Subject: Viridian Note 00045:  Twentieth-century Thinking

Key concepts:  the 20th century, inflexible theory, short-
term exploitation, bipolar politics, militarism, weather 
warfare

Attention Conservation Notice:  It condemns other people's 
old-fashioned theoretical thinking, but it's still written 
in theorese.  It also contains a large unreadable chunk of 
absurd military rhetoric.

Entries in the Viridian "Fungal Typography" Contest:
http://members.aol.com/stjude/
http://www.saunalahti.fi/~jtlin/viridian/
http://www.wenet.net/~scoville/Viridian/viridiantext.html
http://www.erols.com/ljaurbach/
http://www.empathy.com/viridian/
http://www.spaceways.de/Viridian/Viridiantype.html
http://www.stewarts.org/users/stewarts/viridian.html
http://way.nu/greens/typography.html
http://abe.burmeister.com/viridian2dot1.html
http://rampages.onramp.net/~jzero/viridian/
http://www.msys.net/reid/main.html
and
http://www.well.com/conf/mirrorshades/nancy.html
This contest embraces decay on January 31, 01999.  


From: tbyfield@panix.com^^^* (Ted Byfield)

Ted Byfield remarks:

Describing someone or something as "nineteenth-century"
can be a simple way of encapsulating a certain kind of
old-fangledness. So, in preparation for the new century, I 
made a new year's resolution to practice dismissing things 
as "twentieth-century." 

     Good targets might be: inflexible theoretical 
programs that put domination of something before 
involvement with it; short-term exploitation where long-
term cultivation is needed; psychologistic twaddle about 
"motives" (only "enemies" have "motives," "we" have 
"reasons"); any political distinction that emphasizes 
categories such as "left" or "right" over the specifics of 
a situation (if Jerry Falwell or Idi Amin has a good idea, 
so much the better); and so on. 

    It's easy to think of stupid twentieth-century ideas 
that have caused incalculable destruction for no good 
reason.

   Of course, dismissing something as "twentieth-century" 
isn't as productive as coming up with a clear program for 
the twenty-first century. But it's a method of identifying 
things that suck so badly that I really should stop 
devoting much attention to their inner workings.  With a 
little luck, my newfound attention-surplus will let me 
focus on things that are more pleasurable, fruitful, and 
considerate. I think those are Viridian virtues.

    The quote that follows seems like a very good example 
of "twentieth-century" nonsense: it's an abstract of a US 
Air Force paper arguing that "owning the weather" == 
specifically, manipulating climate to screw the enemy == 
is a good idea.

    Understand: if these people would devote their 
resources to battling the desertification of Africa, or 
otherwise greening some distressed area, that would be 
excellent. It would be sadly twentieth-century to oppose a 
weather technology merely because it's  "technology;" but 
it's very twenty-first century == maybe even Viridian == 
to technically cultivate habitability, even if you can't 
predict the politics of those who end up living there.

Ted Byfield

http://www.au.af.mil/au/database/research/ay1996/acsc/96-
025ag.htm

Title:  [2025] Weather as a Force Multiplier: Owning
the Weather in 2025 Subject:  Military applications of
weather modification in 2025. Author(s):  Ronald J.
Celentano; Tamzy J. House (Faculty Advisor); David Mark
Husband; Ann E. Mercer; James B. Near (Faculty
Advisor); James E. Pugh; William B. Shields

DTIC Keywords:  ANTIFOGGING AGENTS, ANTIFOGGING
DEVICES, ATMOSPHERES, CLEAR WEATHER, CLOUDS, CONTROLLED
ATMOSPHERES, CROSSWINDS, FOG, FOG DISPERSAL, HAIL,
IONOSPHERE, LIGHTNING, RAIN, RAINFALL INTENSITY,
STORMS, THUNDERSTORMS, UPPER ATMOSPHERE, WEATHER,
WEATHER COMMUNICATIONS, WEATHER FORECASTING, WEATHER
MODIFICATION, WIND, WIND SHEAR

Abstract:  In 2025, US aerospace forces can "own the
weather" by capitalizing on emerging technologies and
focusing development of those technologies to
warfighting applications. Such a capability offers the
warfighter tools to shape the battlespace in ways never
before possible. It provides opportunities to impact
operations across the full spectrum of conflict and is
pertinent to all possible futures. The purpose of this
paper is to outline a strategy for the use of a future
weather modification system to achieve military
objectives rather than to provide a detailed technical
road map.

