What Robert Mueller Got Right and What Robert Mueller Got Wrong: A Report from the Entrance to Hell
— Lon Clay Hill
"If you live outside the law, you must be honest."
— Bob Dylan
"As a human being born in the United States of America, I owe fealty to the Constitution of the United States to the extent that I am not compelled to hear a voice of conscience that is outside and beyond the norms and normal give-and-take of my/our existence. Today that outside voice or sound that I hear most clearly is the combined voice of children in cages on the Mexican-American border and the spoiled and willful child entrapped in the soul of one Donald J. Trump."
— The author
Contents:
I. Context
II. What Robert Mueller got right!
III. What Robert Mueller got wrong!? [Or…!?]
IV. This is not exactly without relevant precedents ("There is never an entirely new thing under the Heavens…)
I. Context
The fact that there are children in cages near the United Sates-Mexican border — cages paid for by US taxpayers — is not a problem for the United States of America and its citizens. Rather, it is an infamous inditement of the nation and its people which will scar it history as long as records remain. The additional fact that many of these children have been or will be separated from their parents and guardians — in most instances — only compounds the problem as the present policies and practices of this country with respect to immigrants are largely inconsistent with the standards of reason, religion, and love of country which many US citizens espouse. [There are, unfortunately, a few instances when a child must be separated from its family— and the problems at the United Sates-Mexican border were certainly not created by the United States alone.] Still the present U.S. government's policy on immigration and its contemporary implementation at our border constitute one of the darker chapters in the history of our nation — a nation whose people tend to think of their country as a remarkable and exemplary nation.
II. What Robert Mueller got right! (Why we usually should follow the law and then some …)
As a matter of fact, almost all of us have some significant advantages in various large and small corners of our existence — whatever large and small tribulations have also come our way. So, given those privileges it is usually a good thing — even a very good thing — for those of us who have had our own fair share of privileges to obey the law. And, parenthetically, it is often it a good thing for those of us who have not had a fair share of such privileges to obey the law as well. Furthermore, given that many of us who have had the blessings of privileges — due to the efforts of others and to the seemingly unfathomable blessings of the Almighty — have a tendency to overemphasize the efforts of ourselves, our families, and our nation to the detriment of others and other forces [call them what you will (nature, evolution, Allah, happenstance, virtue…] it is usually better for most of us to obey the law even more faithfully than is our actual practice. And, very unfortunately, it seems that those of us who have had more than their fair share of privileges tend to imagine that they, their family, and their cohorts have earned most of their privileges to the point that they will call them "earned". Indeed, some of them even refer to themselves and their social-economic heroes as (mostly or entirely) "self-made" — an imaginary species of humanity which has never existed. And, as a complicated consequence of many such considerations, one Robert Mueller has led an investigation of various activities by one Donald John Trump, several members of his family, and a relatively small number of close associates. During his investigation he has uncovered a significant number of crimes committed by Donald's associates and an even larger number of crimes committed by foreign actors who appear to have had Donald's short term political interests in mind. Mueller's tactics in his investigations have all the earmarks of those frequently undertaken against various mob bosses — (1) collect evidence against various subordinates, (2) prove or be able to prove the subordinates of serious crimes, and (3) offer them a significant reduction in jail time (or, sometimes, an elimination of all jail time) in return for significant information about their superiors in the crime network. In this case, it is important to consider that mob bosses in our country often have considered themselves the heads of "families" [e.g., the costa nostra imported from Sicily, etc.]. And, of course, equally important in Donald's economic and political shenanigan's is the fact that the main actors in Donald's close-knit legal-and-illegal enterprises over the past four+ decades have, in the main, involved only his family and a very small number of close associates.
Brief Interlude. Generic Comments about the Written Constitution of the United States
["A nation of laws rather than men…]
Now, for those of us who are citizens of the United States of America realize that in the period between 1775 and 1891 the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights accompanied the birth of a nation with a Written Constitution. There are, of course, within the US citizenry as many opinions about the US Constitution as there are citizens. However, I speak first about only one aspect of the constitution that I believe most readers will agree to. To wit, when there are serious and partisan issues within a country, it is usually a very good thing if the interested parties can resolve their difference to a reasonably fair-minded or "neutral" arbiter instead of resorting to bloodshed.
…What Robert Mueller "got" right (continued)
In the last decade or so, in the U.S.A. — partially because various parties complained about the tactics of various special prosecutors, the laws about them have changed. Along with changes in the laws, the U.S. Justice Department has determined that as a matter of policy a sitting President of the United States should not be indicted when a special prosecutor has found credible evidence that the President has committed crimes. And, during the period of 2017 until late March 2019, special prosecutor Mueller found no compelling evidence (in his judgment) that either President Trump or any of his immediate family members had committed crimes in 'collusion' with agents of the Russian government with respect to the U. S. Presidential Election of 2016. Mr. Mueller submitted some interrogatories to the President, but he did not interview the President nor did he subpoena the President to obtain such an interview. Mr. Mueller — apparently — did encounter evidence of possible criminality and/or constitutional breaches of faith by President Trump and/or members of his immediate family. In any case, Mr. Mueller has submitted his findings to Attorney General Barr.
[Another brief note: Mr. Barr, an avuncular and quite skillful lawyer as well as a former Attorney General, is described as "respected" by many commentators of various political persuasion. However, while I am not a lawyer, I am a man. And, speaking as a man or, more to the point, as a thinking human being, I have listened carefully to some of Mr. Barr's well-chosen words and even parsed carefully some of his written statements. Mr. Barr believes that the President was not a proper target for the Special Prosecutor…But, returning to our story.]
Mr. Mueller has — following Justice Department Guidelines — submitted his report to the Attorney General. I do not know who he thinks is going to read his report or, more importantly, when anyone besides the Attorney General is going to read any particular portions of his report — especially the declinations [decisions about non-indictments] and the underlying evidence. I do not know whether Mueller will testify to Congress. As far as I can see, Mr. Mueller is much less boastful than almost all political persons who come on the political stage for whatever reason. He, apparently, has done what he believes his duty to have been — and he has submitted his report. And, there is the further fact, that he has also passed on a unknown number of apparent misdeeds over to the consideration of others within the justice department. Still, it is now as always up to us — the living citizenry of this nation — to do our own individual duties and our collective duty.
A postscript.
A story is recounted in Matthew 19:16-22 of a young man who approached Jesus about how he might obtain eternal life. It developed that he had been quite observant of the laws and commandments and yet still felt that he had fallen short. Jesus, having sized him up, told him that if that were the case he should (1) sell his possessions, (2) give the proceeds to the poor, and (3) come and follow him. At the end of the brief meeting, it is written that the young man turned away with a heavy heart as he was a man of great wealth…
As for Robert Mueller — although well paid — he does not at all seem to have been even mildly interested in becoming a man of acclaimed wealth or fame. And, furthermore, he has engaged in some activities which are presently unknown to the public… However, it still remains true that there are times when to stay strictly within the boundaries of the law — or, more specifically, to go strictly "by the book" — may be the very worse place to be.
III. What Robert Mueller got wrong!? Or, perhaps, more precisely, since the quality of Mueller's own work is not the precise issue before us — what has gone Wrong with this investigation up to this point. [Something, at least, has not been done right — even if Robert Mueller's work has not really been completed…] (Or, more fundamentally, why you must believe the Testimony of your own Eyes and Ears and why Truth trumps legal procedures…)
"There is a tide in the affairs of men, Which taken at the flood, leads on to fortune. Omitted, all the voyage of their life is bound in shallows and in miseries. On such a full sea are we now afloat."
William Shakespeare.
"If you live outside the law, you must be honest. Now, then, about Donald and his lawyers…"
For a moment we provide a bit more context by continuing with our comments about the quite skillful lawyer, Attorney General William Barr. Many of us have noted his use of unusually well-chosen words. Mr. Barr believes that the President was not a proper target for the Special Prosecutor. Indeed, in his unsolicited and initially private memo for the President's entourage he voluntarily suggested — in regard to the President's own exposure to legal and political jeopardy — that the President is virtually immune to any criminal exposure from the Mueller Probe while he remains President. In plain English, when it comes to currently relevant issues— Mr. Barr is very strongly predisposed to treat the President as if he were in fact above the law. Now, to be sure, there are some limits to his support for the President. For example, Mr. Barr has not declared himself ready to 'take a bullet' for the President. Still, he apparently believes that he himself need not commit any crimes to perform his own role as the President's Attorney General. And, in his testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee and elsewhere he certainly has done a much better job of concealing his own intentions while simultaneously trying to avoid perjury than did, say, [for example] one William Jefferson Clinton. Mr. Barr is not as ossified in his thinking as Mr. Trump, so one can imagine him stepping away from the Donald — but for now he stands before us as an accessory in a Constitutional Putsch. So, for now, we are unable to determine the overall merits of Mr. Mueller's frequently meritorious work because — for the present — some of his most important findings are entangled in procedures-and-activities now being performed by U.S. citizens in high offices who — blinded by their own ambitions — have unfaithful, immoral, and sometimes treasonous intent. [Incidentally, the author is not making any generalized statements saying that political opponents are not excessively ambitious or that — given similar temptations — would not succumb to similar temptations. Such important realities and/or possibilities are simply not the current main event in U.S. politics…]
Problematics of evidence.
So, while Mr. Mueller was trying to execute his strategy for discovering what Trump and his closest associates were doing by collecting evidence which might convince a jury he ran into two difficulties. First, Trump and his associates were dangling promises [Technically speaking, they were "intimations" — but Donald J. Trump does not normally use direct speech to give directions to his subordinates when he undertakes illegal and/or unethical deeds. Trump uses "Trump Speech" — his own idiosyncratic from of mob speech. To focus exclusively or primarily on conventional "direct" language while investigating Donal Trump would like trying to break the Japanese Code using only Classical Chinese.] In the present instance, such artificial restrictions upon "direct evidence" investigation is, at best, linguistically confused and trenches upon prosecutorial malfeasance. Mr. Trump has already offered to his minions his intimations of corrupt intent in broad daylite. These public encouragements by Trump and his associates of perjury and/or witness tampering with actors such as Manafort and Stone have already been quite effective in several instances!
Secondly, there is the question how to proceed in the legal thicket of the directives and personnel of the current Justice Department. It strikes me that — normally speaking — a prosecutor should not seek an indictment unless (1) most importantly, he or she believes that the person to be charged is indeed guilty of a crime and (2) also importantly — but not always determinatively so— he or she believes that there is a reasonably strong reason to believe that the prosecution will be successful. However, the case of Donald John Trump is not normal — and, furthermore, involves criminal or immoral activities that have not been seen in the previous 43 Presidents of the United states. Whether, (1) the President, his immediate family members, and/or his associates intended to directly cooperate with and/or guide the activities of the Russians during their meddling with the US election may be difficult to prove to a jury [made up of ordinary people who —like the reader and the author — have their own biases] or (2) whether the President has interfered with the Mueller investigation primarily because he wanted to keep his financial crimes and misdeeds secret is, of course, an interesting and vitally important issue. However, the overriding fact is that the President of the United States has acted — as all of us know who have a moderately active memory of either ourselves or other young children — like a young spoiled brat that knows he has done something wrong. This particular spoiled brat has for ~65 years been able to get away with his behavior because he has discovered that many of those around him will allow him to continue. That is the human dimension of the stream of moral filth that comes out of this man's mouth and is reflected in the equally ugly policies full of vengeful excess that he and his minions produce. And, if we wish to survive as a nation, a large number of us must face that reality.
In this issue, Robert Mueller is not merely a servant of the law, he is a privileged witness to the activities of one Donald John Trump —who with "Legal" assistance from others — has been involved in the subversion of the United States of America. The United States of America has been an inconsistent, but sometimes important contributor to the General Welfare of Our Nation and Its People and to the World and All Humankind. How Mr. Mueller proceeds in the near future is yet to be determined. However, if he deserves a genuine place as a genuine legal hero [as many have stated], it will be necessary either that his evidence is made public and/or that Mr. Mueller speaks publicly at an appropriate time about what he has beheld. It is, of course, quite possible that Mr. Mueller was blindsided by Mr. Barr's recent appropriation of his report so that he [Barr] could maim or delay the Constitutional Duty which the executive branch has to the legislative branch. We shall see. The wheels of genuine justice — like the wheels of the gods — grind slowly, often very slowly. [A important principle: It is quite true that many prelates and bishops had difficult decisions about how to use confidential information about priests who had seduced young children. It is also true that those who empowered these priests to continue to seduce multiple additional children sinned against both God and man.] The misdeeds committed by one Donald John Trump, his family, and his political associates against cannot be allowed to go quietly into that good nite… The Constitutional Standard is — and the legal standard should be— that improperly and flagrantly delayed justice is Actual Justice Denied.
IV. This is not exactly without relevant precedents. Some additional thoughts about various miscreants relevant to our U.S. American history.
