stumpysfindings

Paying attention

2008-11-07T11:58:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I ran through a series of photos of potential cabinet members. Some of the shots showed the individuals in conversation with Obama and what stood out to me was that you could tell the at-that-time presidential candidate was intently listening. I saw the same thing of this election night photo of Barack listening to McCain's speech.

Gotta love it

2008-09-17T08:14:00.000-07:00

This would be something interesting to carry around.

The "It's Not Because He's Black" Excuse Wheel^®

If you're like many of us, you become uncomfortable when anyone asks you why you’re voting against Obama. You can’t just tell the truth and say "it’s because he’s black." That's socially unacceptable. So you come up with an excuse like "I think he’s secretly Muslim" or "he compared Sarah Palin to a pig." But you can only get away with parroting McCain surrogate talking points for so long before people start laughing at you and asking you to become an Amway distributor.

You need to vary your response, so it looks like you're not desperately latching on to the first non-racist excuse that pops into your head. I've developed the "It's Not Because He's Black" Excuse Wheel^® to help you do just that. Now, whenever your mind is too clouded with crystal meth or too preoccupied wondering how Noah tricked the dinosaurs into getting on a Liberian-flagged ark to think up a decent excuse for voting against Obama, all you need to do is spin the excuse wheel's pointer.

If you're like many of us, you become uncomfortable when anyone asks you why you’re voting against Obama. You can’t just tell the truth and say "it’s because he’s black." That's socially unacceptable. So you come up with an excuse like "I think he’s secretly Muslim" or "he compared Sarah Palin to a pig." But you can only get away with parroting McCain surrogate talking points for so long before people start laughing at you and asking you to become an Amway distributor.

You need to vary your response, so it looks like you're not desperately latching on to the first non-racist excuse that pops into your head. I've developed the "It's Not Because He's Black" Excuse Wheel^® to help you do just that. Now, whenever your mind is too clouded with crystal meth or too preoccupied wondering how Noah tricked the dinosaurs into getting on a Liberian-flagged ark to think up a decent excuse for voting against Obama, all you need to do is spin the excuse wheel's pointer.

Just for fun

2008-08-18T04:29:00.001-07:00

This is one of a series of pics sent by boyhood friend Jeff.

Allow an Aries his fixation

2008-08-18T03:54:00.000-07:00

The greatest joy in life, for me, is the delight of discovery. Just as we are continually uncovering the rich complexity of this world, we now have a whole new planet being revealed. Just wait until we can operate with equal 'comfort' on Venus and the Jovian moons.

Martian Clays Tell Story of a Wet Past
Layers of clay-rich rock have been found in Mars' Mawrth Vallis, a potential landing site for future rovers.
This work, published in the August 8 issue of Science, suggests that abundant water was once present on Mars and that hydrothermal activity may have occurred.

The Mawrth Vallis outflow channel is a feature in Mars' northern highland region, a heavily cratered, ancient area of the Red Planet whose geology is a time capsule offering revelations to those who can read it. A team of researchers led by planetary scientist Janice Bishop of the SETI Institute has used the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM) aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) to examine infrared light reflected from clays situated in the many-kilometer wide channel. Mawrth Vallis resembles a dried-up, broad river valley through which water may have flowed.

Link

Canary with scales?

2008-08-18T03:32:00.000-07:00

There are very fundamental concerns which should be attracting our attention but we appear to be easily distracted by vacuousness. Reality will, in the long run, prevail but will it be too late?

Study: Earth's edible fish face extinction

A U.S. scientist predicts continued overfishing will lead to the extinction of the Earth's edible species of fish and affect other levels of the food chain.

But Jeremy Jackson, a senior scientist at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, says just the enforcement of fishery regulations would help prevent such extinctions.

Jackson says certain steps, if taken immediately, might reverse the demise of the Earth's ocean species. Those measures include establishing marine reserves, eliminating subsidies for fertilizer use and limiting fossil fuel consumption.

In addition to the extinction of edible fish species, he said without the immediate implementation of ocean-protection measures, larger dead zones and toxic algal blooms may form along the coastal zones of all of the world's continents, increasing disease outbreaks and inhibiting vertical mixing of ocean waters.

Link

Getting spacey

2008-07-10T05:34:00.000-07:00

When I first saw this, my mind immediately insterted 'Moon'... Not so fast, buck.

Enhanced Color Caloris

The sprawling Caloris basin on Mercury is one of the solar system's largest impact basins. Created during the early history of the solar system by the impact of a large asteroid-sized body, the basin spans about 1,500 kilometers and is seen in yellowish hues in this enhanced color mosaic. The image data is from the January 14th flyby of the MESSENGER spacecraft, captured with the MDIS instrument. Orange splotches around the basin's perimeter are now thought to be volcanic vents, new evidence that Mercury's smooth plains are indeed lava flows. Other discoveries at Mercury by NASA's MESSENGER mission include evidence that Mercury, like planet Earth, has a global magnetic field generated by a dynamo process in its large core, and that Mercury's surface has contracted significantly as its core cooled.

Link

More maps

2008-07-10T05:23:00.000-07:00

You can count on Google to create a clean and usable product. They have done it again with a 'suite' of election options.

Keep up-to-date on the 2008 election with Google Maps

Browse through these political maps to learn about this year's race for the Presidency and show off your favorites by embedding them around the web for the world to see. Feeling ambitious? Design and create your own elections map with our getting started guide.

Link

A capsule quote:

2008-07-10T04:44:00.000-07:00

“If we had started working on the solutions to this before it became a problem, back in the 70s when it was already clear where the use of oil was heading us, we would not be having this discussion today,” writes Cindy Prince of Portland, Oregon

This should be the motivating force behind everything we do. Want to fight a war? This one doesn't kill people.

Our Mission

The Apollo Alliance is a coalition of business, labor, environmental, and community leaders working to catalyze a clean energy revolution in America to reduce our nation’s dependence on foreign oil, cut the carbon emissions that are destabilizing our climate, and expand opportunities for American businesses and workers.

Inspired by the vision and technological achievements of the Apollo space program, we promote policies and initiatives to speed investment in clean energy technology and energy efficiency, put millions of Americans to work in a new generation of well-paid, green collar jobs, and make America a global leader in clean energy products and services.

Link

IMHO, the really good news is that this provides a vehicle for local implementation.

Apollo Across the Nation: States, Cities, and Campuses

The Apollo Alliance is moving policy and projects that advance clean energy and good jobs in your area. We are on the ground establishing local alliances of labor, environmental, community and business representatives. Check below for the most recent news on our efforts!

Link

From one of the best

2008-07-10T04:23:00.000-07:00

Larry Sabato, UVA poly sci guy, called the 2006 election almost to THE seat so I pay attention to his work. This is his current Electoral College map:

Link

and the Zogby map:

Link

Surprising source

2008-07-09T05:43:00.000-07:00

This energy proposal comes from one of the most notorious of all 'oilies', T. Boone Pickens. What he is proposing on a 'macro' scale can also be done on a 'friendlier' and more local basis.

