Depressed about the state of the world... (rant)

Yesterday, I really needed that tribute to "Star Trek: The Motion Picture". On the whole, "Star Trek" (the original series), "Star Trek: The Next Generation", and the Star Trek films pushed a positive humanist vision of the future: any problems can be solved rationally by people, and anyone we meet in space will mostly be rational. Working together, people can create a utopia. Personally, I needed that detour into what may be...

... because "what is" sucks. I have three examples illustrating the point. (I have many more examples, but this will have to do for today.)

Responses to the Ecole Polytechnique massacre:

Going back to the Ecole Polytechnique massacre, read this for some accounts of disturbing reaction to the 20th anniversary. In short, some people were celebrating the killer rather than remembering the victims. The killer was, for all intents and purposes, a terrorist before the term became popularized: he tried to achieve some societal or political gain (trying to stop the inroads women were making into a male-dominated world) through violence. What would these people who celebrate the killer feel about celebrating a terrorist? What would these people who celebrate the killer feel about denouncing remembrance of a terror attack?

The problem with these people who celebrate the killer is that they don't see the murdered (and injured) women as people who lost their lives in a meaningless attack. These people who celebrate the killer see the victims only in terms of being detrimental to their political beliefs. This in itself speaks volumes... and it doesn't paint a very flattering picture (to put it extremely mildly).

To put it less mildly, it is sickening... absolutely disgusting.

The vitriol shown toward feminists (and just women in general) is disturbing... Beyond just remembering those who died in the Ecole Polytechnique massacre, the fight against misogyny must continue.

Climate change "controversy":

I wanted to write about the unrelenting attacks on scientists, and how I would have felt if I was in their position. Unfortunately, I couldn't even fathom my reaction. It's already hard enough getting back standard reviewer responses to a submitted paper (and they are usually pretty tough). Also being attacked by those less qualified (not saying that they can't be qualified if they did the sufficient work and research... but generally, they don't) would be unbelievably stressful. And when those who attack have vast resources, it just becomes just that much more difficult.

It becomes even worse when pseudo-science is thrown out to fight legitimate science. One example that comes to mind is the "warming Sun" theory. It is indeed true that the Sun will on average radiate more energy over time as it depletes its hydrogen and converts it into helium; however, the Sun's rate of change is not nearly rapid enough to explain the rise in temperatures over the past century or so. This is shown by observed stratospheric cooling accompanying tropospheric warming: the same amount of energy is delivered to the ground, but the greenhouse gases trap more energy in the troposphere rather than allow the energy to radiate away into the higher levels of the atmosphere.

Here is a reminder of the "manufactured doubt" industry, and how it fought hard against links between smoking and lung cancer, links between CFC emissions and the ozone hole, and links between fossil fuel burning and global warming.

Heck, even "climate change" seems to be a construct of those who don't like the phrase "global warming".

It's depressing how people are happy to accept the fruits of science and engineering when they result in nice toys and gadgets and conveniences. When scientific findings imply that people have to change their ways for the better of the planet and the longer term, scientists are dismissed as being part of some great "conspiracy" and the like. So, are retreating glaciers, thinning and retreating Arctic ice, giant icebergs breaking off of Antarctica, and rising ocean levels (amongst many other indicators) the result of warmer or cooler temperatures? It seems pretty obvious.

Afghan detainee transfer by Canadian soldiers:

Politicians fight hard for their jobs rather than try to find out whether something is going wrong and trying to prevent future war crimes from happening. Outright lies are spewed. These people are supposed to represent Canadians.

As usual, the Conservative government will ignore the passed motion for a public inquiry. It would, however, be possible for a non-confidence motion to be passed, a coalition government to be established, and then a public inquiry to be called. (It would be highly unlikely, though, given the general lack of cooperation between the opposition parties.)

The American populace, according to a survey, now condones torture by a slim majority, which is absolutely disgraceful. Hopefully, Canada is not on the same path.

Well, I'm done ranting for a day, even though there is much more inequality and injustice in the world. Much work has to be done for a better future...

But right now, as far as I can tell, our world looks like it is the road to Star Trek's mirror universe. Don't make it so.

Peace and long life.