According to the author of Ecclesiastes "There is nothing new beneath the Sun!" Having been alive when human beings first walked on the moon, when new discoveries about human history have been revealed by studies of DNA and RNA, and when new types of cyber crimes have been committed I, personally, do not believe that to be true. Still, there are numerous parallels between various events recorded during the past five millennia when written or inscribed records began to appear in large quantities upon the earth. I wish here to discuss briefly some episodes and themes in the history of the United Sates which seem especially appropriate in understanding our present political-moral crisis. I will concentrate on various elements and actors important to understanding the American Civil War and the Second World War. And, again, as prologue I add a few quotations that strike me as especially pertinent.
"If this be treason, make the most of it!" — Patrick Henry (1765).
"Gentlemen may cry 'Peace! peace' when there is no peace." — Patrick Henry (1775)
"A House Divided against itself cannot stand." — Abraham Lincoln (~1858)
IVA. Prominent Demagogues in the United States (Highliting the American Civil War).
In the history of the United States, there are several "treasonous" episodes that are also episodes that exhibit moral depravity among human beings. To be sure, (1) I do not believe that treason is necessarily either an immoral action or, necessarily, a matter of great constitutional importance. Treason is by definition a political activity and always involves a political perspective. Thus, as an American citizen who believes that separation from the British Crown was a good thing — I do not believe that Patrick Henry's remarks against the British Crown were treasonous. But there are 3 human beings who have in our history committed — in my opinion — especially egregious and morally reprehensible acts of treason. Two are related to the Civil War — a product of a twenty-four decade legal (and, eventually) and constitutional policy that will always be reminder of the evil that U.S. citizens have been capable of doing.
First, Aaron Burr with his schemes for wresting control of what were then 'Western' portions of the young United States (Early 1800's). Secondly, John C. Calhoun, with his early (~1830) arguments for "nullification" and his concomitant rhetoric about the benefits of slavery for supposedly "inferior" African-born slaves and their descendants. Thirdly, Jefferson Davis, the President of the Confederacy [1861-1865] with his commitment to the "property rights" of slaveholders accompanied, of course, by rhetorical appeals to the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. I don't usually argue about the "principles" involved or, more precisely, whether the Slaveholders and the Southern Confederacy leaders were "sincere" about their beliefs. I consider it simply a fundamental consequence of the Declaration of Independence that freedom and slavery are and always have been incompatible — and it took a terrible Civil War for most citizens of the United States to realize that chattel slavery was not only wrong, but an albatross around our neck that would destroy any "blessings" of freedom we might enjoy. I mention the Civil War — not because I think that the Civil War ended the terrible legacy of slavery, but because it was a very real — if flawed — beginning of the process which sees neither black nor white — nor any of the actual hues and colors of our people — as valid markers for receiving the liberties and blessings of living on God's Good Earth.
Now that we have entered what is frequently a cold civil war we are in a situation in which — in spite of Donald John Trump's publicly vented racial spleen and the all-too-frequent murder by police of innocents, especially those of very dark hues — our inequalities are becoming based upon criteria that are usually more diffuse than such "simple" issues of "race" and "color" (as if "race" or "color" were ever simple matters). And, when it comes to the environment — the consequences of our foolish self-centeredness about nature's bounty (whether we are centered on our self, our family, our friends, our social/political cohorts, or our nation) are increasingly spread over any boundaries we imagine for "us" and "them". And, furthermore, we cannot even separate our fates from those plants and animals over which we have a certain dominion. It is indeed a single earthship we inhabit within an enormous and wondrous universe — but if we do not get our act together we can just as easily vanish in the twinkling of geological eye as did the trilobites, the dinosaurs, the mammoths, the neanderthals, the dodo, the passenger pigeons, the Roanoke settlers and countless peoples and species which have proceeded before us.
Let me be clear I do not view Donald J. Trump as a cause of the small number of plutocrats and attendants who try to profit from his success as they crowd together into smaller and smaller sets of self-aggrandizing elites. Rather, I see Donald as one who tries to personally profit from these contradictory cohorts. One can imagine that Donald can continue to "successfully" distract his various critics and political opponents — but it is all based on a set of contradictory lies about unearned privileges. And lies are just that — lies. Broken cisterns that hold no water; shimmering glitter that has no value. As far as I can tell he is the most successful and ruthlessly indifferent of our many demagogues [any country with a history has had demagogues as well as heroes]. Furthermore, he appears to have less shame than any of our previous presidents. One of his heroes — Andrew Jackson — had, at least, members of his own family killed by the British and known of real massacres by Indians before he began his own ugly and murderous attacks on native American people. Donald's attacks seem to be drawn from an even deeper reservoir of spleen and imagined victimhood. Which is all simply to say that everything that Donald touches dies — and when it all collapses his legacy will be simply the ruins of souls and fortunes when human fools can excite other foolish or craven souls to enter on their highways to hell.
IVA. Western Civilization's most Dangerous Demagogue (Adolf Hitler and the Second World War).
Here I make only a few general and mostly unexceptional remarks[I claim no particular expertise, other than that of being relatively informed citizen who has given some time to the subject.] I also add a number of reflections from my own family history [important to me, but again not terribly unusual]. Both the 'remarks' and 'reflections' may help the reader to better assess bias or agenda on my part.
While I was growing up I heard a number of stories about my maternal grandfather, one John Alban Allen, referred to within the family simply as "Daddy Jack." As a child he had visited Germany for ~ a year, but — during World War I, he served as a balloon spotter for the Allied Forces. His older brother, Emer, was killed in France and is buried there, but Daddy Jack returned home — and in events that may have been related to earlier physical wounds or perhaps to other causes he died when my mother was three years old. In due time, aggravated by (1) reparations imposed by the French against the Germans [essentially giving the Germans sole responsibility for the European Debacle which brought on the War] and by (2) long standing military jingoistic traditions within Germany, Adolf Hitler became Germany's Dictator (Der Führer) and gradually initiated a series of Wars as well as the planned extermination of Gypsies, Albinos, Jews, and others. During a week late in May 1940 [ I learned from a college assignment to write about the week I was born] the British were trying desperately to bring trapped British soldiers back from Dunkirk, France to the relative safety of Great Britain. Shortly before I reached the age of 5, one of my cousins reached the beaches of Normandy around 10 AM in the morning. When he reached the European mainland, the bulldozers had shoved most of the corpses out of the way and he and his company were able to proceed directly to their front lines.
So for these and other reasons, I have been interested in Germany — both its literature and its involvement in the Second World War. As an adult I have never thought of the 2nd World as a simple German initiated event or as a simple Hitler-led event. It seems quite clear that the Holocaust was so catastrophic in Europe precisely because many of the "Christian" populations were so deeply infected by anti-Semitism that they cooperated willingly with the Nazis. Still, the ability of Donald Trump to publicly air his filth about immigrants, reporters, democrats, prisoners-of-war, and handicapped persons strikes some people as so low on the empathy quotient that many have compared him to Hitler. In truth, Donald has been so preoccupied by his immediate fancies about both the glitter of wealth and his desire for revenge that he does not really compare to Hitler. Hitler was more focused on power — esp. military power — and could bide his time and, when opportunity arose, he could strike at the ready. Donald, however, seeks the opportunity to bask in the approval of dictators like Putin and Kim Jong-un. Indeed, with Putin he has become a real — if somewhat inconsistent — stooge. It strikes me that there are important similarities between Hitler and Trump — both have been extremely cynical about their followers, both have discovered that the Big Lie is often surprisingly more effective than a simple lie, and while both of them have had moments of charm and even graciousness — they have been in their separate eras operating with hearts that are usually colder than those of most "hardened" criminals. Both men have been unusually skilled at identifying the (dishonest) sense of "victimhood" within their live audiences. There are occasional moments of surprisingly obvious humanity [These men are not the Devil himself; rather, they are men who have struck bigger bargains with the devil than most of us are wont to consider.] However, their claim to fame is the inability or, better, unwillingness of most people to confront their striking moral chutzpah and filth in any serious fashion. He/she who has ears to hear — let hem hear!
I do not really believe that any reader would share all or even most of my views. I am saying, however, that some of the most villainous of all human actors have had such disastrous effects precisely because so many human beings have downplayed events beheld by their very own eyes and ignored words heard with their very own ears. The Mueller probe has told us that the problem is not in Denmark. Whether we are to be or not to be a democracy is the issue that stands right before our eyes.
Lon Clay Hill
Miramar, Florida, USA
[29 March 2019]
[A Simplified Subsidiary Issue. — "Climate Change"] The author has only touched the main components — in his mind — of a morally, politically, and legally complex set of issues surrounding the Mueller Probe. However, my approach is better understood by considering a somewhat simpler issue. Countless birds, insects, and fish have already accepted the reality of climate change — they have altered their migration patterns by distances of hundreds of kilometers or more and they have altered their migrations schedules by 2-3 weeks. Human beings have, however, an additional problem that creates additional problems. When they face difficulties — they often lie to themselves and/or to others. Human solutions to the problems of climate change are — like solutions to human migration — are quite difficult and complex. As a general rule it seems to me that discussions about whether climate change is "real" tend to be exercises in group evasion.
There are a number of reasons why people follow demagogues. One of the most important of them is that the evils in their own lives may have been partially or substantially produced by enemies or opponents of the demagogue. As for the politically active supporters of a demagogue, the blindness of those who first make a 'deal' with the devil that they imagine they can dissolve when matters get worse is simply difficult to overestimate…
Friday, March 29, 2019
Monday, March 11, 2019
The Devil's Workshop: Michael Cohen, Donald J. Trump, and Redemption
"Woe is me for I am an unclean man and I live in the midst of an unclean people and I have seen the Lord of Hosts, High up as His Train filled the Temple!" — Isaiah
Lon Clay Hill
Miramar, Florida, USA
[11 March 2019]
A Spiritual-Political Discussion-and-Argument which begins with metaphors.
In the Harbor: Michael struggles to keep from drowning
When Michael finally realized that the "Family"-supplied air tube had actually ensnared him with an ever-diminishing oxygen supply and inevitable asphyxiation as he was performing his mission in some of the deepest and darkest waters of the remarkable New York harbor, he immediately tore the tube away and sought to turn-and-return his body towards the surface which lay high above his landformed body. Those of you who have seen action movies where even those with superhuman strength must struggle to escape the physical and spiritual schackles which confront and tempt even the greatest of our heroes may be able to imagine better than I how Michael struggled. As he first realized that his salvation lay high above him he began to strive — as he had never striven since he had burst from his mother's womb — to reach the surface where he could once again engulf the life sustaining air. I can only really tell you that it was difficult — desperately difficult. I can also offer you a few words which may suggest the mood and the travail with which his arms flailed, his legs kicked, his torso twisted, and his eyes sought the dim lights which would lead him to temporary release. And, I must also add that once he had begun to seek the surface he was immediately bedeviled by the realization that his Family-supplied face mask was making the already dark waters even more murkier and muddled. So within seconds he had first pulled out the tube and torn off the mask — and late at nite he found himself in waters polluted by a filth that would not only make clean water dirty, but would make even the most polluted waters even darker.
Additional Problems: Sewage from the Family's Gilded Tower makes the already Dark Waters murkier and even darker…
You see, Michael knew that in the harbor — and not far from his family-supplied mission yacht — there were shoals near a dimly lit "Statue Liberté where he might repair for a temporary respite in his journey. However, there were other lights — including lights from a Golden Tower — which would confuse and distract him briefly as he strove upward into the light and toward the nearest shoals of refuge. The Golden Tower (or, more accurately, the Gilded Tower) was indeed covered with a microscopically thin layer of pure Gold (element #79) which would shimmer even on the darkest moonless nites and during the worst of blackouts. In addition to its shimmering exterior within the Gilded Tower were some remarkable elevators, escalators, and other more expensive human artifacts — but, unbeknown or unrecognized by most, the bulk of the Tower is made almost entirely from fine fibers of Camel's Dung. Indeed, this Camel's Dung spontaneously breaks down at somewhat unpredictable rates and is, in fact, responsible for most of the dark waste or filth that was making the dark waters around Michael so incredibly murky. The waste is actually transported from the Tower's basement out into the harbor in large new Tungsten-ceramic Pipes that have — so far — experienced no leakages or breaks and delivered the waste directly into the waters in twelve dispersed pipes which enter the water approximately 50 meters below sea level. However, the most important finding I can report to you is this: The often whispered rumors that a lost child can be found inside the Tower are not rumors!! It is true — a lost child is indeed within the Tower. It turns out that this lost child resides in the soul of a tall, ambitious, crafty, foolish and, unfortunately, somewhat senile old man named Donald J. Trump. It is, you see, this Donald Trump who had sent Michael on his — we now see — Mission Impossible.
So much for the particulars. For a moment we leave Michael and the deep, dark New York Harbor— he has actually reached the shoals of the small island with it small statue and he has made some important steps to reconnect with his family, his honor, his nation, and even — to some extent — within his own soul.
An outside perspective:
Michael cannot undo most of the damage he has done to his family, his friends, his family, strangers, and to his own reputation. However, he is now helping to unmask some of the damages done by the President and his Political Allies in the Tower, in Washington and thruout the Land. Undoing and repairing those damages by these groups — and any misdeeds by his political opposition — will be a task for the rest of us.