We Are in a Crisis

Our dependence on foreign oil forms the intersection of the three most critical issues America currently faces: the economy, the environment and our national security.

There is a Solution

America is blessed with the world's greatest wind power corridor and abundant reserves of clean natural gas. The Pickens Plan will utilize these tremendous resources to build a bridge to the future — a blueprint to reduce foreign oil dependence by harnessing domestic energy alternatives and buying time for us to develop even greater new technologies.

The Plan calls for building new wind generation facilities that will produce 20% of our nation's electricity and allow us to use natural gas as a transportation fuel. The combination of these domestic energies can replace more than one-third of our foreign oil imports. And we can do it all in 10 years.

We Can Bring Change

On January 20th, 2009, a new President will take office. We’re organizing behind the Pickens Plan now to ensure our voices will be heard by the next administration. Together we can raise a call for change and set a new course for America’s energy future in the first hundred days of the new presidency — breaking the hammerlock of foreign oil and building a new domestic energy future for America with a focus on sustainability.

Link

Resisting the obvious odorifous crack

2008-07-09T05:36:00.000-07:00

Some very important events are for the most part eluding public attention. In this case, there is a very large and precarious human population involved.

ENVIRONMENT: Global Fish Catches Vastly Underestimated
Fisheries catches in tropical island nations may be as much as 17 times higher than officially reported, according to a new study released Tuesday.
"The underreporting of fish catches is of such a magnitude it boggles the mind," said Daniel Pauly, a renowned fisheries expert at the University of British Columbia (UBC).

All of the 20 small Pacific island countries in the study underreported catches, mainly because they did not count the catch by small-scale local fishers. This is not unique -- even the U.S. does not report local and recreational fishing statistics, Pauly told IPS at the 11th International Coral Reef Symposium (ICRS) in Fort Lauderdale, Florida Tuesday.

A different study also released Tuesday estimates that the unreported recreational fish catch in the Hawaiian Islands doubles the size of the official catch. It also concluded that 75 percent of reef fishes in the main Hawaiian Islands are depleted or in critical condition because of overfishing.

Pauly and other fish experts long suspected that many nations do not measure small-scale and recreational fisheries. The Sea Around Us Project located at UBC is the first attempt to reconstruct actual catches between 1950 and 2004.

"Even though small-scale fisheries feed many people in poor countries, their contribution goes unreported," Pauly said.
Link

Green thumb

2008-07-09T05:22:00.000-07:00

Some things are simply counter-intuitive. Imagine not reacting in pure revulsion to a huge, sluggish caterpillars.

Q&A: Caterpillars on Tomatoes

Question: Help! I found several large caterpillars munching on my tomatoes. What should I do to get rid of them?

Answer: It sounds like you're seeing tomato hornworms, which can grow to an alarming size! Like most caterpillars, hornworms can be controlled by using Bt, Bacillis thuringiensis.However, since tomato hornworms can do a lot of damage in a short time, you may want to remove the ones you see by hand. Note: If you see a caterpillar with what looks like grains of rice all over it, relocate it elsewhere in the garden rather than killing it. It has been parasitized by a certain wasp laying its eggs on it. These small wasps are harmless to humans, but will help the hornworm population in check. (The parasitized hornworm will die anyway.)

Democratic float

2008-07-08T04:09:00.000-07:00

Reports said the Dems far out-shined the GOPers parade effort.

Words, words, words

2008-07-08T04:03:00.000-07:00

misprize \mis-PRYZ\ (transitive verb) -
1 : To hold in contempt.
2 : To undervalue.

peccant \PEK-unt\ (adjective) -
1 : Sinning; guilty of transgression.
2 : Violating a rule or a principle.

preternatural \pree-tuhr-NACH-uhr-uhl; -NACH-ruhl\ (adjective) -
1 : Existing outside of nature; differing from the natural; nonnatural.
2 : Surpassing the usual or normal; extraordinary; abnormal.
3 : Beyond or outside ordinary experience; inexplicable by ordinary means.

One of those 'wordy' pictures

2008-07-08T02:56:00.000-07:00

There are times when reality takes on a glaringly sharp focus. This strikes me as one such moment. My apologies for not being able to offer a 'clean' pic. There are both pros and cons to Flash and in this instance the link will have to suffice.

Gas prices by county

With commentary

2008-06-10T13:49:00.001-07:00

Marvelous, eh? I have lost myself in exploring on many levels but I just felt the sharp, harsh, stinging slap of reality.

Wrap your mind around the fact it is all waste. Man sure is a sorry lot.

Story

2008-06-09T08:21:00.000-07:00

They are replacing the siding on the almost 100 apartments in this complex. Being a guy, I had to 'supervise' the project.

When it came time to do my unit, my attention level rose. I watched as I a worker arbitarily whacked off a length of the vinyl siding and banged a nail through it at a point in the approximate middle of a span and then attached additional slabs on either side of that. Befuddled, I told my neighbor, who had joined my vigil, that I could not understand... the panels being attached were random in length, were placed vertically when all other siding was running horizontally and in what appeared to be a haphazard manner.

The worker, a 'brassaro' if you must know, then brought the whole process into clarity. He took a tap measure and marked the distance from right to left. I started chuckling and when 'Juan' looked at me I smiled, held up my finger and nodded my head...

"I get it now... Those first panels were just to allow you to get an accurate measure without any 'bowing' of the tape.' He smiled and said, 'You smart'.

Who was I to argue?

Mixed media

2008-06-09T02:48:00.000-07:00

This is an interesting merger of data and images from a rather remarkable source.

Running the numbers
Photographer Chris Jordan turns cold hard stats into provocative statements on economics, culture and the American way of life.
Link

Words, words, words

2008-06-09T02:40:00.000-07:00

morass \muh-RASS\ noun
1 : marsh, swamp
2 a : a situation that traps, confuses, or impedes
*b : an overwhelming or confusing mass or mixture

shebeen (shuh-BEEN) noun
An unlicensed drinking establishment.

supererogatory \soo-puhr-ih-ROG-uh-tor-ee\ (adjective) -
1 : Going beyond what is required or expected.
2 : Superfluous; unnecessary.

Back in action

2008-06-09T02:35:00.000-07:00

This is the 'cause de jour' and worthy of comment. Great map at the link.

The Varying Impact of Gas Prices

Gas prices are high throughout the country, but how hard they hit individual families depends on income levels, which vary widely.

Link

Words, words, words

2008-05-12T05:22:00.000-07:00

Opposites are linguistically interesting.

pantagruelian (pan-tuh-groo-EL-ee-uhn) adjective

1. Enormous.
2. Displaying extravagant and coarse humor.

lilliputian (lil-i-PYOO-shuhn) adjective

Very small.
noun
A very small person.

spall (spal) verb tr., intr.

To break into small pieces; to splinter.
noun
A chip or splinter, especially of stone.

Time Waster

2008-05-12T05:20:00.000-07:00

I wasted a good bit of this morning learning how to adjust for the wind direction. Have fun.

