The War on Windmills

It's said that "power corrupts", but actually it's more true that power attracts the corruptible. The sane are usually attracted by other things than power. When they do act, they think of it as service, which has limits. The tyrant, though, seeks mastery, for which he is insatiable, implacable. -David Brin, scientist and science fiction author

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Kari Lake, a 2020 election denier, is a rising Republican star in Arizona. But an anti-Trump Republican group is targeting the GOP gubernatorial nominee with a $2 million TV and digital ad campaign. The Republican Accountability PAC will begin running digital ads against Lake on Tuesday and will launch its TV campaign on Monday.

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The Spartans at Thermopylae were betrayed by Ephialtes, who showed the Persians how to get around the pass and so attack the Spartans from their rear. Today, Ephialtes in Greek indicates traitor, and it is the word for nightmare.


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Peter Thiel, the zillionaire tech investor is a german immigrant. He invests heavily in conservative causes. He has also become a New Zealand citizen and has, according to the NYT, applied for citizenship in Malta.

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After maxing out at 22% in 2017, China’s share of US goods imports has fallen to 17%

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The War on Windmills


Professional conferences use to bring scientists together to discuss important scientific issues. They have become training centers. Now conference organizers will have to spend the bulk of their effort meeting bureaucratic requirements on diversity and “conduct.”

“Beginning in FY 2023,” the announcement from the DOE states, “proposals requesting funding to support a conference will require that the host organization of the conference have an established code of conduct or policy in place that addresses discrimination, harassment, bullying, and other exclusionary practices…. Applicants will also be required to submit a recruitment and accessibility plan for speakers and attendees. This plan will need to include discussion of the recruitment of individuals from groups historically minoritized in the research community.”

"...discrimination, harassment, bullying, and other exclusionary practices." Has there ever been such a complaint at a scientific conference?

The absence of these motives will be difficult to prove, of course. They must long for the days when a Certificate of Purity could be obtained with a few birth certificates and, if necessary, an attestation from an Obersturmbannführer.