We return to the Harbor and the Observers in a nearby Ship of State:
While Michael has finally approached the shoals of a small island, we must turn to a few of those participating observers who are closest to the scene of action. We look first in a small group hosted by a nearby yacht, a small ship of state.
Looking thru what they believe are protected windows which allow them to look with satisfaction upon Michael's struggles are the most prominent of the Family's political supporters. This collection of (1) ideologues, (2) ambitious politicians, and (3) unusually rapacious capitalists who may see a few or even many of the Don's follies. However, if the Donald perchance fails, they will — they believe — be able to bail out of their privileged chambers. Unfortunately, they do not realize that their protective windows are in fact a peculiarly transparent form of camel's dung which has made invisible both (1) the raging fires which are beginning to ignite inside the waste flowing from the Tower and (2) aggregates of hardened-and-frozen debris created by the fall of gutted buildings and gutted dreams now sliding silently into the Harbor as the bills for their (Faustian) bargains with the devil come due. In any case, whether the cause is greed, hubris, ambition, or revenge and whether the end is accompanied by fire or ice, these contemporary self-blinded men and women will be as powerless as those wealthy men and women who proudly rode blindly into death after purchasing their first class steerage upon the Unsinkable Titanic. …
A few religious leaders — the Caiaphas-Billy Graham, Jr. coterie — are also watching from a Long Island Hillock in a small building with at Secret Gateway to Hell
A more important set of witnesses have been watching these events from a small and somewhat distant hillock across the Harbor on Long Island. These are "religious" supporters in the "Caiaphas-Billy Graham, Jr." coterie. These ladies and gentlemen like to remain close to the corridors of power — and, while they, individually, are often quite wealthy — their actual "spiritual" temptation is quite distinct. They would like to trade in their stated convictions for a token which many of the faithful believe would confirm their self image as "good people" or, even, "morally superior people". Indeed, among the Christians in this group it is sometimes whispered that they will be able to sit next to Saint Peter himself!! This group, of course, has deep — but ever shifting — "roots". Two and three millennia ago they would have been seen blessing human sacrifice, the stoning of prophets, the crucifixion of Jesus, and the burning of Christians. Today, they have different targets — and some unusual alliances. In the United States they are mostly affiliated with certain Christians who call themselves evangelists. Others in their group appear to believe that Muslims are lower than the lowest untouchables. A few of them, of course, have gotten very mixed up about the relationship between the cross of Christ and the "right" to purchase and sell a firearm, a machine gun, or an AK-47. What they have in common, however, is the belief that they themselves are good and entitled to the full panoply of rights of good citizens and that those who are dispossessed of such rights are "undeserving" of such privileges. Unfortunately, these religious hypocrites are about as close to hell as we humans can be — and most of us are already much too close for self-satisfied comfort. The thin floor of their den of self-congratulation is an abyss which is deeper than the deepest trenches of the ocean. It is indeed one of the most direct of all the many roads which can serve as a Gateway to Hell.
Returning to Michael and the rest of us.
So Michael bestirs himself while those who reside in the Gilded Tower, the Ship of State, the Den of Hypocrites, and virtually all the rest of us seek to find some way to make our selves better than him. But that is not our task.
Dropping the metaphors.
I do not believe that Michael has completed his journey to recover his honor and his soul. Indeed, as far as I can see I know that I myself have far too far to go to spend my time comparing myself to Michael or to his chief financial and immoral supporter of the past decade, Donald John Trump. Of course, some of Donald's lies and acts must be openly opposed, but the strength of Donald is rooted in moral failures that are much deeper than the misdeeds of the Donald and the blindness of his supporters. The particular Hell into which the evangelists have stepped will not last — lies do not last forever even if they may be powerful for years and even Centuries. And Michael's Hell, Donald's Hell, the hypocrites' Hell and the Hell of any individual — such as you, the reader, or I, the author — is a burden which is carried by the all of us. According to Scripture the most important evangelist in Christian history, Paul of Tarsus, was — before he became a spreader of "the good news" of what we now call Christianity — a zealot who was involved in the murder of Stephen and, perhaps, other followers of the crucified Nazarene.
I rejoice that Michael has taken the first steps of reclaiming his soul — even if a major part of his motivation was his simple realization that the Donald was almost totally bereft of the loyalty which is sometimes found among Godfathers and Strongmen and that he, Michael Cohen, was simply on his own. Many of us make better decisions after we have been punished harshly for our own foolish misdeeds. This is my belief. I believe that those fakers who would support the self-interested love of their own group — religious, economic, political, or social — into professed faithfulness to God, Allah, Truth, Nature, the Force or any other name they would apply to the power that sustains us all — are already in a hell of their own making. They are not beyond the reach of God's love and all the rest of us will in various ways have to share in the pains of their redemption — whether and if we, too, are adding our own faggots are to the fire. And, if and when others come to power and they too will face similar promises and temptations…
But, if you have got this far, I have made my point. You, the reader, must make your own determinations. What I add next are simply my own musing as I try to understand better this unexpected moral-political-spiritual-social thicket into which my country has stumbled even as I am myself coming towards the end of my days upon this small planet within a marvelous universe where most mornings I can still see a few planets and other much more distant stars on my morning walks.
* * * * * * *
Notes:
The Quote from Isaiah:
The "translation" is mostly from Isaiah Chapter 6: verse 5 with a few words from verse 1. There are many translations, Christian and Jewish, old and new…. I would presume that all or almost all translations are much better and/or more complete than mine. I do not read Hebrew. I have chosen instead to be guided mostly from what I remember from over 5 decades ago when I first encountered Isaiah. The memory of that encounter stays with me these many years hence as (1) children are placed in cages bought by taxes that I and others have paid in taxes and (2) crowds and individuals, including may children, are murdered by guns bought in a country where many say that they can share two masters: an extreme love for both guns and their devotion to God.
THE GENERAL APPROACH.
There are dimensions of our lives which are deeper than our logical minds and deeper than even our consciousness. Poetry, parable, and music often can express these dimension better than our more conventional speech or writing. I am not a poet — but like all humans — I have a poetic dimension of some minimal nature. So, I have proposed some metaphors. Even an idiot may be a witness as William Faulkner demonstrated in The Sound and the Fury.
Sinking of the Titanic and Ships of State.
Unfortunately, an even larger portion of the poorer passages plunged into the darkness of the earth's coldest waters on the 15th of April 1912. And, unless the Almighty stays his hand, the sinking of this particular contemporary ship of state is likely to bring a large number of unwitting, innocent, and other humans and fellow creatures along with them.
Challenging Nature
While today, the United States is a leader in creating climate change, the problem is much deeper than that. When discussing climate change it seems important to me to recognize that wordless birds, fish, and insects recognize climate change — in many places they have already changed their migratory patterns by two-three weeks and/or by two-three hundreds of kilometers. The problem for human's is that that humans can deceive both themselves and each other. Climate change is — of course — a quite difficult challenge and is bringing out the worst and best in our species. There are, of course, teachable moments — but one should, I think, be aware that there are times — whether a disaster comes from human action, from nature, or from God or wherever you, the reader, wish to assign the cause — you must take what you have and leave your trust in whatever is deepest and true inside the deepest part of your mind-or soul-or-self. The only enemy, I believe, is despair. We have been thrust into one of those profound revolutions in human history where, as usual, our temptation to utilize our newest discoveries for the most foolish, temporary, and selfish reasons is upon us and we must resist that temptation.
Forewarning: A Longer Exposition on the Question of Religious Hypocrisy
I would like to stress that some people who know me best think that I seemed predisposed to be a little more dramatic or hyperbolic than I really need to be.
The Longer Exposition (Argument) — Version #1
A more important set of witnesses have been watching these events from a small and somewhat distant hillock across the Harbor on Long Island. These are "religious" supporters in the "Caiaphas-Billy Graham, Jr." coterie. These ladies and gentlemen like to remain close to the corridors of power — and, while they, individually, are often quite wealthy — their actual "spiritual" temptation is quite distinct. They would like to trade in their stated convictions for a token which many of the faithful believe would confirm their self image as "good people" or, even, "morally superior people". Indeed, the seriousness with which these self-described "faithful" pursue their beliefs suggests that some of the leaders and some of their loudest supporters 'imagine' that this political support will virtually guarantee themselves front seats in Heaven itself. Indeed, among the Christians in this group it is sometimes whispered that they will be able to sit next to Saint Peter himself!! This group, of course, has deep — but ever shifting — "roots". Two and three millennia ago they would have been seen blessing human sacrifice, the stoning of prophets, the crucifixion of Jesus, and the burning of Christians. Today, they have different targets — and some unusual alliances. In the United States they are mostly affiliated with certain Christians who call themselves "evangelists" and sometimes target the "crime" of abortion to the exclusion of all other deeds, misdeeds, or crimes. Others in their group appear to believe that Palestinians or Iranian or Muslims are lower than the lowest untouchables. A few of them, of course, have gotten very mixed up about the relationship between the cross of Christ and the "right" to purchase a firearm, a machine gun, or an AK-47. What they have in common, however, is the belief that they themselves are good and entitled to the full panoply of rights of good citizens and that those who are dispossessed of such rights are undeserving of such privileges. They are, of course, in these beliefs not only misguided — Jesus of Nazareth asked "Why call me good? — only God is good!" — they are about as close to hell as we humans can be. The thin floor of their den of self-congratulation is an abyss which is deeper than the deepest trenches of the ocean. Camel dung and Moral filth has many forms. And it is indeed a Gateway to Hell.
The Longer Exposition (Argument) — Version #2
A more important set of witnesses have been watching these events from a small and somewhat distant hillock across the Harbor on Long Island. These are "religious" supporters in the "Caiaphas-Billy Graham, Jr." coterie. These ladies and gentlemen like to remain close to the corridors of power — and, while they, individually, are often quite wealthy — their actual "spiritual" temptation is quite distinct. They would like to trade in their stated convictions for a token which many of the faithful believe would confirm their self image as "good people" or, even, "morally superior people". Indeed, the seriousness with which these self-described "faithful" pursue their beliefs suggests that they 'imagine' that this political support will virtually guarantee themselves front seats in Heaven itself. Whatever, the motivation of these leaders and their followers, they tend to accept a political token — and then give their political support to leaders will commit crimes and misdeeds — whether openly or secretly — that are directly counter to their own stated credos and, most especially, the leaders who founded their movements. In the past — keeping here within the Judaeo-Christian traditions —their foreparents' and ancestral misdeeds have included support for the stoning of prophets, the crucifixion of Jesus, the burning [at different times] of Christians, heretics, Jews, and gays. Keeping strictly within the traditions of British colonists and the United States, religious leaders and their followers have enthusiastically supported slavery and segregational peonage as consistent with the Will of God.
And, TODAY, in these "United States" some so-called or, better, self-described "evangelists" have consistently supported politicians — including the Donald of New York — who will (1) throw children in cages [they call it "patriotism"], (2) who will support the profits of reckless, shameful, utterly foolish, and murderous gun manufacturers [they call it "supporting liberty"], (3) support the disenfranchisements of the unpowerful in order to more firmly enable their own unearned privileges [they call it "preventing voter fraud"], and (4) and will look on in silence as God's earth is despoiled and in obeisance to willfully blind multinationals [characterized as the "blessing of economic liberty]. To be sure, outside of the United States and, to a much smaller extent within these United States, there are people and parties who commit their own collective and individual misdeeds. But, the historical record — including the texts of the New Covenant — tells us that Paul of Tarsus, a Jewish zealot, was involved in the murder of Stephen and, probably, various other followers of the deceased Jesus of Nazareth before he became the most effective proponent of the "good news" of Jesus's message. Paul, I believe, has spoken some of Western civilizations most enduring words. He stated that in Christ there is neither Jew nor Gentile, slave nor free, male nor female" and that "If I have not love I become a clanging cymbal." While our USA has its very incomplete and sometimes utterly hypocritical record, the statement that "all men are created equal" has been used to implement part of this principle and if we can say that "all humans are created equal" we may be able to move ahead more easily. Still, even the very transformed Paul was not always up to the task. Some of his words about the advantages of permanent chastity are not always helpful guidewords for most of us. But let's get to the Scripture's themselves. In Matthew Jesus is quoted as saying that not all those who say "Lord, Lord" will inherit the Kingdom of Heaven. For myself, I would never claim to be an expert about "Heaven" and I certainly would be disinclined to say that I am "better" or "worse" than anyone I have ever met — altho it is true that I, like you, do have a few talents [as well as blind spots] and that others clearly have skills and talents which I do not possess. But there is one thing I do believe. If your or my religion helps me or you to be a better person than I would otherwise be or if helps us to live in hope [instead of the despair of unfaced fears], I believe that is good. And I do not believe that any religion makes one better than anyone else and I certainly do not believe that any religion give you or me or anyone else special privileges that have any other design which do not directly or indirectly help us to serve others and live in peace. That is my belief and I believe that those fakers who would support the self-interested love of their own group — religious, economic, political, or social — into professes faithfulness to God, Allah, Truth, Nature, the Force or any other name they would apply to the power that sustains us all — are already in a hell of their own making. They are not beyond the reach of God's love and all the rest of us will in various ways have to share in the pains of their redemption. This applies whether and if we, too, are adding our own faggots to the fire. And, if and when others come to power, they will also face similar promises and temptations…
"Woe is me for I am an unclean man and I live in the midst of an unclean people and I have seen the Lord of Hosts, High up as His Train filled the Temple!" — Isaiah
Lon Clay Hill
Miramar, Florida, USA
[11 March 2019]
A Spiritual-Political Discussion-and-Argument which begins with metaphors.