Link

Serious stuff

2008-05-06T04:25:00.000-07:00

We like to live with the fiction we are masters of our own ship. It seems the extent of our control depends on making a conscious effort. Link courtesy of chat friend Benedict.
Multinationals make billions in profit out of growing global food crisis
Speculators blamed for driving up price of basic foods as 100 million face severe hunger

Giant agribusinesses are enjoying soaring earnings and profits out of the world food crisis which is driving millions of people towards starvation, The Independent on Sunday can reveal. And speculation is helping to drive the prices of basic foodstuffs out of the reach of the hungry.

The prices of wheat, corn and rice have soared over the past year driving the world's poor – who already spend about 80 per cent of their income on food – into hunger and destitution.

The World Bank says that 100 million more people are facing severe hunger. Yet some of the world's richest food companies are making record profits. Monsanto last month reported that its net income for the three months up to the end of February this year had more than doubled over the same period in 2007, from $543m (£275m) to $1.12bn. Its profits increased from $1.44bn to $2.22bn.

Link

Sign of the times

2008-05-06T04:04:00.000-07:00

We try to go through life and make decisions with our eyes open. This gives cause for concern and contemplation.
30 of the fastest declining occupations
Worried that technology improvements or the struggling economy might soon cost you your job? While a prediction isn't a guarantee, employment predictions from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics show that some occupations are expected to decline in the near future.The projections, which are updated every two years, show that the total number of people employed in the United States will have increased 10 percent — by 15. 6 million — between 2006 and 2016. Not all jobs, however, are on the rise. Check out this list of 30 jobs expected to be among the fastest declining.
Link

Green thumb

2008-04-24T04:15:00.000-07:00

Tip: Mark Bulbs

Spring-flowering bulbs that didn't flower should be marked with colorful ribbons for transplanting later. Once the foliage has yellowed dig and replant bulbs into a sunny, well drained site amended with compost.

This is timely because I am dealing with daffodils which have not bloomed and grape hyacinth which have disappeared.

Challenge

2008-04-24T03:22:00.000-07:00

Think of nefarious use of this development and then try to think of a benevolent application.

Boeing Awarded DARPA Contract to Develop Ultra-Long-Endurance Aircraft Technologies

Boeing [NYSE: BA] has been awarded a $3.8 million Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) contract for Phase 1 of the Vulture air vehicle program, an effort to create a new category of ultra-long-endurance aircraft.

DARPA's Vulture program calls for developing technologies and ultimately a vehicle that can deliver and maintain an airborne payload on station for an uninterrupted period of more than five years using a fixed-wing aircraft. Boeing is teaming with United Kingdom-based QinetiQ Ltd. for the program.

The yearlong Phase 1 covers conceptual system definition, and formal reliability and mission success analysis, concluding with a System Requirements Review. It also requires conceptual designs for sub- and full-scale demonstrators.

"Boeing has worked closely with DARPA on a number of innovative programs in the past and we welcome this important opportunity to again team with them to define a new air vehicle system with unprecedented reliability and endurance that significantly extends current aircraft and spacecraft capabilities," said Pat O'Neil, program manager, Boeing High Altitude Long Endurance Systems. "We will combine our strengths in highly reliable aerospace systems development with the unique capabilities of our teammates, QinetiQ, Versa Power Systems and Draper Laboratory."

QinetiQ is currently flying and testing a solar-powered, high-altitude, long-endurance unmanned aerial system for the U.K. Ministry of Defense and the U.S. Department of Defense under the Zephyr Joint Capabilities Technology Demonstration. QinetiQ's role will be to leverage the technologies developed and demonstrated in Zephyr for the DARPA Vulture program.

The Vulture vehicle's goal is to be capable of carrying a 1,000-pound, 5-kilowatt payload and have a 99 percent probability of maintaining its on-station position.

Link

Getting to the root

2008-04-24T03:10:00.000-07:00

Ever wonder, as I do, how some of our language came into usage? This link offers some answers.

Idioms

It isn’t always the nonnative speaker’s accent (which may be perfect) that enables people to recognize instantly an outsider who is learning their language—it’s the odd mistakes that no native speaker would make. The idiomatic use of words such as to, for, and with varies from language to language. Just as each person has a unique, characteristic signature, each language has unique idioms. In fact, the word idiom comes from the Greek root idio, meaning a unique signature. Thus, each language contains expressions that make no sense when translated literally into another tongue. The humorist Art Buchwald wrote a famous column, often reprinted, in which he translated some of our Thanksgiving (Mercidonnant) terms into literal French, with comic results. If a German or Spaniard or Italian literally translated birthday suit and get down to brass tacks, the terms would make no sense, or the wrong sense. Even a native speaker of English who is not used to hearing literate idioms such as fits and starts, cock-and-bull story, hue and cry, and touch and go will not be able to make sense of them. Our purpose in defining these idioms is to let the cat out of the bag for those who haven’t heard them often enough to catch their meanings.

Other idioms are really allusions or foreign-language terms that make no sense unless you know what the allusions or terms mean. Carry coals to Newcastle translates adequately into any language, but it makes no sense to a person who doesn’t know that Newcastle is a coal-mining city. Knowing the literal meaning of idioms won’t enable you to understand them unless you also know what they allude to. Such ignorance is an Achilles’ heel and an albatross around one’s neck. Moreover, just knowing a baker’s dozen of them is not enough; you have to know them en masse. Educators who complain about the illiteracy of the young but pay no attention to teaching idioms are just weeping crocodile tears. We have therefore decided to cut the Gordian knot by systematically defining some of the most widely used idioms in American literate culture.

Link

Trend

2008-04-24T02:52:00.000-07:00

One would hope we will start making smart decisions about our energy sources.

Coal Boom to Bust? New Power Plants Face Challenges

When Duke Energy asked North Carolina air quality regulators permission to build a new coal-fired power plant unit west of Charlotte, the company got a green light only after agreeing to limit carbon dioxide emissions.

But to the north, just across the border in the heart of Virginia coal-country, state regulators are moving closer to giving Dominion Virginia Power the go-ahead to build a new coal-facility without limitations on the release of the climate changing gas.

Over the last several years, power companies have pushed to build more than 150 new coal-fired power plants. But with Congress poised to restrict carbon dioxide emissions some analysts say that the boom may be coming to an end.

For now, though, the different tact on carbon at two plants separated by a three hour drive across a state line highlights the country’s patchwork, state-by-state approach to forestalling climate change.

As the likelihood of national carbon regulation has grown, Wall Street and the federal government have suddenly grown skittish about funding new coal plants. And state regulators in many parts of the country have in recent months blocked proposed coal plants on global warming grounds, even in states with no carbon restrictions on the books.

Link

Words, words, words

2008-04-24T02:42:00.000-07:00

geoponic (jee-uh-PON-ik) adjective

Of or relating to agriculture
Simple... the opposite of hydroponic

endogamy (en-DOG-uh-mee) noun

The practice of marriage within a specific social group

noctilucent (nok-tuh-LOO-suhnt) adjective

Shining at night.

