{"id":85189,"date":"2020-05-18T12:37:17","date_gmt":"2020-05-18T18:37:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?p=85189"},"modified":"2020-05-18T18:20:23","modified_gmt":"2020-05-19T00:20:23","slug":"four-decades-or-in-geological-terms-really-nothing-at-all","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2020\/05\/four-decades-or-in-geological-terms-really-nothing-at-all.html","title":{"rendered":"Four decades or, in geological terms, really nothing at all"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Paul<\/a>
\u201cMount St. Helens Erupting by Night\u201d \u00a0(Paul Kane, 1847)
Wikimedia Commons public domain image<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

It was forty years ago today Mount St. Helens made a night from day.\u00a0 So may I introduce to you the boom you\u2019ve known for all these years \u2013 1980\u2019s Cascade Mountains blast:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201c40 years ago today, Mount St. Helens erupted\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018It Seemed Apocalyptic\u2019 40 Years Ago When Mount St. Helens Erupted\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

In reading some of these accounts, you may be reminded, as I have been powerfully reminded, of the reactions of some people<\/a> to the coronavirus pandemic:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Back on 24 April 2020: \u00a0\u201cMeet the ICU nurse who silently stood in protest at a rally to reopen Arizona\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

8 May 2020: \u00a0\u201cNurse who stood up to armed lockdown protesters in Arizona says they thought she was a paid actor \u2018in costume\u2019 \u2013 as her colleague warns demonstrators she could be the last person they see \u2018when they catch covid'\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been especially impressed by the folks who come to these events armed with semi-automatic weapons<\/a>. \u00a0Are they imagining that they might need to shoot a few policemen? \u00a0Maybe half a dozen nurses? \u00a0Or are they simply engaging in pre-adolescent warrior fantasies and imagining themselves to be Real Men?<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

In honor of some of the more extreme among these folks, I propose the creation of an annual Harry R. Truman Memorial Prize<\/a> for the most egregious act of disregarding scientific warnings in the year prior to its awarding. \u00a0The balancing act between saving livelihoods and saving lives is an extraordinarily difficult one in times such as this \u2014 and in times such as the days leading up to the eruption of Mount St. Helens \u2014 and there are no simple or clear cut rules for getting that balance right. \u00a0There is no perfect solutions without costs. \u00a0But it simply won\u2019t do to ignore the science, let alone to vilify scientists.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201c40 years ago, last moments before Mount St. Helens eruption caught on camera\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWATCH: 1980 coverage of Mount St. Helens eruption:\u00a0We dug into the archives for \u2018The Mountain Erupts,\u2019 a KING 5 documentary on the 1980 Mount St. Helens eruption.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cLooking back at the Mount St. Helens eruption\u201d<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201c40 Years After Mount St. Helens, Sounds Of Past Government Response Echo Today\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

***<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

But there\u2019s excellent news on the COVID-19 front:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

This one\u2019s from way back on 30 April \u2014 eons ago by current coronavirus-science standards \u2014 when it was kindly brought to my attention by Sam LeFevre. \u00a0I haven\u2019t heard anything about it since then, but we can hope:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cCoronavirus vaccine developed by UK researchers could prove effective by July, executive says\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

This one appeared just this morning:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cEarly results from Moderna coronavirus vaccine trial show participants developed antibodies against the virus\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Of course, it\u2019s likely that anti-coronavirus vaccines will be completely unnecessary by the morning of 4 November 2020, since COVID-19 (aka \u201cfake news\u201d) will have essentially disappeared overnight:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cEric Trump says lockdowns about hurting his dad, coronavirus fears will disappear after election\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 It was forty years ago today Mount St. Helens made a night from day.\u00a0 So may I introduce to you the boom you\u2019ve known for all these years \u2013 1980\u2019s Cascade Mountains blast: \u00a0 \u201c40 years ago today, Mount St. Helens erupted\u201d \u00a0 \u201c\u2018It Seemed Apocalyptic\u2019 40 Years Ago When Mount St. Helens […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[11693,9239,11705,8031,9108,8505,9117,11696,8265,11699,11260,9104,11711,11708,11702,719,11714],"class_list":["post-85189","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-11693","tag-anniversary","tag-cascade-mountains","tag-coronavirus","tag-covid-19","tag-eric","tag-eruption","tag-fake-news","tag-harry","tag-lockdown","tag-mount-st-helens","tag-pandemic","tag-protesters","tag-protests","tag-truman","tag-trump","tag-vaccine"],"yoast_head":"\nFour decades or, in geological terms, really nothing at all<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"    It was forty years ago today Mount St. Helens made a night from day.\u00a0 So may I introduce to you the boom you\u2019ve known for all these years \u2013\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" 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