In the Harbor: Michael struggles to keep from drowning
When Michael finally realized that the "Family"-supplied air tube had actually ensnared him with an ever-diminishing oxygen supply and inevitable asphyxiation as he was performing his mission in some of the deepest and darkest waters of the remarkable New York harbor, he immediately tore the tube away and sought to turn-and-return his body towards the surface which lay high above his landformed body. Those of you who have seen action movies where even those with superhuman strength must struggle to escape the physical and spiritual schackles which confront and tempt even the greatest of our heroes may be able to imagine better than I how Michael struggled. As he first realized that his salvation lay high above him he began to strive — as he had never striven since he had burst from his mother's womb — to reach the surface where he could once again engulf the life sustaining air. I can only really tell you that it was difficult — desperately difficult. I can also offer you a few words which may suggest the mood and the travail with which his arms flailed, his legs kicked, his torso twisted, and his eyes sought the dim lights which would lead him to temporary release. And, I must also add that once he had begun to seek the surface he was immediately bedeviled by the realization that his Family-supplied face mask was making the already dark waters even more murkier and muddled. So within seconds he had first pulled out the tube and torn off the mask — and late at nite he found himself in waters polluted by a filth that would not only make clean water dirty, but would make even the most polluted waters even darker.
Additional Problems: Sewage from the Family's Gilded Tower makes the already Dark Waters murkier and even darker…
You see, Michael knew that in the harbor — and not far from his family-supplied mission yacht — there were shoals near a dimly lit "Statue Liberté where he might repair for a temporary respite in his journey. However, there were other lights — including lights from a Golden Tower — which would confuse and distract him briefly as he strove upward into the light and toward the nearest shoals of refuge. The Golden Tower (or, more accurately, the Gilded Tower) was indeed covered with a microscopically thin layer of pure Gold (element #79) which would shimmer even on the darkest moonless nites and during the worst of blackouts. In addition to its shimmering exterior within the Gilded Tower were some remarkable elevators, escalators, and other more expensive human artifacts — but, unbeknown or unrecognized by most, the bulk of the Tower is made almost entirely from fine fibers of Camel's Dung. Indeed, this Camel's Dung spontaneously breaks down at somewhat unpredictable rates and is, in fact, responsible for most of the dark waste or filth that was making the dark waters around Michael so incredibly murky. The waste is actually transported from the Tower's basement out into the harbor in large new Tungsten-ceramic Pipes that have — so far — experienced no leakages or breaks and delivered the waste directly into the waters in twelve dispersed pipes which enter the water approximately 50 meters below sea level. However, the most important finding I can report to you is this: The often whispered rumors that a lost child can be found inside the Tower are not rumors!! It is true — a lost child is indeed within the Tower. It turns out that this lost child resides in the soul of a tall, ambitious, crafty, foolish and, unfortunately, somewhat senile old man named Donald J. Trump. It is, you see, this Donald Trump who had sent Michael on his — we now see — Mission Impossible.
So much for the particulars. For a moment we leave Michael and the deep, dark New York Harbor— he has actually reached the shoals of the small island with it small statue and he has made some important steps to reconnect with his family, his honor, his nation, and even — to some extent — within his own soul.
An outside perspective:
Michael cannot undo most of the damage he has done to his family, his friends, his family, strangers, and to his own reputation. However, he is now helping to unmask some of the damages done by the President and his Political Allies in the Tower, in Washington and thruout the Land. Undoing and repairing those damages by these groups — and any misdeeds by his political opposition — will be a task for the rest of us.
We return to the Harbor and the Observers in a nearby Ship of State:
While Michael has finally approached the shoals of a small island, we must turn to a few of those participating observers who are closest to the scene of action. We look first in a small group hosted by a nearby yacht, a small ship of state.
Looking thru what they believe are protected windows which allow them to look with satisfaction upon Michael's struggles are the most prominent of the Family's political supporters. This collection of (1) ideologues, (2) ambitious politicians, and (3) unusually rapacious capitalists who may see a few or even many of the Don's follies. However, if the Donald perchance fails, they will — they believe — be able to bail out of their privileged chambers. Unfortunately, they do not realize that their protective windows are in fact a peculiarly transparent form of camel's dung which has made invisible both (1) the raging fires which are beginning to ignite inside the waste flowing from the Tower and (2) aggregates of hardened-and-frozen debris created by the fall of gutted buildings and gutted dreams now sliding silently into the Harbor as the bills for their (Faustian) bargains with the devil come due. In any case, whether the cause is greed, hubris, ambition, or revenge and whether the end is accompanied by fire or ice, these contemporary self-blinded men and women will be as powerless as those wealthy men and women who proudly rode blindly into death after purchasing their first class steerage upon the Unsinkable Titanic. …
A few religious leaders — the Caiaphas-Billy Graham, Jr. coterie — are also watching from a Long Island Hillock in a small building with at Secret Gateway to Hell
A more important set of witnesses have been watching these events from a small and somewhat distant hillock across the Harbor on Long Island. These are "religious" supporters in the "Caiaphas-Billy Graham, Jr." coterie. These ladies and gentlemen like to remain close to the corridors of power — and, while they, individually, are often quite wealthy — their actual "spiritual" temptation is quite distinct. They would like to trade in their stated convictions for a token which many of the faithful believe would confirm their self image as "good people" or, even, "morally superior people". Indeed, among the Christians in this group it is sometimes whispered that they will be able to sit next to Saint Peter himself!! This group, of course, has deep — but ever shifting — "roots". Two and three millennia ago they would have been seen blessing human sacrifice, the stoning of prophets, the crucifixion of Jesus, and the burning of Christians. Today, they have different targets — and some unusual alliances. In the United States they are mostly affiliated with certain Christians who call themselves evangelists. Others in their group appear to believe that Muslims are lower than the lowest untouchables. A few of them, of course, have gotten very mixed up about the relationship between the cross of Christ and the "right" to purchase and sell a firearm, a machine gun, or an AK-47. What they have in common, however, is the belief that they themselves are good and entitled to the full panoply of rights of good citizens and that those who are dispossessed of such rights are "undeserving" of such privileges. Unfortunately, these religious hypocrites are about as close to hell as we humans can be — and most of us are already much too close for self-satisfied comfort. The thin floor of their den of self-congratulation is an abyss which is deeper than the deepest trenches of the ocean. It is indeed one of the most direct of all the many roads which can serve as a Gateway to Hell.
Returning to Michael and the rest of us.
So Michael bestirs himself while those who reside in the Gilded Tower, the Ship of State, the Den of Hypocrites, and virtually all the rest of us seek to find some way to make our selves better than him. But that is not our task.
Dropping the metaphors.
I do not believe that Michael has completed his journey to recover his honor and his soul. Indeed, as far as I can see I know that I myself have far too far to go to spend my time comparing myself to Michael or to his chief financial and immoral supporter of the past decade, Donald John Trump. Of course, some of Donald's lies and acts must be openly opposed, but the strength of Donald is rooted in moral failures that are much deeper than the misdeeds of the Donald and the blindness of his supporters. The particular Hell into which the evangelists have stepped will not last — lies do not last forever even if they may be powerful for years and even Centuries. And Michael's Hell, Donald's Hell, the hypocrites' Hell and the Hell of any individual — such as you, the reader, or I, the author — is a burden which is carried by the all of us. According to Scripture the most important evangelist in Christian history, Paul of Tarsus, was — before he became a spreader of "the good news" of what we now call Christianity — a zealot who was involved in the murder of Stephen and, perhaps, other followers of the crucified Nazarene.
I rejoice that Michael has taken the first steps of reclaiming his soul — even if a major part of his motivation was his simple realization that the Donald was almost totally bereft of the loyalty which is sometimes found among Godfathers and Strongmen and that he, Michael Cohen, was simply on his own. Many of us make better decisions after we have been punished harshly for our own foolish misdeeds. This is my belief. I believe that those fakers who would support the self-interested love of their own group — religious, economic, political, or social — into professed faithfulness to God, Allah, Truth, Nature, the Force or any other name they would apply to the power that sustains us all — are already in a hell of their own making. They are not beyond the reach of God's love and all the rest of us will in various ways have to share in the pains of their redemption — whether and if we, too, are adding our own faggots are to the fire. And, if and when others come to power and they too will face similar promises and temptations…
But, if you have got this far, I have made my point. You, the reader, must make your own determinations. What I add next are simply my own musing as I try to understand better this unexpected moral-political-spiritual-social thicket into which my country has stumbled even as I am myself coming towards the end of my days upon this small planet within a marvelous universe where most mornings I can still see a few planets and other much more distant stars on my morning walks.
* * * * * * *
Notes:
The Quote from Isaiah:
The "translation" is mostly from Isaiah Chapter 6: verse 5 with a few words from verse 1. There are many translations, Christian and Jewish, old and new…. I would presume that all or almost all translations are much better and/or more complete than mine. I do not read Hebrew. I have chosen instead to be guided mostly from what I remember from over 5 decades ago when I first encountered Isaiah. The memory of that encounter stays with me these many years hence as (1) children are placed in cages bought by taxes that I and others have paid in taxes and (2) crowds and individuals, including may children, are murdered by guns bought in a country where many say that they can share two masters: an extreme love for both guns and their devotion to God.
THE GENERAL APPROACH.
There are dimensions of our lives which are deeper than our logical minds and deeper than even our consciousness. Poetry, parable, and music often can express these dimension better than our more conventional speech or writing. I am not a poet — but like all humans — I have a poetic dimension of some minimal nature. So, I have proposed some metaphors. Even an idiot may be a witness as William Faulkner demonstrated in The Sound and the Fury.
Sinking of the Titanic and Ships of State.
Unfortunately, an even larger portion of the poorer passages plunged into the darkness of the earth's coldest waters on the 15th of April 1912. And, unless the Almighty stays his hand, the sinking of this particular contemporary ship of state is likely to bring a large number of unwitting, innocent, and other humans and fellow creatures along with them.
Challenging Nature
While today, the United States is a leader in creating climate change, the problem is much deeper than that. When discussing climate change it seems important to me to recognize that wordless birds, fish, and insects recognize climate change — in many places they have already changed their migratory patterns by two-three weeks and/or by two-three hundreds of kilometers. The problem for human's is that that humans can deceive both themselves and each other. Climate change is — of course — a quite difficult challenge and is bringing out the worst and best in our species. There are, of course, teachable moments — but one should, I think, be aware that there are times — whether a disaster comes from human action, from nature, or from God or wherever you, the reader, wish to assign the cause — you must take what you have and leave your trust in whatever is deepest and true inside the deepest part of your mind-or soul-or-self. The only enemy, I believe, is despair. We have been thrust into one of those profound revolutions in human history where, as usual, our temptation to utilize our newest discoveries for the most foolish, temporary, and selfish reasons is upon us and we must resist that temptation.
Forewarning: A Longer Exposition on the Question of Religious Hypocrisy
I would like to stress that some people who know me best think that I seemed predisposed to be a little more dramatic or hyperbolic than I really need to be.
The Longer Exposition (Argument) — Version #1
A more important set of witnesses have been watching these events from a small and somewhat distant hillock across the Harbor on Long Island. These are "religious" supporters in the "Caiaphas-Billy Graham, Jr." coterie. These ladies and gentlemen like to remain close to the corridors of power — and, while they, individually, are often quite wealthy — their actual "spiritual" temptation is quite distinct. They would like to trade in their stated convictions for a token which many of the faithful believe would confirm their self image as "good people" or, even, "morally superior people". Indeed, the seriousness with which these self-described "faithful" pursue their beliefs suggests that some of the leaders and some of their loudest supporters 'imagine' that this political support will virtually guarantee themselves front seats in Heaven itself. Indeed, among the Christians in this group it is sometimes whispered that they will be able to sit next to Saint Peter himself!! This group, of course, has deep — but ever shifting — "roots". Two and three millennia ago they would have been seen blessing human sacrifice, the stoning of prophets, the crucifixion of Jesus, and the burning of Christians. Today, they have different targets — and some unusual alliances. In the United States they are mostly affiliated with certain Christians who call themselves "evangelists" and sometimes target the "crime" of abortion to the exclusion of all other deeds, misdeeds, or crimes. Others in their group appear to believe that Palestinians or Iranian or Muslims are lower than the lowest untouchables. A few of them, of course, have gotten very mixed up about the relationship between the cross of Christ and the "right" to purchase a firearm, a machine gun, or an AK-47. What they have in common, however, is the belief that they themselves are good and entitled to the full panoply of rights of good citizens and that those who are dispossessed of such rights are undeserving of such privileges. They are, of course, in these beliefs not only misguided — Jesus of Nazareth asked "Why call me good? — only God is good!" — they are about as close to hell as we humans can be. The thin floor of their den of self-congratulation is an abyss which is deeper than the deepest trenches of the ocean. Camel dung and Moral filth has many forms. And it is indeed a Gateway to Hell.