Wise words

2008-04-22T13:48:00.000-07:00

At his best, man is the noblest of all animals; separated from law and justice he is the worst: Aristotle

Great thought from the world's smartest man

2008-04-22T10:30:00.000-07:00

We all would benefit from having a vision and goal for the future. Considering who is saying this, I think the idea merits serious consideration.

Stephen Hawking urges new era of space conquest
Astrophysicist Stephen Hawking called Monday for a new era of space conquest akin to Christopher Columbus' discovery of the new world, in a speech on the 50th anniversary of NASA space agency.

"In a way, the situation is like Europe before 1492. People might well have argued that it was a waste of money to send Columbus on a wild goose chase," the British scientist said at Georgetown Washington University.

"Yet the discovery of the new world made profound difference to the old. Just think, we would not have a Big Mac or KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken)," he added referring to the ubiquitous US fast food outlets.

"Spreading out into space will have an even greater effect. It will completely change the future of the human race and maybe determine whether we have any future at all," added the 66-year-old theoretical physicist, who is known for his works in cosmology and quantum gravity.

Hawking envisions a long-term space exploration project that would include building an experimental base on the moon within 30 years, and devising a new propulsion system to take us on a planetary hunt outside our solar system in 200-500 years.

"It will not solve any of our immediate problems on planet earth," he said, "but it will give us a new perspective on them and ... Hopefully, it will unite us to face a common challenge."

"Going into space will not be cheap, but it will take only a small portion of world resources," he added.

Hawking has suffered from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a degenerative motor neurone disorder, since he was 20. It has left him almost completely paralyzed, and he can only speak through a voice synthesizer.

A year ago, however, he was able to step off his wheelchair and float about in a state of zero gravity aboard a special plane.

He hopes to repeat the experience in space, above the atmosphere, aboard the maiden, suborbital flight of the Virgin Galactic of British billionaire Richard Branson's venture company Virgin Group, whose first flight is planned for next year.

Link

Local application?

2008-04-22T10:18:00.000-07:00

This is one of those ideas which I think can and should spread. It seems to answer many problems at once.

Pedal-powered cabs coming to Toronto

A fleet of pedal-powered EcoCabs will hit the downtown Toronto core starting May 1, offering passengers a speedy — and free — ride to their favourite restaurant, nightclub, business meeting or even the Rogers Centre for a ball game.

Eight of the cars, which have a futuristic yellow outer shell, were introduced today at Dundas Square by William Kozma, president of GO Mobile Media.

There is no charge (although tips won't be turned down) because the cabs are supported by corporate sponsors. Lipton Green Tea is one — and riders are provided a free glass of green tea with their ride.

The cabs, which are about 10 feet long and four feet wide, can accommodate two passengers on the padded seats and a child under 12.

And the three-wheeled cabs will travel on the right-hand lane of city streets at a top speed of 12 km/h. The average speed in the downtown core will be about 6 km/h.

"The idea is to have the vehicles throughout the downtown core in the areas where there is the most congestion," Kozma said.

Link

Where have I been?

2008-04-22T09:03:00.001-07:00

I have been involved, to put it in a way that avoids saying I have been lazy.

A couple of links tell the story.

Update For Spring 2008

Leola Street Garden Outreach

The Leola Street Community Garden is entering its 3rd growing season. Over the past two years the community garden has seen 45 different participants with 30 active participants each year. We have grown all kinds of vegetables, flowers, and herbs. There is a peace garden with medicinal herbs and herbs for tea along with flowers randomly about. Along Leola Street we have 35 dwarf apple trees which came from Big Horse Creek Farms in Ashe County. There are benches for resting, socializing, or observing. We have created the beginnings of a children's garden with the work of Two Rivers Community School. W.A.M.Y. has partnered to assist in meeting low-incomes with necessary resources. The community garden has supported participants by providing seeds, compost when enough funds, mulch, straw, leaves, and tools.

Those who have participated last year I must know by March 15th if you will renew your space or want more space or have something else you need to do. Please email, phone, or meet with me so we can sign up, deal with the usage fees, and cover guidelines or questions.

Link

Obama Wins Watauga County Democratic Straw Poll

The vote today in the Presidential Preference Straw Poll among 121 registered delegates at the Watauga County Democratic Party's annual convention...

79 Obama
42 Clinton

That's approximately 65% Obama to 34.7% Clinton.

Link

Hey, I can identify with this guy

2008-04-02T02:57:00.000-07:00

We cross the thresholds of advancing age with begrudging resignation and then you suddenly get slapped with a story like this one.

Saoul Mamby back in boxing ring fighting at age 60

At age 60, Saoul Mamby has gotten back into the ring, and he wants to stay there.

The former super lightweight champion lost a unanimous 10-round decision last Saturday to Anthony Osbourne at the Lions Gate Center in Grand Cayman. Mamby became the oldest boxer in a sanctioned fight, weighing 149 1/2 pounds (68 kilograms), not far from his weight in his prime.

He plans to keep fighting, manager Steve Tannenbaum said.

Mamby turned pro on Sept. 23, 1969, with a six-round decision over Roy Goss in Kingston, Jamaica. He won the WBC super lightweight title (140 pounds, 64 kilograms) with a 14th round knockout of Kim Sang-hyun of South Korea on Feb 23, 1980.

In Mamby's first title defense, he stopped former lightweight champion Esteban DeJesus of Puerto Rico.

Eight years ago, Mamby became the first boxer in history to compete in five decades. Two weeks later, Roberto Duran became the second fighter to do it.

Before the loss to journeyman Osbourne, Mamby's last bout was Dec. 27, 2004.

Link

Another discovery

2008-04-02T02:31:00.000-07:00

Big and small, near and far, old and new; the range and diversity of discovery continually amazes me.

Secret 'dino bugs' revealed

It is like a magic trick - at first there is nothing and then it appears: a tiny insect unseen by any eye for 100 million years.

We are with Paul Tafforeau who is scrolling through images on his computer.

His pictures have been produced by a colossal X-ray machine that can illuminate the insides of small lumps of clouded amber (fossil tree resin).

As he plays with the settings, what starts out as grey nothingness suddenly becomes the unmistakable outline of a "wee beastie".

Who knows? This little creature could once have buzzed a dinosaur. It's certainly the right age.

Tafforeau is a palaeontologist. But whilst others of his profession will be in the dirt with a rock hammer and trowel, you'll find him at the end of one of the most remarkable "cameras" in the world.

The European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) in Grenoble, France, produces an intense, high-energy light that can pierce just about any material, revealing its inner structure.

Tafforeau and colleague Malvina Lak have put kilos of opaque amber chunks in the way of this beam and have found a treasure trove of ancient organisms.

Link

Getting spacey

2008-04-02T02:20:00.000-07:00

Even if you are not paying attention, our awareness and understanding is steadily expanding. I would love it if all that effort was ultimately and directly applied to improving the human condition.

Scientists Discover 10 New Planets Outside Solar System
An international team of astronomers has found 10 new "extra solar" planets, planets that orbit stars other than our sun. The team used a system of robotic cameras that yield a great deal of information about these other worlds, some of which are quite exotic. The system is expected to revolutionize scientific understanding of how planets form.

