This is an eclectic list of articles and essays that I found interesting*, generally drawn from things I read yesterday. Including a link does not mean that I necessarily advocate, endorse, agree with, believe or understand the piece. It just means it was interesting.* Sometimes, I comment on one or two, and I frequently, though not always, agree with what I write. I read every comment and occasionally respond but I’m really more appreciative of the opportunity to read what you say to me and to one another.**
Life goes deeper: The Earth is not a solid mass of rock: its hot, dark, fractured subsurface is home to weird and wonderful life forms by Gaetan Borgonie and Maggie Lau at Aeon.
The living landscape all around us is just a thin veneer atop the vast, little-understood bulk of the Earth’s interior. A widespread misconception about the deep subsurface is that this realm consists of a continuous mass of uniform compressed solid rock. Few are aware that this mass of rock is heavily fractured, and water runs in many of these fractures and faults, down to depths of many kilometres. The deep Earth supports an entire biosphere, largely cut off from the surface world, and is still only beginning to be explored and understood.
The amount of water in the subsurface is considerable. Globally, the freshwater reservoir in the subsurface is estimated to be up to 100 times as great as all the available fresh water in the rivers, lakes and swamps combined. This water, ranging in ages from seven years to 2 billion years, is being intensely studied by researchers because it defines the location and scope of deep life. We know now that the deep terrestrial subsurface is home to one quintillion simple (prokaryotic) cells. That is two to 20 times as many cells as live in all the open ocean. By some estimates, the deep biosphere could contain up to one third of Earth’s entire biomass.
New state-funded sensors are tracking earthquakes across Texas by Shannon Najmabadi at the Texas Tribune.
Texas saw an uptick in quakes starting in 2008, and a growing body of research has linked fossil fuel activities – specifically the injection of oilfield wastewater into the ground – to the shaking. Industry representatives and state regulators have been wary of acknowledging a connection, arguing more detailed information is needed.
That's where the TexNet Seismic Monitoring program comes in. The goal is for the network of sensors, now collecting data across the state, to suss out the source of the tremors.
The American Roots and 21st Century Global Rise of Fascism, an Interview with David Neiwert by Mark Karlin at Truthout.
From the introduction to the piece: “Investigative reporter David Neiwert has been tracking fascist and extreme-right violence and ideology for decades, and he reveals how these groups have grown in power and influence in Alt-America: The Rise of the Radical Right in the Age of Trump.”
Mark Karlin: Is the term "alt-right" a rebranding of a fringe white supremacist movement that has been in place for decades or should it be recognized as a distinct entity?
David Neiwert: It's definitely a rebranding of white supremacist thought, but it is much more than just that -- it's an entire rewiring of the movement and an expansion of it as well, which is why simply calling them "Nazis" isn't accurate. This isn't your grandfather's Klan. It's been rewired to not only take advantage of technology and its rapid changes, but to leverage them as weapons. It's also been remade entirely to appeal to young people -- namely, white males ages 16-30 -- using such nontraditional appeals as humor and irony and openly transgressive "wit."
In the end, when you dig down into their thinking and examine the ideology they are promoting, it really isn't anything new, nothing that eugenicists and white supremacists of bygone days hadn't said already. But it's presented in social media in adroit and new ways that are very effective with young people whose exposure to real history is shallow to begin with.
Church of Sweden to stop using ‘he’ and ‘Lord’ in push for gender-neutral language by Lydia Smith at The Independent (UK).
It [Church of Sweden] is headed by a woman, Archbishop Antje Jackelen, who was ordained a priest in the Church of Sweden in 1980 and became a Doctor of Theology at Lund University in 1999.
Speaking to Sweden’s TT news agency, Ms Jackelen said the use of more gender-inclusive language had been discussed several decades ago, as early as 1986.
“Theologically, for instance, we know that God is beyond our gender determinations, God is not human,” she said.
“But He’s definitely white!” hollered Roy Moore*** from the back of the room before being hustled out by the Swedish Inquisition.
Saturday's Long Read
Gaith Abdul-had writes at the Guardian: After the liberation of Mosul, an orgy of killing
In the dying days of the battle of Mosul, Ghaith Abdul-Ahad followed Iraqi soldiers during the last push against Isis. But following their victory, a new wave of savagery was unleashed.
* Interesting is a useful word because it covers everything: horror to inspiration, confusion to clarity, sorrow to joy, etcetera to etcetera.
** I get very tired of listening to myself think.
*** Asshole.