The Longer Exposition (Argument) — Version #2
A more important set of witnesses have been watching these events from a small and somewhat distant hillock across the Harbor on Long Island. These are "religious" supporters in the "Caiaphas-Billy Graham, Jr." coterie. These ladies and gentlemen like to remain close to the corridors of power — and, while they, individually, are often quite wealthy — their actual "spiritual" temptation is quite distinct. They would like to trade in their stated convictions for a token which many of the faithful believe would confirm their self image as "good people" or, even, "morally superior people". Indeed, the seriousness with which these self-described "faithful" pursue their beliefs suggests that they 'imagine' that this political support will virtually guarantee themselves front seats in Heaven itself. Whatever, the motivation of these leaders and their followers, they tend to accept a political token — and then give their political support to leaders will commit crimes and misdeeds — whether openly or secretly — that are directly counter to their own stated credos and, most especially, the leaders who founded their movements. In the past — keeping here within the Judaeo-Christian traditions —their foreparents' and ancestral misdeeds have included support for the stoning of prophets, the crucifixion of Jesus, the burning [at different times] of Christians, heretics, Jews, and gays. Keeping strictly within the traditions of British colonists and the United States, religious leaders and their followers have enthusiastically supported slavery and segregational peonage as consistent with the Will of God.
And, TODAY, in these "United States" some so-called or, better, self-described "evangelists" have consistently supported politicians — including the Donald of New York — who will (1) throw children in cages [they call it "patriotism"], (2) who will support the profits of reckless, shameful, utterly foolish, and murderous gun manufacturers [they call it "supporting liberty"], (3) support the disenfranchisements of the unpowerful in order to more firmly enable their own unearned privileges [they call it "preventing voter fraud"], and (4) and will look on in silence as God's earth is despoiled and in obeisance to willfully blind multinationals [characterized as the "blessing of economic liberty]. To be sure, outside of the United States and, to a much smaller extent within these United States, there are people and parties who commit their own collective and individual misdeeds. But, the historical record — including the texts of the New Covenant — tells us that Paul of Tarsus, a Jewish zealot, was involved in the murder of Stephen and, probably, various other followers of the deceased Jesus of Nazareth before he became the most effective proponent of the "good news" of Jesus's message. Paul, I believe, has spoken some of Western civilizations most enduring words. He stated that in Christ there is neither Jew nor Gentile, slave nor free, male nor female" and that "If I have not love I become a clanging cymbal." While our USA has its very incomplete and sometimes utterly hypocritical record, the statement that "all men are created equal" has been used to implement part of this principle and if we can say that "all humans are created equal" we may be able to move ahead more easily. Still, even the very transformed Paul was not always up to the task. Some of his words about the advantages of permanent chastity are not always helpful guidewords for most of us. But let's get to the Scripture's themselves. In Matthew Jesus is quoted as saying that not all those who say "Lord, Lord" will inherit the Kingdom of Heaven. For myself, I would never claim to be an expert about "Heaven" and I certainly would be disinclined to say that I am "better" or "worse" than anyone I have ever met — altho it is true that I, like you, do have a few talents [as well as blind spots] and that others clearly have skills and talents which I do not possess. But there is one thing I do believe. If your or my religion helps me or you to be a better person than I would otherwise be or if helps us to live in hope [instead of the despair of unfaced fears], I believe that is good. And I do not believe that any religion makes one better than anyone else and I certainly do not believe that any religion give you or me or anyone else special privileges that have any other design which do not directly or indirectly help us to serve others and live in peace. That is my belief and I believe that those fakers who would support the self-interested love of their own group — religious, economic, political, or social — into professes faithfulness to God, Allah, Truth, Nature, the Force or any other name they would apply to the power that sustains us all — are already in a hell of their own making. They are not beyond the reach of God's love and all the rest of us will in various ways have to share in the pains of their redemption. This applies whether and if we, too, are adding our own faggots to the fire. And, if and when others come to power, they will also face similar promises and temptations…
Wednesday, March 6, 2019
Reviewing Statistical Data, Classificational Profiles, and Other Problematics — A. The Iron Meteorites.
Reviewing Statistical Data, Classificational Profiles, and Other Problematics — A. The Iron Meteorites.
"If you think this is complicated, it is."
A discussion which centers on the N= 1109 iron meteorites listed at The Meteoritical Bulletin Database as of 4 March 2019 and the development of a "Clean List" of N= 1090 iron meteorites whose classification is on firmer and more consistent grounds. Some preliminary — but quite significant — implications of our inquiry are proffered as well.
First, a brief historical resume.
Second, untangling levels of classificatory completeness… [The main dance]
Conclusions
Bibliography (abbreviated)
Appendix A: Counting and Classification Statistics for 164 Antarctic Iron meteorites
Appendix B: Counting and Classification Statistics for 99 NWA Iron meteorites
Finally, a personal epistemological note.
A Historical Brief: From the Stone Age to the 3rd Millennium in 6 paragraphs.
For countless millennia, our foreparents have stumbled across odd, dense, and peculiar hunks of Fe-rich metal as they have farmed and travelled over mountains and valleys and thru forests and deserts. Today, we call these peculiar objects "iron meteorites" (aka, irons) as in the large they are (1) chemically dominated by iron-invariably-accompanied by nickel and (2) mineralogically dominated by "alloys" of unoxidized or "free" iron alloyed with nickel and a number of accessory Fe-rich minerals and mineralites. Meteoriticists chemically label the "free" iron as "Fe-Ni metal" and, mineralogically, this Fe-Ni metal usually includes prominent kamacite, taenite, and other phases (mineralites). The accessory phases in unweathered irons normally include some Fe-rich (or, Fe-Ni rich) sulfides, phosphides, carbides. These phases include a number of phases which were first discovered in meteorites and are rarely — if ever — present in natural terrestrial lithologies. Some of these preserved masses are quite massive — 13 irons are characterized by masses of over 10 tons — and most readers have seen, at least, slices or portions of iron meteorites on display in science museums. The mass range of these displayed meteorites or meteorite fragments run the gamut from small 1 kg or smaller to over several tons.
There is, however, a very interesting complication — or, rather, a very interesting set of complications — associated with our irons. To wit, when a meteorite fall is observed and the meteorite itself is recovered, the great majority of meteorites are not irons — they are silicate-rich "stony meteorites" (aka, stones). Stony meteorites are quiet interesting objects and are often preserved (the oldest witnessed fall which has been preserved is the Nogata stone which fell during the nite of 19 May 861 CE. Still, meteoritic stones are not as large and not as durable as meteoritic irons and, in addition, weathered stones are much less prominently peculiar than weathered irons — which are often ignored by a human with an untrained eye. And that brings us into a thicket of developments of the half past century.
During the middle of the 20th Century, the great meteorite collector, Harvey Nininger (1887-1986), begin to realize that a significant number of additional fragments from a meteorite fall could often be recovered from a meteorite which had been observed to fall or had been recovered years or decades before. In addition, he stumbled upon the fact that occasionally the "strewn field" [area where the dispersed fragments of a meteorite can be recovered] of a known meteorite may overlap with the strewn field of another meteorite. Over the next few decades the implications of this discovery gradually were realized as humans begin to undertake planned searches of arid regions in the United States, Australia, Chile, and elsewhere so that the number of meteorite recoveries rapidly accelerated. In 1973 an explosion in additional meteorite recoveries from Antarctica began in earnest when 12 meteorites were retrieved by Japanese scientists near the Yamato mountains [Yamato 7301— Yamato 7301].
In 1985, The Catalogue of Meteorites (4/e), Graham et al. listed 2,784 meteorites including 725 irons. In this iteration irons represented 26% of the total number of recorded meteorites. In 2000, The Catalogue of Meteorites (5/e), Grady et al. listed 22,507 meteorites including 865 irons. In this iteration irons represented 3.8% of the total number of recorded meteorites. In early 2019 [4 March 2019 to be exact], The Meteoritical Bulletin Database has listed 60,656 meteorites with approved "valid" (unique) names including 1211 irons. In this latest iteration irons represent only 2.0% of the total number of recorded meteorites. Of the 60,656 recognized meteorites, 38,677 (64%) had been recovered in Antarctica.
With such large numbers, every student of meteoritics must pay some attention to "statistical" considerations. We mention what appear to the author to be the most problematic issues underlying our numbers. One, meteorites listed at The Meteoritical Bulletin Database — for both practical and historical reasons — are classified with varying degrees of completeness. In the author's opinion some of the classification labels (and associated data) is useless for most statistical studies while other classification labels and associated data are models are of precision. A significant fraction of the classification labels (group membership and petrologic type) are of varying intermediate value. [Mass and temporal data are sometimes compromised, but to a much smaller extent.] Two, while — for starters — this inquiry is largely restricted to the problematics of iron meteorite classification, a much deeper inquiry must include a more detailed look at the problematics of classification of all meteorites. Three and most importantly, the iron meteorites recovered in Antarctica have dramatically different post-earth impact histories from those of almost all other recovered meteorites. Specifically, most recovered iron meteorites in the rest of the world are found on the ground or (partially) buried very near to the location of their original impact site. On the other hand, most irons recovered from Antarctica have been buried beneath the ice for most of their post-impact history and have only recently been brought to the surface because under-ice obstacles have blocked the slow glacial movements that have removed most of the Antarctic irons from their original impact site. Four, consideration of additional physical dynamics in other geographical meteorite cohorts (e.g., Northwest Africa meteorites) should be illuminating.
We shall begin, then, our inquiries into the problematics of iron meteorite classification. For our initial inquiry, we will subdivide the tallies of irons groups into three initial classificational categories — Raw, Minimal, and Clean. Raw tallies are the totals for Groups and Subgroups as provided by The Meteoritical Bulletin Database. Minimal tallies are totals for Groups and Subgroups which can be used to compare general populations (e.g., clans, cohorts…) such as stones, differentiated stony irons, and irons. Clean tallies are totals for subgroups and petrologic types which can be used to compare relative abundances of sub-populations vis-à-vis other sub-populations of the same type, e.g., iron groups w. other iron groups, type 3 stony meteorites with other stones of types 4, 5, and/or 6.
Untangling the Uneven Classification of Meteoritic Multitudes.
Classificational Iron Profiles for 1209 iron meteorites
RAW TALLY (Na)
Na= 1209 Records of Iron Meteorites
This essay does not consider 2 "relict irons" which may appear on some lists. More importantly, 27 of these records do not have a listed mass. An additional iron meteorite [Bulls Run] is listed as questionable ["Iron(?)"]. We exclude these 28 records as unsuitable for comparative purposes. The remaining 1181 irons are moderately useful ["minimally" sufficient] for some general statistical purposes. [We have also excluded "relict irons."
MINIMAL TALLY (Nb)
Nb= 1181 Records.
The author deems that these minimal records are adequate to utilize in comparisons between major groupings of meteorites (stones, irons, and differentiated stony irons).
* * *
CLEAN TALLY (Nc)
Nc= 1090 Clean Records.
82 iron meteorites with listed masses are classified simply as "Iron" meteorites. Such incompletely classified irons are useless for comparing the relative abundances of iron meteorite groups viz-à-viz other iron groups. In addition, A total of 9 records are listed as either Iron, IAB?, Iron, IIE?, or Iron, IIIAB?. These records are also useful as evidence of "Iron" meteorites ("Irons"), but they are inadequate for comparing the relative abundances of the iron groups. We remove all 91 irons from the minimally adequate list to create our "Clean" list.
Using the 1090 Clean Records.
These records can be used to compare the relative abundances of the various Iron meteorite Groups and Complexes. Most irons are classified into 12 groups or into the IAB Complex. We also note, en passant, that the "Ungrouped" iron meteorites have been analyzed and they do not belong to either to a defined iron groups or complex.
The IAB complex includes 315 irons which are placed with various specificity into 6 major subdivisions — a main "group" and 5 high/medium/low Au-Ni abundances — plus 3 other more general subdivisions. For now we forgo further discussion of the intricacies of this unusual cohort.