Two participating astronomers from the U.S. are Rachel Street and Tim Lister. Street is a postdoctoral fellow at the University of California, Santa Barbara and the Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network (LCOGTN) located in Santa Barbara. Lister is a project scientist with LCOGTN.

Team leader, Don Pollaco of Queen's University, Belfast, Northern Ireland, will announce the findings in his talk at the Royal Astronomical Society's national astronomy meeting in the U.K. on Wednesday, April 2.

The new international collaboration is called "SuperWASP," for Wide Area Search for Planets.

Link

Words, words, words

2008-04-02T02:13:00.000-07:00

The words fall into my mailbox as random rain, at times eerily appropriate to the moment.

coalesce \koh-uh-LESS\ verb

1 : to grow together
2 a : to unite into a whole : fuse *b : to unite for a common end : join forces
3 : to arise from the combination of distinct elements

limn \LIM\ (transitive verb)

1 : To depict by drawing or painting.
2 : To portray in words; to describe.

melange \may-LAHNZH\ (noun)

A mixture; a medley.

This gets me excited

2008-04-01T10:11:00.000-07:00

The three greatest needs of society are water, food and energy. This is a sensible answer to at least one of those.

A $20 Solar Charger Runs All My Gadgets
by Justin Thomas, Virginia
I bought this portable solar panel from SolarStyle on eBay for $20. This small solar charger has a built in battery (see this previous article for more information). With this portable solar panel, I charge my MP3 player, a portable amplifier, a set of battery-powered Sony surround sound speakers, a cellular phone, a digital camera, two LED lamps, a LED booklight, and a LED flashlight. If you are already positioning yourself to optimize sunlight, it is quite simple to do this. If I added a $50 solar panel, I can power two laptop computer, and have all of my audio-visual and computer devices running on renewable energy.

Link

Back

2008-04-01T10:08:00.000-07:00

Net friend Sherry, in a rather polite way, wondered what happened to this blog. The simple answer is 'distraction' and my apologies are extended both outward and toward myself.

Time to get back to being productive.

My latest interest

2008-02-26T12:12:00.000-08:00

I am curious if this could be a locally-produced substitute for those obiquitous sytrofoam containers.

Molded pulp

Molded pulp ,also named Moulded pulp or Molded Fibre,is a packaging material, typically made from 100% recycled old corrugated board, newspaper. It is used for protective packaging or for food service trays and beverage carriers. Molded pulp is also commonly referred to as molded fiber. Other typical uses are end caps, trays and clamshell containers.

For many applications, Molded pulp is less expensive than expanded polystyrene (EPS), vacuumed formed PET and PVC, Corrugation and Foams.

Molded pulp is considered a sustainable packaging material, as defined by the Sustainable Packaging Coalition, since it is produced from recycled materials, and can be recycled again after its useful life-cycle.

Link

H2O - Pt. 3

2008-02-26T09:14:00.000-08:00

Is this the carrot for exploration or exploitation?

Unique Martian Formation Reveals Brief Bursts Of Water

Researchers from the United States and the Netherlands report that several formations on Mars indicate incidents of rapid release of water from the planet's interior. Mars has many basins that contain formations that look like fans. A few of these fans, only about 10, have steps down into the basin. Since scientists first reported this feature three years ago, there has been no clear consensus on how they formed.

So, following an example of a project they had created for high school students, geosciences faculty members at Utrecht University in the Netherlands reproduced the process. "There are no fans with steps on earth, so we had to build one," said Erin R. Kraal, now a geosciences research scientist at Virginia Tech.

In the article, "Martian stepped-delta formation by rapid water release," published in the Feb. 21, 2008, issue of Nature, Kraal and her Utrect colleagues, Maurits van Dijk, George Postma, and Maarten G. Kleinhans, describe how they made a stepped fan -- and what it says about at least one source of water on Mars.

Link

H2O - Pt. 2

2008-02-26T08:57:00.000-08:00

If you have been there, you would not be surprised.

Going Down: Climate change, water use threaten Lake Mead

If climate changes as expected, and future water use goes unchecked, there's a 50 percent chance that Lake Mead—one of the southwestern United States' key reservoirs—will become functionally dry in the next couple of decades, a new study suggests.

Besides providing water for millions, flow from Lake Mead—the reservoir formed as the Colorado River collects behind Hoover Dam—generates prodigious amounts of hydroelectric power. Over the past century, on average, about 18.5 cubic kilometers of water flowed into Lake Mead each year, says Tim P. Barnett, a climatologist at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, Calif. Of that amount, about 2.1 km³ evaporate into the dry desert air or soak into the ground beneath the lake each year. What's left in the lake is more than spoken for: The amount of water drawn from Lake Mead this year to meet demand in cities as far-flung as Los Angeles and San Diego will exceed 16.6 km³.

And the situation will likely get worse, Barnett and colleague David W. Pierce speculate in an upcoming Water Resources Research. By 2030, the researchers note, annual demand for Lake Mead's water is projected to rise to 17.4 km³. Also, some climate studies suggest that the Colorado's flow will drop between 10 and 30 percent in the next 30 to 50 years. Using these data, as well as weather simulations that impose random but reasonable annual variations in river flow volume, Barnett and Pierce used a computer model to estimate the remaining useful life of the Lake Mead reservoir.

Thanks in part to the worst drought in the Southwest in the past 500 years (SN: 6/26/04, p. 406), Lake Mead is now at about 50 percent capacity. If current allocations of water persist, there's a 50 percent chance that by 2023 Lake Mead won't provide water without pumping, and a 10 percent chance that it won't by 2013. Moreover, there's a 50 percent chance that Hoover Dam won't be able to generate power by 2017, the researchers estimate.

"We were stunned at the magnitude of the problem and how fast it was coming at us," says Barnett.

Results of the new study are "fairly provocative, an eye-opener," says Connie Woodhouse, a climatologist at the University of Arizona in Tucson. Using estimates of river flow based on an average of the past century may be optimistic, she adds, because tree ring–based reconstructions of the region's climate suggest that the 20th century was one of the wettest in the past 500 years. "The more we learn about the Colorado River and its hydrology, the more worried we need to be," says Peter H. Gleick, a hydrologist at the Pacific Institute in Oakland, Calif.

http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20080223/fob2.asp

H2O - Pt. 1

2008-02-26T08:39:00.000-08:00

Some news is sad.

Human Shadows on the Seas

Now scientists are building the first worldwide portrait of such dispersed human impacts on the oceans, revealing a planet-spanning mix of depleted resources, degraded ecosystems and disruptive biological blending as species are moved around the globe by accident and intent.

A paper in the Feb. 15 issue of the journal Science is the first effort to map 17 kinds of human ocean impacts like organic pollution, including agricultural runoff and sewage; damage from bottom-scraping trawls; and intensive traditional fishing along coral reefs.

About 40 percent of ocean areas are strongly affected, and just 4 percent pristine, according to the review. Polar seas are in the pristine category, but poised for change. Some human impacts are familiar, like damage to coral reefs and mangrove forests through direct actions like construction and subtler ones like the loss of certain fish that shape ecosystems.

