack by eastern journalists and so figured it couldn't be all bad.
From the first part of his book, this quote from Lincoln's first inaugural address: "I am loath to close. We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature."
Watch it.
https://www.c-span.org/video/?458243-1%2Fjon-meacham-civil-war&fbclid=IwAR0fKWlrFHppO46udGHDlCrZcGNrRM2kO0O5a6ioVWM2nSY6ohzbwpjjZ6A
Monday, March 18, 2019
Review: No Apparent Danger: The True Story of Volcanic Disaster at Galeras and Nevado del Ruiz by Victoria Bruce
Bruce recounts the history, both geologic and historic, of the active volcanic range in Colombia. It's quite a story.
The Nevado del Ruiz eruption, when it came was horrifying. It wasn't one of those blow-the-tops off like Mt. St. Helens, rather an insidious flow of lava that melted several glaciers which then overran rivers and created a mudslide close to one-hundred feet high and traveled at about fifty miles per hour. It literally obliterated the town of Armero and killed more than 23,000 people. Ironically, there was warning. Ham radio operators living high in the mountains who saw what was happening sent warnings, but the local priest had broadcast calm reassurances saying it was just an ash rain so people even refused the frantic warnings of local firemen who had pounded on their doors insisting they evacuate. Only 5% of the icecap had melted. 85% of Armero vanished under the mud.
Following that eruption there was an increased interest in the volcanoes of the Andes and the next on the list was Galeras. Bruce does a great job of illuminating the social and political pressures on the scientists who by now had become quite interested in those wisps of steam coming from the top of the mountain. Everyone wanted accurate predictions of when the volcano would pop off and what form it would take.
(By the way, here is a nasty description of the dangers of pyroclastic flows: "an absolute death sentence that kills not from the heat but from inhalation of scalding hot ash. On the first breath, a person’s lungs react with instant pneumonia and fill with fluid. With the second breath, the fluid and ash mix and create wet cement. By the time the person takes a third breath, thick, hot cement fills the lungs and windpipe, causing the victim to suffocate. There were autopsy pictures of a surgeon opening a victim’s trachea with a chisel.")
As it turns out, a scientist by the name of Chouet had studied the seismic waves before eruptions of numerous volcanoes and he noticed some screw-like motions. "Chouet believed he knew what the signals were saying. Inside the volcano, in fractures in the rocks, boiling water turned to steam. And the steam, under great pressure and unable to escape, resonated brutally in the fractures, creating a high- frequency song like a boiling teakettle whistling an imperceptible pitch." Turns out he was prescient and accurate. Those little squiggles were predictive of explosive events.
On the fateful day, the scientists hiked up to the top and then roped down into the caldera to take measurements. The dome of lava, ever expanding, concerned several of them, but contrary to the pattern and habit of the U.S. Geological Survey scientists, hard hats and safety equipment was not present. No one was positioned on the top to relay radio signals nor did they have emergency medical supplies. Even some untrained journalists were invited to go along into the active volcano.
Nine people (five scientists) died when the volcano popped. Afterwards, one of the gas scientists claimed to have been the only survivor, an untruth, but then he had sustained severe brain injury and needed brain surgery so I suppose a little mendacity could be excused. Not so forgiveable was the appropriation by one of his students of the work of Chouet nor his insistence there was no warning. There was.
Riveting.
The Nevado del Ruiz eruption, when it came was horrifying. It wasn't one of those blow-the-tops off like Mt. St. Helens, rather an insidious flow of lava that melted several glaciers which then overran rivers and created a mudslide close to one-hundred feet high and traveled at about fifty miles per hour. It literally obliterated the town of Armero and killed more than 23,000 people. Ironically, there was warning. Ham radio operators living high in the mountains who saw what was happening sent warnings, but the local priest had broadcast calm reassurances saying it was just an ash rain so people even refused the frantic warnings of local firemen who had pounded on their doors insisting they evacuate. Only 5% of the icecap had melted. 85% of Armero vanished under the mud.
Following that eruption there was an increased interest in the volcanoes of the Andes and the next on the list was Galeras. Bruce does a great job of illuminating the social and political pressures on the scientists who by now had become quite interested in those wisps of steam coming from the top of the mountain. Everyone wanted accurate predictions of when the volcano would pop off and what form it would take.
(By the way, here is a nasty description of the dangers of pyroclastic flows: "an absolute death sentence that kills not from the heat but from inhalation of scalding hot ash. On the first breath, a person’s lungs react with instant pneumonia and fill with fluid. With the second breath, the fluid and ash mix and create wet cement. By the time the person takes a third breath, thick, hot cement fills the lungs and windpipe, causing the victim to suffocate. There were autopsy pictures of a surgeon opening a victim’s trachea with a chisel.")
As it turns out, a scientist by the name of Chouet had studied the seismic waves before eruptions of numerous volcanoes and he noticed some screw-like motions. "Chouet believed he knew what the signals were saying. Inside the volcano, in fractures in the rocks, boiling water turned to steam. And the steam, under great pressure and unable to escape, resonated brutally in the fractures, creating a high- frequency song like a boiling teakettle whistling an imperceptible pitch." Turns out he was prescient and accurate. Those little squiggles were predictive of explosive events.
On the fateful day, the scientists hiked up to the top and then roped down into the caldera to take measurements. The dome of lava, ever expanding, concerned several of them, but contrary to the pattern and habit of the U.S. Geological Survey scientists, hard hats and safety equipment was not present. No one was positioned on the top to relay radio signals nor did they have emergency medical supplies. Even some untrained journalists were invited to go along into the active volcano.
Nine people (five scientists) died when the volcano popped. Afterwards, one of the gas scientists claimed to have been the only survivor, an untruth, but then he had sustained severe brain injury and needed brain surgery so I suppose a little mendacity could be excused. Not so forgiveable was the appropriation by one of his students of the work of Chouet nor his insistence there was no warning. There was.
Riveting.
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