The Clean Iron Groups (ordered by relative abundances)
Iron, IAB Complex; N=315 [28.90%
Iron, IIIAB; N=311 [28.53%]
Iron, IIAB; N=134 [12.29%]
Iron, IVA; N=84 [7.71%]
Iron, IID; N=27 [2.48%]
Iron, IIE; N=21 [1.93%]
Iron, IIIE; N=16 [1.47%]
Iron, IVB; N=16 [1.47%]
Iron, IC; N=13 [1.19%]
Iron, IIIF; N=9 [0.83%]
Iron, IIC; N=8 [0.73%]
Iron, IIF; N=6 [0.55%]
Iron, IIG; N=6 [0.55%]
ALSO NOTE
Iron, ungrouped; N=124 [11.38%]
NOTABLES
Occasional "anomalous" members are included in a few groups. The combined members of the large IAB and IIIAB groups [N= 626] represent 57.4%of the Clean Tally. The combined membership of the 4 largest iron groups (IAB, IIAB, IIIAB,IVA) [N= 844] represent 77.4%of the Clean Tally.
The Major Iron Groups: Maximum, Median, Minimum Masses
A quick look at the range of masses within the the IAB complex and the 3 largest iron groups involves displaying the maximum, median, and minimum masses. The median mass (as opposed to the average mass) is useful because it tamps down some of the statistical noise due the very large masses of a few irons.
Mass Ranges for 4 Major Iron Groups and the "ungrouped" Irons
1. Iron, IAB Complex
MassNodes (Iron, IAB Complex): M1- 3 t; M158- 3.78 kg; M315- 10.7 g
2. Iron, IIIAB
MassNodes (Iron, IIIAB): M1- 58.2 t; M158.5- 13.4 kg; M308- 3 g
3. Iron, IIAB
MassNodes (Iron, IIAB): M1- 23 t; M67.5- 10 kg; M133- 15.4 g
4. Iron, IVAB
MassNodes — (Iron, IVA): M1- 26 t; M39.5- 11.18 kg; M78- 30 g;
14. Iron, ungrouped
MassNodes – (Iron, ungrouped): M1- 22 t; M62.5- 5.88 kg; M124- 0.6 g
Technical Note:
Actual numbers used here for the "MassNodes" vary slitely from those utilized in creating our "clean" tallies because the anomalous irons were not included in the clean group venues. For the 'MassNodes' we have excluded only those meteorites with unknown masses or with questionable "group" membership. The Meteoritical Bulletin Database algorithms often favor a "semi-clean" tally intermediate between the soft "minimal tally" and the moderately rigorous "clean tally" which would be preferred by the author. It should be noted that in this instance the uncertainties in the numerical value of a median mass far outweigh the much smaller disparities between "clean" and "semi-clean" tallies.
CONCLUSIONS
We simply note that the two largest groups or complexes, the IAB Iron complex and the IIIAB Iron group both represent slitely less than 30% of all clearly grouped or ungrouped members assigned to the "Clean" Tally. The 4 largest groups account for just over 75% of the irons assigned to the Clean Tally. In the future we hope to compare these results later with falls, NWA meteorites, and Antarctic irons.
For the larger groups maximum masses of over a ton, median masses of a few kilograms, and minimum masses of a few grams or tens of grams is (almost) expected. Again, we shall compare these results later with falls, NWA meteorites, and Antarctic irons. We find, for example, that the Antarctic irons are, statistically speaking, unusually underrepresented in the total Antarctic iron collection. [On the other hand, the number of irons in the 4 major Antarctic iron groups relative to the 9 minor groups are roughly compatible with the results which consider all recovered iron meteorites. Vide Infra!!
Abbreviated Bibliography (Essential References Only).
Harvey Harlow Nininger (1972) Find a Falling Star Paul S. Eriksson: New York. 254 pages.
Vagn Fabritius Buchwald (1975) Handbook of Iron Meteorites. University of California Press. 1418 pages. [Available Online]
Andrew L. Graham, A. W. R. Bevan and Robert Hutchinson (1985) The Catalogue of Meteorites (4/e) University of Arizona Press: Tucson. 460 pages. Published simultaneously by the British Museum of Natural History (London).
Monica Mary Grady (2000) The Catalogue of Meteorites (5/e) Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, London, New York, Oakleigh, Madrid. 689 pages.
Monica Mary Grady, Giovanni Pratesi & Vanni Moggi Cecchi (2015) Atlas of Meteorites. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, United Kingdom. 373 pages.
Appendix A: Counting and Classification Statistics for 164 Antarctic Iron Meteorites
As of 4 March 2019, 164 iron meteorites had been listed at the The Meteoritical Database. These meteorites serve as the raw tally for these meteorites.
RAW TALLY (Na) — Antarctic Irons
Na= 164 Records
However, 1 of these records does not have a listed mass. We exclude this record as unsuitable for comparative purposes. The remaining irons are moderately useful ["minimally sufficient"] for some statistical purposes of general properties.
MINIMAL STANDARDS TALLY (Nb) —Antarctic Irons
Nb= 163 Records.
The author deems that these records are adequate to utilize in comparisons between major groupings of meteorites (stones, irons, and differentiated stony irons).
* * *
A CLEAN TALLY (Nc) — Antarctic Irons
Nc= 152 Clean Records.
10 iron meteorites with listed masses are classified simply as "Iron" meteorites. Such incompletely classified irons are useless for comparing the relative abundances of iron meteorite groups viz-à-viz other iron groups. In addition, 1 records is listed as [n=1:Iron, IIE?]. These records are useful as evidence of "Iron" meteorites ("Irons"), but they are likewise inadequate for comparing the relative abundances of the iron groups. We remove the 11 irons from the minimally adequate list.
Nc= 152 Clean Records.
These records can be used to compare the relative abundances of the various Iron meteorite Groups and Complexes. Most irons are classified into 12 groups or into the IAB Complex. We also note, en passant, that the "Ungrouped" iron meteorites have been analyzed and they do not belong to either to a defined iron groups or complex. The IAB complex includes irons which are placed into various subdivisions. For now we forgo further discussion of the intricacies of this unusual cohort.
The Clean Iron Groups (ordered by relative abundances within the Antarctic Iron Cohort).
Iron, IIIAB N=43 28.3%
Iron, IAB Complex N=35 23.0%
Iron, IIAB N=32 21.1%
Iron, IVA N=6 3.9%
Iron, IIE N=3 2.0%
Iron, IID N=1 0.7%
Iron, IVB N=1 0.7%
Also
Iron, ungrouped N=31 20.4%
We note that the IAB and IIIAB irons account for 78 of the 152 meteorites in our "Clean List" [51.3%]. Furthermore, the 4 major iron groups (IAB, IIIAB,IIAB, & IVA irons) account for 76.3%of the 152 irons. Somewhat surprisingly the 9 smaller iron groups account for only 3.3% of the list. The ungrouped irons are also about twice as abundant as is normal.
The Maximum, Median, and Minimum Masses for the Major Iron Groups and the "ungrouped" Irons
1. Iron, IIIAB [N= 43]
MassNodes (Iron, IIIAB): M1- 4.58 kg; M22- 8.7 g; M43- 3 g
2. Iron, IAB Complex [N= 35]
MassNodes (Iron, IAB Complex): M1- 19.07 kg; M18- 120 g; M35- 10.7 g
3. Iron, IIAB [N= 32]
MassNodes (Iron, IIAB): M1- 138.1 kg; M16.5- 1.48 kg; M32- 15.4 g
4. Iron, IVAB [N= 6]
MassNodes — (Iron, IVA): M1- 2.79 kg; M2.5- 351 g; M6- 150 g
Also
14. Iron, ungrouped [N= 31]
MassNodes – (Iron, ungrouped): M1- 32.27 kg; M16- 163.1 g; M31- 0.6 g
An initial glance at the maximum mass ranges of the 4 major groups might seem to represent on a reduced scale the generic ranges found when looking at the mass ranges for the 1,000+ records for all iron meteorites. One would not expect that the maximum masses for the Antarctic iron groups to match the maximum masses recovered elsewhere. However, the median and minimum masses tell a different story. The median masses for Antarctic iron groups are frequently in the grams instead of the kilograms usually found in the overall iron groups. The tiny 8.7 g median mass for the IIIAB irons is especially small. Even more striking is the fact that the minimum masses for the recovered IIIAB, IIAB, and Ungrouped irons [groups with ~100-300 members] are precisely the minimum masses for these same groups [groups with ~30-40 members] within the relatively small number of 152 cleanly classified Antarctic irons. Iron meteorites are systematically much smaller and relatively much less abundant than iron meteorites found in the rest of the world. Iron meteorites are not differentially oxidized to a particular striking degree within the Antarctic environment compared to the weathering processes taking place in other terrestrial desserts [Mineralogically speaking they weather in different fashion and more slowly, but they have also usually been in a terrestrial environment for a significantly longer time.]. However, they certainly sink more quickly into the snow and ice than do the other less dense stony meteorites. And have almost always been abraded by the relentless pressures of the glacial ice that has entrained most recovered Antarctic meteorites. The 164 recovered Antarctic iron meteorites out of the 38,677 total Antarctic meteorites recovered by 4 March 2019 — 0.424 % (barely greater than 1 in 250 meteorites) — is an extremely biased underrepresentation of the actual iron meteorite flux which has been effective during the 2,000,000+ years which have been sampled by our Antarctic recovery efforts.
The Antarctic treasure trove of meteorites has been a wonderful boon to many meteoritic endeavors during the past four and a half decades. However, the extent to which unrecognized systematic filtering of recoverable specimens is likely to have significant implications for other meteorites besides iron meteorites appears to need some deeper investigation. To be continued…
End of Appendix A — 163 Antarctic Meteorites
Appendix B: Counting and Classification Statistics for 99 Northwest Africa Iron Meteorites
Irons@Northwest Africa: Counting and Classification Statistics
[Update of 4 March 2019]
Summary
The 99 NWA iron meteorites recovered and assigned a unique name by early 2019 [22 Feb 2019] include 53 iron meteorites belonging to the IAB complex of iron meteorites and 34 irons belonging to 7 of the other 12 defined meteorite groups. In addition, 12 NWA "ungrouped" irons do not belong to either the IAB Complex or the other 12 defined iron meteorite groups. One small and incompletely characterized iron is labelled simply as an "Iron." The irons are not particularly massive — 19 irons have masses greater than 10 kg, but only one iron has a mass greater than 100 kg.
12 irons belong to the IIIAB iron group (including 113 kg NWA 1430, the most massive NWA iron) and 10 irons belong to the IIAB group. Thus, 75.8% of the NWA irons [75/99] belong to 3 Cohorts. It is not too surprising that one or two meteorite groups can dominate a relatively large geographical regions — a single large iron meteorite fall can produce tens and hundreds of relatively large fragments in a region, but the dominance of the IAB complex is still worthy of a little extra attention. The diversity of the IAB complex with its chemically complex subdivisions suggests that perhaps the IAB complex does not come from a single original parent body. However, the presence of several subdivisions [IAB-sHL, -sLH, -sLL, -sLM] and anomalous members of the IAB complex suggests that perhaps these chemically diverse members may well have arrived at the same time [2 or 3 events at most — not 5-20]. The Meteoritical Bulletin Database suggests that no strewnfields are associated with the NWA irons — but I wonder about that.
99 NWA Irons: DATA
5 Most Massive NWA Irons (M ≥ 10 kg)
{M1 — 113 kg; NWA 1430, [NWA]; [Iron, IIIAB]; [Y:2001]}
{M2 — 83.3 kg; NWA 11420, [Morocco]; [Iron, IIAB]; [Y:2017]}
{M3 — 78 kg; NWA 11859, [NWA]; [Iron, IAB-MG]; [Y:2017]}
{M4 — 75.3 kg; NWA 859, [NWA]; [Iron, ungrouped]; [Y:2001]}
{M5 — 50 kg; NWA 6903, [Morocco]; [Iron, IIIAB]; [Y:2008]}
Classification Types for the NWA Irons [A Resume]
N= 99 Iron meteorites
The 4 Major Groups
N= 53 "Iron, IAB" meteorites
N= 12 "Iron, IIIAB" meteorites
N= 10 "Iron, IIAB" meteorites
N= 4 "Iron, IVA" meteorites
4 of the 9 Minor Groups
N= 2 "Iron, IC" meteorites
N= 2 "Iron, IID" meteorites
N= 2 "Iron, IIE" meteorites
N= 1 "Iron, IIIE" meteorite
Ungrouped Irons
N= 12 "Iron, ungrouped" meteorites
1 Minimally Characterized (Bare) Iron
N= 1 "Iron"
Classification Types for the NWA Irons [A Resume]
N= 99 Iron meteorites
M1 — NWA 1430; M= 113 kg
M50 — NWA 11196; M= 908 g
M99 — NWA 968; M= 20 g
The 4 Major Groups
N= 53 "Iron, IAB" meteorites
M1 — NWA 11859, [NWA]; [Iron, IAB-MG]; M = 78 kg; [Y:2017]}
M27 — NWA 5804; M= 726 g
M53 — NWA 968; M= 20 g
N= 12 "Iron, IIIAB"
M1 — NWA 1430, [NWA]; [Iron, IIIAB]; M = 113 kg; [Y:2001]}
Mmed — NWA xxxx; M= 8 kg
M12 — NWA 3208; M= 159 g
N= 10 "Iron, IIAB"
M1 — NWA 11420, [Morocco]; [Iron, IIAB]; M = 83.3 kg; [Y:2017]}
Mmed — NWA xxxx; M= 3.12 kg
M10 — NWA 12000; M= 225 g
N= 4 "Iron, IVA"
M1 — NWA 8156; M= 6.5 kg
Mmed — NWA xxxx; M= 1.8 kg
M4 — NWA 5289; M= 296 g
N= 12 "Iron, ungrouped"
M1 — NWA 859; M= 75.3 kg
Mmed — NWA xxxx; M= 6.7 kg
M12 — NWA 11530; M= 76.2 g
Noted: Median masses and "NWA xxxx."