Others were a surprise, said Benjamin S. Halpern, the lead author and a scientist at the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis in Santa Barbara, Calif. He said continental shelves and slopes proved to be the most heavily affected areas, particularly along densely populated coasts.

Link

It lives!

2008-02-26T08:34:00.000-08:00

Despite the stories about how this remarkable site had been shut down, it persists.

Wikileaks
global defense of sources and press freedoms, circa now—

Wikileaks is developing an uncensorable system for untraceable mass document leaking and public analysis. Our primary interests are in Asia, the former Soviet bloc, Latin America, Sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East, but we expect to be of assistance to peoples of all countries who wish to reveal unethical behavior in their governments and corporations. We aim for maximum political impact.

Link

Tools

2008-02-23T12:07:00.000-08:00

This should go in a file marked either 'Media' or 'Entertainment'.

LocateTV

Type in the name of a TV show, movie or actor and LocateTV will find where it is viewable for you.

Link

2008-02-23T09:20:00.000-08:00

This is an interesting bit of history. Imagine the gems (and rewards) for those people who started at this early time to stake out ownership of domains. The evolving value for a 'hot' property would make an intriguing study.

THE 100 OLDEST CURRENTLY-REGISTERED .COM DOMAINS

Rank	Create date	Domain name
1.	15-Mar-1985	SYMBOLICS.COM
2.	24-Apr-1985	BBN.COM
3.	24-May-1985	THINK.COM
4.	11-Jul-1985	MCC.COM
5.	30-Sep-1985	DEC.COM
6.	07-Nov-1985	NORTHROP.COM
7.	09-Jan-1986	XEROX.COM
8.	17-Jan-1986	SRI.COM
9.	03-Mar-1986	HP.COM
10.	05-Mar-1986	BELLCORE.COM
11=	19-Mar-1986	IBM.COM
11=	19-Mar-1986	SUN.COM
13=	25-Mar-1986	INTEL.COM
13=	25-Mar-1986	TI.COM
15.	25-Apr-1986	ATT.COM
16=	08-May-1986	GMR.COM
16=	08-May-1986	TEK.COM
18=	10-Jul-1986	FMC.COM
18=	10-Jul-1986	UB.COM
20=	05-Aug-1986	BELL-ATL.COM
20=	05-Aug-1986	GE.COM
20=	05-Aug-1986	GREBYN.COM
20=	05-Aug-1986	ISC.COM
20=	05-Aug-1986	NSC.COM
20=	05-Aug-1986	STARGATE.COM
26.	02-Sep-1986	BOEING.COM
27.	18-Sep-1986	ITCORP.COM
28.	29-Sep-1986	SIEMENS.COM
29.	18-Oct-1986	PYRAMID.COM
30=	27-Oct-1986	ALPHACDC.COM
30=	27-Oct-1986	BDM.COM
30=	27-Oct-1986	FLUKE.COM
30=	27-Oct-1986	INMET.COM
30=	27-Oct-1986	KESMAI.COM
30=	27-Oct-1986	MENTOR.COM
30=	27-Oct-1986	NEC.COM
30=	27-Oct-1986	RAY.COM
30=	27-Oct-1986	ROSEMOUNT.COM
30=	27-Oct-1986	VORTEX.COM
40=	05-Nov-1986	ALCOA.COM
40=	05-Nov-1986	GTE.COM
42=	17-Nov-1986	ADOBE.COM
42=	17-Nov-1986	AMD.COM
42=	17-Nov-1986	DAS.COM
42=	17-Nov-1986	DATA-IO.COM
42=	17-Nov-1986	OCTOPUS.COM
42=	17-Nov-1986	PORTAL.COM
42=	17-Nov-1986	TELTONE.COM
42=	11-Dec-1986	3COM.COM
50=	11-Dec-1986	AMDAHL.COM
50=	11-Dec-1986	CCUR.COM
50=	11-Dec-1986	CI.COM
50=	11-Dec-1986	CONVERGENT.COM
50=	11-Dec-1986	DG.COM
50=	11-Dec-1986	PEREGRINE.COM
50=	11-Dec-1986	QUAD.COM
50=	11-Dec-1986	SQ.COM
50=	11-Dec-1986	TANDY.COM
50=	11-Dec-1986	TTI.COM
50=	11-Dec-1986	UNISYS.COM
61=	19-Jan-1987	CGI.COM
61=	19-Jan-1987	CTS.COM
61=	19-Jan-1987	SPDCC.COM
64.	19-Feb-1987	APPLE.COM
65=	04-Mar-1987	NMA.COM
65=	04-Mar-1987	PRIME.COM
67.	04-Apr-1987	PHILIPS.COM
68=	23-Apr-1987	DATACUBE.COM
68=	23-Apr-1987	KAI.COM
68=	23-Apr-1987	TIC.COM
68=	23-Apr-1987	VINE.COM
72.	30-Apr-1987	NCR.COM
73=	14-May-1987	CISCO.COM
73=	14-May-1987	RDL.COM
75.	20-May-1987	SLB.COM
76=	27-May-1987	PARCPLACE.COM
76=	27-May-1987	UTC.COM
78.	26-Jun-1987	IDE.COM
79.	09-Jul-1987	TRW.COM
80.	13-Jul-1987	UNIPRESS.COM
81=	27-Jul-1987	DUPONT.COM
81=	27-Jul-1987	LOCKHEED.COM
83.	28-Jul-1987	ROSETTA.COM
84.	18-Aug-1987	TOAD.COM
85.	31-Aug-1987	QUICK.COM
86=	03-Sep-1987	ALLIED.COM
86=	03-Sep-1987	DSC.COM
86=	03-Sep-1987	SCO.COM
89=	22-Sep-1987	GENE.COM
89=	22-Sep-1987	KCCS.COM
89=	22-Sep-1987	SPECTRA.COM
89=	22-Sep-1987	WLK.COM
93.	30-Sep-1987	MENTAT.COM
94.	14-Oct-1987	WYSE.COM
95.	02-Nov-1987	CFG.COM
96.	09-Nov-1987	MARBLE.COM
97=	16-Nov-1987	CAYMAN.COM
97=	16-Nov-1987	ENTITY.COM
99.	24-Nov-1987	KSR.COM
100.	30-Nov-1987	NYNEXST.COM

Link

Tools

2008-02-23T09:12:00.000-08:00

This is a handy thingie if sky-watching is an interest. Thanks go to webgenie for the link.

Stellarium
Stellarium is a free open source planetarium for your computer. It shows a realistic sky in 3D, just like what you see with the naked eye, binoculars or a telescope.
It is being used in planetarium projectors. Just set your coordinates and go.

Link

Words, words, words

2008-02-23T09:08:00.000-08:00

intersillent, adj.
Suddenly emerging in the midst of something.

rejectamenta, n.
Things that have been rejected, as being worthless.

immorigerous, adj.
Unyielding, inflexible.