A high risk/high reward endeavor, weather modification
offers a dilemma not unlike the splitting of the atom.
While some segments of society will always be reluctant
to examine controversial issues such as weather
modification, the tremendous military capabilities that
could result from this field are ignored at our own
peril. From enhancing friendly operations or disrupting
those of the enemy via small-scale tailoring of natural
weather patterns, to complete dominance of global
communications and counter-space control, weather
modification offers the warfighter a wide range of
possible options to defeat or coerce an adversary.

Technology advancements in five major areas are
necessary for an integrated weather modification
capability: (1) advanced nonlinear modeling techniques,
(2) computational capability, (3) information gathering
and transmission, (4) a global sensor array, and (5)
weather intervention techniques. Some intervention
tools exist today and others may be developed and
refined in the future.

Current technologies which will mature over the next
thirty years will offer anyone who has the necessary
resources the ability to modify weather patterns and
their corresponding effects, at least on the local
scale. Current demographic, economic, and environmental
trends will create global stresses that provide the
impetus necessary for many countries or groups to turn
this weather modification ability into a capability. In
the US, weather modification will likely become a part
of national security policy with both domestic and
international applications. Our government will pursue
such a policy, depending on its interests, at various
levels. These levels could include: unilateral actions,
participation in a security framework such as NATO,
membership in an international organization such as the
UN, or participation in a coalition. Assuming that in
2025 our national security strategy includes weather
modification, its use in our national military strategy
will naturally follow. Besides the significant benefits
an operational capability would provide, another
motivation to pursue weather modification is to deter
and counter potential adversaries.

In this paper we show that appropriate application of
weather modification can provide battlespace dominance
to a degree never before imagined. In the future, such
operations will enhance air and space superiority and
provide new options for battlespace shaping and
battlespace awareness. "The technology is there,
waiting for us to pull it all together;" in 2025 we can
"Own the Weather."

Last updated 1997 Oct 09

(((Bruce Sterling remarks:  this squib is pure science-
fictional power fantasy. That's pretty big talk from a 
military establishment that's terrified of punjee sticks.  
Still, I'm no longer surprised to find way-out 1960s-style 
lunacy in US military circles, even in the highest levels 
of command.  After the cloud-cuckoolands of military 
virtual reality and Information Warfare theory, nothing 
surprises me.  

(((The most interesting aspect of the modern American 
military is its detachment from the market process.  The 
military is one of the last American institutions that 
isn't baldly and directly for sale.  The US Armed Forces 
can no longer fully command their own dedicated industrial 
base == they're forced to use common off-the-shelf stuff 
now,  the poor wretches even have to run battleships on 
Windows 95 == but there's still a touching assumption 
there that *the military* should properly command the 
mighty forces of nature, and that *nobody else ever will.*  

(((The notion of on-the-spot, to-order weather 
modification is about as likely as telepathy. It'll never 
happen == but it's the frame-of-mind that's of interest to 
us here. As an exercise in *late* twentieth-century 
thinking, one could easily re-write the above militant 
screed in neo-liberal digital free-marketese.  "Thanks to 
the market privatization of the weather, a new day of 
consumer convenience is dawning!  Thanks to emergent 
technology, focussed product development, and advanced 
nonlinear modelling techniques, ordering your own personal 
thundershower will soon be as easy as point-and-click."  
Yeah, right, surely.)))