When N — the number of members in a group is an even number (e.g., N=2m) — then the "median" mass is the average of mass #m and mass #(m+1).
END OF APPENDIX B
A personal epistemological note.
When I was young I discovered that some preachers, having cited "Scripture", felt empowered to proceed with their declamations against various others —even when these declamations ran counter to the spirit of their religious founder or founders. It took me a while to realize that others — less nosily — tended to proffer tender interpretations of Scripture which appealed to our better angels. In a similar spirit I have since discovered that some scientists, having cited numerical data, often feel empowered to proceed with their version of current scientific doctrine with very little awareness of the inevitable limitations of any mathematical or scientific theorem.
All of us — even theoretical geniuses — must confront the practical exigencies of life's many spheres of activity. For many years I have thought that (A) the best mathematics is beautiful and that (B) the best science is beautiful. However, even the most ardent lover and most knowledgable practitioner of any science should know that the stories underneath the numbers drive us toward tomorrow's most surprising discoveries and surprises. It is true that the data presented at The Meteoritical Bulletin Database nicely incorporates some known uncertainties at a very granular level. Still, I believe some additional overall caution is advisable. Few of us will make discoveries as profound as those of Gödel's Undecidable Theorems in Mathematics or the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle in Quantum Physics. However, the ubiquitous presence of large data troves, especially, requires some extra mathematical care from those of us who are not as gifted. Eventually, I hope to suggest further revisions in the our understanding of the weight of our data as we look at the far more numerous stony meteorites and the associated problematics of even larger data troves than those addressed here.
A personal note.
This posting is one of several posting which I hope to implement via Google as I slowly make the transition to a new computer. In particular and unfortunately, this aging author is presently unable to present tabular information in an aesthetic fashion in this format. However, I need to have a record — even if inauspiciously presented — when I am able to return to my preferred formats.
"If you think this is complicated, it is."
A discussion which centers on the N= 1109 iron meteorites listed at The Meteoritical Bulletin Database as of 4 March 2019 and the development of a "Clean List" of N= 1090 iron meteorites whose classification is on firmer and more consistent grounds. Some preliminary — but quite significant — implications of our inquiry are proffered as well.
First, a brief historical resume.
Second, untangling levels of classificatory completeness… [The main dance]
Conclusions
Bibliography (abbreviated)
Appendix A: Counting and Classification Statistics for 164 Antarctic Iron meteorites
Appendix B: Counting and Classification Statistics for 99 NWA Iron meteorites
Finally, a personal epistemological note.
A Historical Brief: From the Stone Age to the 3rd Millennium in 6 paragraphs.
For countless millennia, our foreparents have stumbled across odd, dense, and peculiar hunks of Fe-rich metal as they have farmed and travelled over mountains and valleys and thru forests and deserts. Today, we call these peculiar objects "iron meteorites" (aka, irons) as in the large they are (1) chemically dominated by iron-invariably-accompanied by nickel and (2) mineralogically dominated by "alloys" of unoxidized or "free" iron alloyed with nickel and a number of accessory Fe-rich minerals and mineralites. Meteoriticists chemically label the "free" iron as "Fe-Ni metal" and, mineralogically, this Fe-Ni metal usually includes prominent kamacite, taenite, and other phases (mineralites). The accessory phases in unweathered irons normally include some Fe-rich (or, Fe-Ni rich) sulfides, phosphides, carbides. These phases include a number of phases which were first discovered in meteorites and are rarely — if ever — present in natural terrestrial lithologies. Some of these preserved masses are quite massive — 13 irons are characterized by masses of over 10 tons — and most readers have seen, at least, slices or portions of iron meteorites on display in science museums. The mass range of these displayed meteorites or meteorite fragments run the gamut from small 1 kg or smaller to over several tons.
There is, however, a very interesting complication — or, rather, a very interesting set of complications — associated with our irons. To wit, when a meteorite fall is observed and the meteorite itself is recovered, the great majority of meteorites are not irons — they are silicate-rich "stony meteorites" (aka, stones). Stony meteorites are quiet interesting objects and are often preserved (the oldest witnessed fall which has been preserved is the Nogata stone which fell during the nite of 19 May 861 CE. Still, meteoritic stones are not as large and not as durable as meteoritic irons and, in addition, weathered stones are much less prominently peculiar than weathered irons — which are often ignored by a human with an untrained eye. And that brings us into a thicket of developments of the half past century.
During the middle of the 20th Century, the great meteorite collector, Harvey Nininger (1887-1986), begin to realize that a significant number of additional fragments from a meteorite fall could often be recovered from a meteorite which had been observed to fall or had been recovered years or decades before. In addition, he stumbled upon the fact that occasionally the "strewn field" [area where the dispersed fragments of a meteorite can be recovered] of a known meteorite may overlap with the strewn field of another meteorite. Over the next few decades the implications of this discovery gradually were realized as humans begin to undertake planned searches of arid regions in the United States, Australia, Chile, and elsewhere so that the number of meteorite recoveries rapidly accelerated. In 1973 an explosion in additional meteorite recoveries from Antarctica began in earnest when 12 meteorites were retrieved by Japanese scientists near the Yamato mountains [Yamato 7301— Yamato 7301].
In 1985, The Catalogue of Meteorites (4/e), Graham et al. listed 2,784 meteorites including 725 irons. In this iteration irons represented 26% of the total number of recorded meteorites. In 2000, The Catalogue of Meteorites (5/e), Grady et al. listed 22,507 meteorites including 865 irons. In this iteration irons represented 3.8% of the total number of recorded meteorites. In early 2019 [4 March 2019 to be exact], The Meteoritical Bulletin Database has listed 60,656 meteorites with approved "valid" (unique) names including 1211 irons. In this latest iteration irons represent only 2.0% of the total number of recorded meteorites. Of the 60,656 recognized meteorites, 38,677 (64%) had been recovered in Antarctica.
With such large numbers, every student of meteoritics must pay some attention to "statistical" considerations. We mention what appear to the author to be the most problematic issues underlying our numbers. One, meteorites listed at The Meteoritical Bulletin Database — for both practical and historical reasons — are classified with varying degrees of completeness. In the author's opinion some of the classification labels (and associated data) is useless for most statistical studies while other classification labels and associated data are models are of precision. A significant fraction of the classification labels (group membership and petrologic type) are of varying intermediate value. [Mass and temporal data are sometimes compromised, but to a much smaller extent.] Two, while — for starters — this inquiry is largely restricted to the problematics of iron meteorite classification, a much deeper inquiry must include a more detailed look at the problematics of classification of all meteorites. Three and most importantly, the iron meteorites recovered in Antarctica have dramatically different post-earth impact histories from those of almost all other recovered meteorites. Specifically, most recovered iron meteorites in the rest of the world are found on the ground or (partially) buried very near to the location of their original impact site. On the other hand, most irons recovered from Antarctica have been buried beneath the ice for most of their post-impact history and have only recently been brought to the surface because under-ice obstacles have blocked the slow glacial movements that have removed most of the Antarctic irons from their original impact site. Four, consideration of additional physical dynamics in other geographical meteorite cohorts (e.g., Northwest Africa meteorites) should be illuminating.
We shall begin, then, our inquiries into the problematics of iron meteorite classification. For our initial inquiry, we will subdivide the tallies of irons groups into three initial classificational categories — Raw, Minimal, and Clean. Raw tallies are the totals for Groups and Subgroups as provided by The Meteoritical Bulletin Database. Minimal tallies are totals for Groups and Subgroups which can be used to compare general populations (e.g., clans, cohorts…) such as stones, differentiated stony irons, and irons. Clean tallies are totals for subgroups and petrologic types which can be used to compare relative abundances of sub-populations vis-à-vis other sub-populations of the same type, e.g., iron groups w. other iron groups, type 3 stony meteorites with other stones of types 4, 5, and/or 6.
Untangling the Uneven Classification of Meteoritic Multitudes.
Classificational Iron Profiles for 1209 iron meteorites
RAW TALLY (Na)
Na= 1209 Records of Iron Meteorites
This essay does not consider 2 "relict irons" which may appear on some lists. More importantly, 27 of these records do not have a listed mass. An additional iron meteorite [Bulls Run] is listed as questionable ["Iron(?)"]. We exclude these 28 records as unsuitable for comparative purposes. The remaining 1181 irons are moderately useful ["minimally" sufficient] for some general statistical purposes. [We have also excluded "relict irons."
MINIMAL TALLY (Nb)
Nb= 1181 Records.
The author deems that these minimal records are adequate to utilize in comparisons between major groupings of meteorites (stones, irons, and differentiated stony irons).
* * *
CLEAN TALLY (Nc)
Nc= 1090 Clean Records.
82 iron meteorites with listed masses are classified simply as "Iron" meteorites. Such incompletely classified irons are useless for comparing the relative abundances of iron meteorite groups viz-à-viz other iron groups. In addition, A total of 9 records are listed as either Iron, IAB?, Iron, IIE?, or Iron, IIIAB?. These records are also useful as evidence of "Iron" meteorites ("Irons"), but they are inadequate for comparing the relative abundances of the iron groups. We remove all 91 irons from the minimally adequate list to create our "Clean" list.
Using the 1090 Clean Records.
These records can be used to compare the relative abundances of the various Iron meteorite Groups and Complexes. Most irons are classified into 12 groups or into the IAB Complex. We also note, en passant, that the "Ungrouped" iron meteorites have been analyzed and they do not belong to either to a defined iron groups or complex.
The IAB complex includes 315 irons which are placed with various specificity into 6 major subdivisions — a main "group" and 5 high/medium/low Au-Ni abundances — plus 3 other more general subdivisions. For now we forgo further discussion of the intricacies of this unusual cohort.
The Clean Iron Groups (ordered by relative abundances)
Iron, IAB Complex; N=315 [28.90%
Iron, IIIAB; N=311 [28.53%]
Iron, IIAB; N=134 [12.29%]
Iron, IVA; N=84 [7.71%]
Iron, IID; N=27 [2.48%]
Iron, IIE; N=21 [1.93%]
Iron, IIIE; N=16 [1.47%]
Iron, IVB; N=16 [1.47%]
Iron, IC; N=13 [1.19%]
Iron, IIIF; N=9 [0.83%]
Iron, IIC; N=8 [0.73%]
Iron, IIF; N=6 [0.55%]
Iron, IIG; N=6 [0.55%]
ALSO NOTE
Iron, ungrouped; N=124 [11.38%]
NOTABLES
Occasional "anomalous" members are included in a few groups. The combined members of the large IAB and IIIAB groups [N= 626] represent 57.4%of the Clean Tally. The combined membership of the 4 largest iron groups (IAB, IIAB, IIIAB,IVA) [N= 844] represent 77.4%of the Clean Tally.
The Major Iron Groups: Maximum, Median, Minimum Masses
A quick look at the range of masses within the the IAB complex and the 3 largest iron groups involves displaying the maximum, median, and minimum masses. The median mass (as opposed to the average mass) is useful because it tamps down some of the statistical noise due the very large masses of a few irons.
Mass Ranges for 4 Major Iron Groups and the "ungrouped" Irons
1. Iron, IAB Complex
MassNodes (Iron, IAB Complex): M1- 3 t; M158- 3.78 kg; M315- 10.7 g
2. Iron, IIIAB
MassNodes (Iron, IIIAB): M1- 58.2 t; M158.5- 13.4 kg; M308- 3 g
3. Iron, IIAB
MassNodes (Iron, IIAB): M1- 23 t; M67.5- 10 kg; M133- 15.4 g
4. Iron, IVAB
MassNodes — (Iron, IVA): M1- 26 t; M39.5- 11.18 kg; M78- 30 g;
14. Iron, ungrouped
MassNodes – (Iron, ungrouped): M1- 22 t; M62.5- 5.88 kg; M124- 0.6 g
Technical Note:
Actual numbers used here for the "MassNodes" vary slitely from those utilized in creating our "clean" tallies because the anomalous irons were not included in the clean group venues. For the 'MassNodes' we have excluded only those meteorites with unknown masses or with questionable "group" membership. The Meteoritical Bulletin Database algorithms often favor a "semi-clean" tally intermediate between the soft "minimal tally" and the moderately rigorous "clean tally" which would be preferred by the author. It should be noted that in this instance the uncertainties in the numerical value of a median mass far outweigh the much smaller disparities between "clean" and "semi-clean" tallies.