Yep, a quiz

2008-02-23T07:41:00.000-08:00

No room for bragging, I got only five right.

Trivia Quiz: Gardening Challenge
Test your knowledge of plants, flowers, and the best place for them in your garden.

Question 1: Which of these flowers has the nickname "heartsease"?
A: Lily
B: Tulip
C: Rose
D: Pansy

Question 2: What common pie ingredient is the rose related to?
A: Blackberries
B: Rhubarb
C: Pumpkins
D: Cloves

Question 3: Which side of the garden is the best place for tall or climbing plants?
A: South
B: West
C: East
D: North

Question 4: Which family is the potato a member of?
A: Tomato
B: Pea
C: Carrot
D: Morning Glory

Question 5: Which of these bulbs can have yellow flowers?
A: Cyclamen
B: Snowdrop
C: Daffodil
D: Bluebell

Question 6: Where do pinks get their name?
A: The seeds make a "pink" noise when released
B: Most are pink in color
C: The petals have zig-zagged edges, as though cut with pinking shears
D: The leaves are tinged pink

Question 7: Which of these shouldn't be planted in a dry, sunny area?
A: Rosemary
B: Artemisia
C: Lavender
D: Hydrangea

Question 8: Which of these flowers comes in a type that smells like chocolate?
A: Rose
B: Geranium
C: Cosmos
D: Phlox

Question 9: Which of these trees has white bark?
A: Maple
B: Ash
C: Cherry
D: Birch

Question 10: Which of these always has green leaves?
A: Camellia
B: Holly
C: Smoke bush
D: Berberis

Link

Problem solver

2008-02-18T07:21:00.000-08:00

This product seems to answer most, of not all, of the arguments against wind power. It remains to be seen how quickly it is adopted.

Aerotecture International Inc.

...visionary technology

Aeroturbines are wind turbines designed for urban settings. Invented by University of Illinois industrial design professor, Bil Becker, Aeroturbines are a new development in wind turbine technology. Aeroturbines can be installed on existing rooftops or built into the architecture of new buildings to provide clean renewable electricity at its site of consumption. Aeroturbines are uniquely suited to urban environments because they are:

Noise and vibration-free
Safe for birds
Able to utilize multi-directional and gusting winds
Self-regulating (no overspeed protection required)
Low maintenance
Made from low-cost and readily available materials

Link

More on 'Earthlights'

2008-02-17T06:51:00.000-08:00

I posted a while back perhaps my all-time favorite net pic; 'Earthlights' a shot of the earth engulfed in darkness and dotted with the glare of human habitation. This story looks at the impact of those rampant lumens. The most striking example of this phenomenon I have seen was the glow of Las Vegas appearing on the horizon while driving across the desert. The inserted photo was taken after the blackout in August 2003 in Goodwood, a small town about 45 minutes NE of Toronto.

Starry Night, circa 2007
If you live anywhere near a big city it’s likely you can’t see much through the fog of light pollution. Now, a movement of activists and scientists are taking up the cause of darkness

To the meat:

Many believe the profusion of light is taking a great toll on us and the plants and animals with which we share the planet. Their concern has even sparked a new science – scotobiology. Although so far it's more about questions than answers, this budding branch of research argues a simple idea. For Greek speakers, the name offers a clue. Skoteinos translates roughly into "full of darkness."

In short, the theory is this: Plants and animals are programmed to function in a certain pattern of daylight and darkness. Alter it and unhealthy things happen. It applies equally to organisms that are active at night and those, including humans, whose bodies require regular periods with the lights out.

Concern about light pollution didn't begin with scotobiology.

Originally, it came from astronomers who found it increasingly tough to see the stars, unless they moved their telescopes to pristine, remote locations or, in the case of the Hubble, out into space.

It was buttressed by a sense that humans lose something precious when they sever their joyful, fearful connection to the vast night time canopy, and the stark lesson it offers about our insignificant place in space and time.

Link

A tidbit for your memory bank

2008-02-17T05:28:00.000-08:00

This is just one view of how man spread to the western hemisphere and serves as a portal through which an opposing view can be offered. Pushing me closer to accepting the 'southern' hypothesis is a vague memory of an article linking the DNA of domesticated animals to Micronesia.

Humans Inhabited New World's Doorstep For 20,000 Years

The human journey from Asia to the New World was interrupted by a 20,000-year layover in Beringia, a once-habitable region that today lies submerged under the icy waters of the Bering Strait. Furthermore, the New World was colonized by approximately 1,000 to 5,000 people - a substantially higher number than the 100 or fewer individuals of previous estimates.

The developments, to be reported by University of Florida Genetics Institute scientists in the open-access journal PLoS ONE on February 13, help shape understanding of how the Americas came to be populated - not through a single expansion event that is put forth in most theories, but in three distinct stages separated by thousands of generations.

"Our model makes for a more interesting, complex scenario than the idea that humans diverged from Asians and expanded into the New World in a single event," said Connie Mulligan, Ph.D., an associate professor of anthropology at the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and assistant director of the UF Genetics Institute. "If you think about it, these people didn't know they were going to a new world.

"They were moving out of Asia and finally reached a landmass that was exposed because of lower sea levels during the last glacial maximum, but two major glaciers blocked their progress into the New World. So they basically stayed put for about 20,000 years. It wasn't paradise, but they survived. When the North American ice sheets started to melt and a passage into the New World opened, we think they left Beringia to go to a better place."

Link

And on to the other side of the coin...

Find May Rewrite Americas' Prehistory

The Americas were inhabited by human beings at least as early as 12,500 years ago -- far earlier and a half a world farther south than previously believed -- a team of archaeologists announced yesterday.

Artifacts unearthed at a site near Monte Verde, Chile, the nine-member group determined, predate by at least 1,300 years the evidence of human habitation from Clovis, N.M., conventionally accepted as the oldest known in the Western Hemisphere.

More portentous, however, is the fact that the discovery is in South America, thousands of miles away from the Clovis site. That suggests that the first Asian immigrants arrived by a different path from the one traditionally assumed (across what is now the Bering Strait) or got there much earlier than the current scientific consensus allows, or both. Indeed, the Monte Verde dig also has revealed preliminary evidence that Homo sapiens may have been in residence there as long as 33,000 years ago.

As to be expected, there are theories waiting substantiation.

Alternatively, many experts speculate, the early Asian immigrants may not have traveled by land at all. Instead, they may have gone by boat, hugging the shoreline all the way from Alaska to Chile. The closing of the Bering Strait, Stanford said, would have caused a backup of seawater nutrients and ocean life in the North Pacific that might have given early nautical explorers an ample food source.

Link

I posit the lowered sea levels, while facilitating that north land bridge, could also have exposed more of the tops of the submerged mountain ridge (clearly seen on Google earthGoogle Earth and well worth the download) which stretches from Micronesia (Pitcarin Island forms the terminus to the west) to Easter Island and San Felix close to the South American coast.

The romantic in me envisions family groups loading up their catamarans with provisions, supplies and live stock and heading for the next island. The answer will probably be found in DNA.