CONCLUSIONS
We simply note that the two largest groups or complexes, the IAB Iron complex and the IIIAB Iron group both represent slitely less than 30% of all clearly grouped or ungrouped members assigned to the "Clean" Tally. The 4 largest groups account for just over 75% of the irons assigned to the Clean Tally. In the future we hope to compare these results later with falls, NWA meteorites, and Antarctic irons.
For the larger groups maximum masses of over a ton, median masses of a few kilograms, and minimum masses of a few grams or tens of grams is (almost) expected. Again, we shall compare these results later with falls, NWA meteorites, and Antarctic irons. We find, for example, that the Antarctic irons are, statistically speaking, unusually underrepresented in the total Antarctic iron collection. [On the other hand, the number of irons in the 4 major Antarctic iron groups relative to the 9 minor groups are roughly compatible with the results which consider all recovered iron meteorites. Vide Infra!!
Abbreviated Bibliography (Essential References Only).
Harvey Harlow Nininger (1972) Find a Falling Star Paul S. Eriksson: New York. 254 pages.
Vagn Fabritius Buchwald (1975) Handbook of Iron Meteorites. University of California Press. 1418 pages. [Available Online]
Andrew L. Graham, A. W. R. Bevan and Robert Hutchinson (1985) The Catalogue of Meteorites (4/e) University of Arizona Press: Tucson. 460 pages. Published simultaneously by the British Museum of Natural History (London).
Monica Mary Grady (2000) The Catalogue of Meteorites (5/e) Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, London, New York, Oakleigh, Madrid. 689 pages.
Monica Mary Grady, Giovanni Pratesi & Vanni Moggi Cecchi (2015) Atlas of Meteorites. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, United Kingdom. 373 pages.
Appendix A: Counting and Classification Statistics for 164 Antarctic Iron Meteorites
As of 4 March 2019, 164 iron meteorites had been listed at the The Meteoritical Database. These meteorites serve as the raw tally for these meteorites.
RAW TALLY (Na) — Antarctic Irons
Na= 164 Records
However, 1 of these records does not have a listed mass. We exclude this record as unsuitable for comparative purposes. The remaining irons are moderately useful ["minimally sufficient"] for some statistical purposes of general properties.
MINIMAL STANDARDS TALLY (Nb) —Antarctic Irons
Nb= 163 Records.
The author deems that these records are adequate to utilize in comparisons between major groupings of meteorites (stones, irons, and differentiated stony irons).
* * *
A CLEAN TALLY (Nc) — Antarctic Irons
Nc= 152 Clean Records.
10 iron meteorites with listed masses are classified simply as "Iron" meteorites. Such incompletely classified irons are useless for comparing the relative abundances of iron meteorite groups viz-à-viz other iron groups. In addition, 1 records is listed as [n=1:Iron, IIE?]. These records are useful as evidence of "Iron" meteorites ("Irons"), but they are likewise inadequate for comparing the relative abundances of the iron groups. We remove the 11 irons from the minimally adequate list.
Nc= 152 Clean Records.
These records can be used to compare the relative abundances of the various Iron meteorite Groups and Complexes. Most irons are classified into 12 groups or into the IAB Complex. We also note, en passant, that the "Ungrouped" iron meteorites have been analyzed and they do not belong to either to a defined iron groups or complex. The IAB complex includes irons which are placed into various subdivisions. For now we forgo further discussion of the intricacies of this unusual cohort.
The Clean Iron Groups (ordered by relative abundances within the Antarctic Iron Cohort).
Iron, IIIAB N=43 28.3%
Iron, IAB Complex N=35 23.0%
Iron, IIAB N=32 21.1%
Iron, IVA N=6 3.9%
Iron, IIE N=3 2.0%
Iron, IID N=1 0.7%
Iron, IVB N=1 0.7%
Also
Iron, ungrouped N=31 20.4%
We note that the IAB and IIIAB irons account for 78 of the 152 meteorites in our "Clean List" [51.3%]. Furthermore, the 4 major iron groups (IAB, IIIAB,IIAB, & IVA irons) account for 76.3%of the 152 irons. Somewhat surprisingly the 9 smaller iron groups account for only 3.3% of the list. The ungrouped irons are also about twice as abundant as is normal.
The Maximum, Median, and Minimum Masses for the Major Iron Groups and the "ungrouped" Irons
1. Iron, IIIAB [N= 43]
MassNodes (Iron, IIIAB): M1- 4.58 kg; M22- 8.7 g; M43- 3 g
2. Iron, IAB Complex [N= 35]
MassNodes (Iron, IAB Complex): M1- 19.07 kg; M18- 120 g; M35- 10.7 g
3. Iron, IIAB [N= 32]
MassNodes (Iron, IIAB): M1- 138.1 kg; M16.5- 1.48 kg; M32- 15.4 g
4. Iron, IVAB [N= 6]
MassNodes — (Iron, IVA): M1- 2.79 kg; M2.5- 351 g; M6- 150 g
Also
14. Iron, ungrouped [N= 31]
MassNodes – (Iron, ungrouped): M1- 32.27 kg; M16- 163.1 g; M31- 0.6 g
An initial glance at the maximum mass ranges of the 4 major groups might seem to represent on a reduced scale the generic ranges found when looking at the mass ranges for the 1,000+ records for all iron meteorites. One would not expect that the maximum masses for the Antarctic iron groups to match the maximum masses recovered elsewhere. However, the median and minimum masses tell a different story. The median masses for Antarctic iron groups are frequently in the grams instead of the kilograms usually found in the overall iron groups. The tiny 8.7 g median mass for the IIIAB irons is especially small. Even more striking is the fact that the minimum masses for the recovered IIIAB, IIAB, and Ungrouped irons [groups with ~100-300 members] are precisely the minimum masses for these same groups [groups with ~30-40 members] within the relatively small number of 152 cleanly classified Antarctic irons. Iron meteorites are systematically much smaller and relatively much less abundant than iron meteorites found in the rest of the world. Iron meteorites are not differentially oxidized to a particular striking degree within the Antarctic environment compared to the weathering processes taking place in other terrestrial desserts [Mineralogically speaking they weather in different fashion and more slowly, but they have also usually been in a terrestrial environment for a significantly longer time.]. However, they certainly sink more quickly into the snow and ice than do the other less dense stony meteorites. And have almost always been abraded by the relentless pressures of the glacial ice that has entrained most recovered Antarctic meteorites. The 164 recovered Antarctic iron meteorites out of the 38,677 total Antarctic meteorites recovered by 4 March 2019 — 0.424 % (barely greater than 1 in 250 meteorites) — is an extremely biased underrepresentation of the actual iron meteorite flux which has been effective during the 2,000,000+ years which have been sampled by our Antarctic recovery efforts.
The Antarctic treasure trove of meteorites has been a wonderful boon to many meteoritic endeavors during the past four and a half decades. However, the extent to which unrecognized systematic filtering of recoverable specimens is likely to have significant implications for other meteorites besides iron meteorites appears to need some deeper investigation. To be continued…
End of Appendix A — 163 Antarctic Meteorites
Appendix B: Counting and Classification Statistics for 99 Northwest Africa Iron Meteorites
Irons@Northwest Africa: Counting and Classification Statistics
[Update of 4 March 2019]
Summary
The 99 NWA iron meteorites recovered and assigned a unique name by early 2019 [22 Feb 2019] include 53 iron meteorites belonging to the IAB complex of iron meteorites and 34 irons belonging to 7 of the other 12 defined meteorite groups. In addition, 12 NWA "ungrouped" irons do not belong to either the IAB Complex or the other 12 defined iron meteorite groups. One small and incompletely characterized iron is labelled simply as an "Iron." The irons are not particularly massive — 19 irons have masses greater than 10 kg, but only one iron has a mass greater than 100 kg.
12 irons belong to the IIIAB iron group (including 113 kg NWA 1430, the most massive NWA iron) and 10 irons belong to the IIAB group. Thus, 75.8% of the NWA irons [75/99] belong to 3 Cohorts. It is not too surprising that one or two meteorite groups can dominate a relatively large geographical regions — a single large iron meteorite fall can produce tens and hundreds of relatively large fragments in a region, but the dominance of the IAB complex is still worthy of a little extra attention. The diversity of the IAB complex with its chemically complex subdivisions suggests that perhaps the IAB complex does not come from a single original parent body. However, the presence of several subdivisions [IAB-sHL, -sLH, -sLL, -sLM] and anomalous members of the IAB complex suggests that perhaps these chemically diverse members may well have arrived at the same time [2 or 3 events at most — not 5-20]. The Meteoritical Bulletin Database suggests that no strewnfields are associated with the NWA irons — but I wonder about that.
99 NWA Irons: DATA
5 Most Massive NWA Irons (M ≥ 10 kg)
{M1 — 113 kg; NWA 1430, [NWA]; [Iron, IIIAB]; [Y:2001]}
{M2 — 83.3 kg; NWA 11420, [Morocco]; [Iron, IIAB]; [Y:2017]}
{M3 — 78 kg; NWA 11859, [NWA]; [Iron, IAB-MG]; [Y:2017]}
{M4 — 75.3 kg; NWA 859, [NWA]; [Iron, ungrouped]; [Y:2001]}
{M5 — 50 kg; NWA 6903, [Morocco]; [Iron, IIIAB]; [Y:2008]}
Classification Types for the NWA Irons [A Resume]
N= 99 Iron meteorites
The 4 Major Groups
N= 53 "Iron, IAB" meteorites
N= 12 "Iron, IIIAB" meteorites
N= 10 "Iron, IIAB" meteorites
N= 4 "Iron, IVA" meteorites
4 of the 9 Minor Groups
N= 2 "Iron, IC" meteorites
N= 2 "Iron, IID" meteorites
N= 2 "Iron, IIE" meteorites
N= 1 "Iron, IIIE" meteorite
Ungrouped Irons
N= 12 "Iron, ungrouped" meteorites
1 Minimally Characterized (Bare) Iron
N= 1 "Iron"
Classification Types for the NWA Irons [A Resume]
N= 99 Iron meteorites
M1 — NWA 1430; M= 113 kg
M50 — NWA 11196; M= 908 g
M99 — NWA 968; M= 20 g
The 4 Major Groups
N= 53 "Iron, IAB" meteorites
M1 — NWA 11859, [NWA]; [Iron, IAB-MG]; M = 78 kg; [Y:2017]}
M27 — NWA 5804; M= 726 g
M53 — NWA 968; M= 20 g
N= 12 "Iron, IIIAB"
M1 — NWA 1430, [NWA]; [Iron, IIIAB]; M = 113 kg; [Y:2001]}
Mmed — NWA xxxx; M= 8 kg
M12 — NWA 3208; M= 159 g
N= 10 "Iron, IIAB"
M1 — NWA 11420, [Morocco]; [Iron, IIAB]; M = 83.3 kg; [Y:2017]}
Mmed — NWA xxxx; M= 3.12 kg
M10 — NWA 12000; M= 225 g
N= 4 "Iron, IVA"
M1 — NWA 8156; M= 6.5 kg
Mmed — NWA xxxx; M= 1.8 kg
M4 — NWA 5289; M= 296 g
N= 12 "Iron, ungrouped"
M1 — NWA 859; M= 75.3 kg
Mmed — NWA xxxx; M= 6.7 kg
M12 — NWA 11530; M= 76.2 g
Noted: Median masses and "NWA xxxx."
When N — the number of members in a group is an even number (e.g., N=2m) — then the "median" mass is the average of mass #m and mass #(m+1).
END OF APPENDIX B
A personal epistemological note.
When I was young I discovered that some preachers, having cited "Scripture", felt empowered to proceed with their declamations against various others —even when these declamations ran counter to the spirit of their religious founder or founders. It took me a while to realize that others — less nosily — tended to proffer tender interpretations of Scripture which appealed to our better angels. In a similar spirit I have since discovered that some scientists, having cited numerical data, often feel empowered to proceed with their version of current scientific doctrine with very little awareness of the inevitable limitations of any mathematical or scientific theorem.
All of us — even theoretical geniuses — must confront the practical exigencies of life's many spheres of activity. For many years I have thought that (A) the best mathematics is beautiful and that (B) the best science is beautiful. However, even the most ardent lover and most knowledgable practitioner of any science should know that the stories underneath the numbers drive us toward tomorrow's most surprising discoveries and surprises. It is true that the data presented at The Meteoritical Bulletin Database nicely incorporates some known uncertainties at a very granular level. Still, I believe some additional overall caution is advisable. Few of us will make discoveries as profound as those of Gödel's Undecidable Theorems in Mathematics or the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle in Quantum Physics. However, the ubiquitous presence of large data troves, especially, requires some extra mathematical care from those of us who are not as gifted. Eventually, I hope to suggest further revisions in the our understanding of the weight of our data as we look at the far more numerous stony meteorites and the associated problematics of even larger data troves than those addressed here.
A personal note.
This posting is one of several posting which I hope to implement via Google as I slowly make the transition to a new computer. In particular and unfortunately, this aging author is presently unable to present tabular information in an aesthetic fashion in this format. However, I need to have a record — even if inauspiciously presented — when I am able to return to my preferred formats.
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