Food for thought

2008-02-16T07:20:00.000-08:00

A journey which started at 'logan' (a locally-grown diet) then meandered through 'community-based economics' ended at 'eco-communalism' as the final destination.

Organizing Ecological Revolution
John Bellamy Foster

My subject—organizing ecological revolution—has as its initial premise that we are in the midst of a global environmental crisis of such enormity that the web of life of the entire planet is threatened and with it the future of civilization.

This is no longer a very controversial proposition. To be sure, there are different perceptions about the extent of the challenge that this raises. At one extreme there are those who believe that since these are human problems arising from human causes they are easily solvable. All we need are ingenuity and the will to act. At the other extreme there are those who believe that the world ecology is deteriorating on a scale and with a rapidity beyond our means to control, giving rise to the gloomiest forebodings.

Although often seen as polar opposites these views nonetheless share a common basis. As Paul Sweezy observed they each reflect “the belief that if present trends continue to operate, it is only a matter of time until the human species irredeemably fouls its own nest” (Monthly Review, June 1989).

One factoid caught my eye and, I think, merits note:

Two thirds of the world’s major fish stocks are currently being fished at or above their capacity. Over the last half-century 90 percent of large predatory fish in the world’s oceans have been eliminated (Worldwatch, Vital Signs 2005).

Link

Red sky in the morning

2008-02-14T03:47:00.000-08:00

This is a portent of a significant market basket increase and it is fueled by a combination of weather, increasing fertilizer and transportation costs. Have you considered alternatives in your diet?

Wheat hits $20 in North Dakota and Minnesota

The wheat market moved into historic ground Friday in North Dakota and Minnesota, as short-term demand from mills pushed prices up to $20 a bushel at one elevator in an after-hours scramble.

Most elevators in northeast North Dakota and northwest Minnesota posted prices of $16.70 to $17.30 Friday, according to an Agweek survey; that's four times as high as a year ago and the highest figures ever seen.

Dave Lokken, manager of AGP Elevator in Valley City, N.D., posted a bid of $18.25 Friday. But the market was much hotter than that.
-------------------
"The guys who don't have any wheat left, it just demoralizes them to see that $20 price. To think, if they had been sitting on 10,000, 20,000, 30,000 bushels of wheat, how much money that is," Lokken said.
-------------------
"We're projecting that food inflation in the U.S. is going to be 8 percent," Mark Palmquist, executive vice president for the ag businesses of CHS, a farmer-owned cooperative based in Inver Grove Heights, Minn., told the Pioneer Press. "Demand is so interesting this time around. It seems to be very insensitive to the price rises."

Registration Required

A new source?

2008-02-13T17:09:00.000-08:00

Hopefully we will have moved beyond using hydrocarbon fuels when exploitation of this resource becomes reasonable.

Titan's Surface Organics Surpass Oil Reserves On Earth
Saturn's orange moon Titan has hundreds of times more liquid hydrocarbons than all the known oil and natural gas reserves on Earth, according to new Cassini data. The hydrocarbons rain from the sky, collecting in vast deposits that form lakes and dunes.

The new findings from the study led by Ralph Lorenz, Cassini radar team member from the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, USA, are reported in the 29 January 2008 issue of the Geophysical Research Letters.

"Titan is just covered in carbon-bearing material-it's a giant factory of organic chemicals," said Lorenz. "This vast carbon inventory is an important window into the geology and climate history of Titan."

Link

Once again offering hope

2008-02-13T16:48:00.000-08:00

This is a story which drew attention in the past but this latest story offers some intriguing details. As a strong proponent of building local economies, I like what I learned.

Five-seat concept car runs on air
An engineer has promised that within a year he will start selling a car that runs on compressed air, producing no emissions at all in town.

The OneCAT will be a five-seater with a glass fibre body, weighing just 350kg and could cost just over £2,500.

It will be driven by compressed air stored in carbon-fibre tanks built into the chassis.

The tanks can be filled with air from a compressor in just three minutes - much quicker than a battery car.

Alternatively, it can be plugged into the mains for four hours and an on-board compressor will do the job.

For long journeys the compressed air driving the pistons can be boosted by a fuel burner which heats the air so it expands and increases the pressure on the pistons. The burner will use all kinds of liquid fuel.

It is this guy's marketing plan is what I find extremely interesting.

Tata is the only big firm he'll license to sell the car - and they are limited to India. For the rest of the world he hopes to persuade hundreds of investors to set up their own factories, making the car from 80% locally-sourced materials.

"This will be a major saving in total emissions," he says.

"Imagine we will be able to save all those components travelling the world and all those transporters."

He wants each local factory to sell its own cars to cut out the middle man and he aims for 1% of global sales - about 680,000 per year.

http://Link

One more item

2008-02-13T07:54:00.000-08:00

We keep on learning those little things that, at least to make, make life interesting.

The Smell of Space

Few people have experienced traveling into space. Even fewer have experienced the smell of space. Now this sounds strange, that a vacuum could have a smell and that a human being could live to smell that smell. It seems about as improbable as listening to sounds in space, yet space has a definite smell. Being creatures of an atmosphere, we can only smell space indirectly. Sort of like the way a pit viper smells by waving its tongue in the air and then pressing it to the roof of its mouth where sensors process the molecules that have been adsorbed onto the waggling appendage. I had the pleasure of operating the airlock for two of my crewmates while they went on several space walks. Each time, when I repressed the airlock, opened the hatch and welcomed two tired workers inside, a peculiar odor tickled my olfactory senses. At first I couldn't quite place it. It must have come from the air ducts that re-pressed the compartment. Then I noticed that this smell was on their suit, helmet, gloves, and tools. It was more pronounced on fabrics than on metal or plastic surfaces. It is hard to describe this smell; it is definitely not the olfactory equivalent to describing the palette sensations of some new food as "tastes like chicken." The best description I can come up with is metallic; a rather pleasant sweet metallic sensation. It reminded me of my college summers where I labored for many hours with an arc welding torch repairing heavy equipment for a small logging outfit. It reminded me of pleasant sweet smelling welding fumes. That is the smell of space.

Link

Getting spacey

2008-02-13T07:07:00.000-08:00

The discoveries keep coming.

Hubble Finds Double Einstein Ring

This is an image of gravitational lens system SDSSJ0946+1006 as photographed by Hubble Space Telescope's Advanced Camera for Surveys. The gravitational field of an elliptical galaxy warps the light of two galaxies exactly behind it. The massive foreground galaxy is almost perfectly aligned in the sky with two background galaxies at different distances. The foreground galaxy is 3 billion light-years away, the inner ring and outer ring are comprised of multiple images of two galaxies at a distance of 6 and approximately 11 billion light-years. The odds of seeing such a special alignment are estimated to be 1 in 10,000. The right panel is a zoom onto the lens showing two concentric partial ring-like structures after subtracting the glare of the central, foreground galaxy.

Link/

Digging through the numbers

2008-02-13T06:02:00.000-08:00

Stories about the economy are rife with numbers. You have to be discerning to understand what they really mean. In this case the truly revealing numbers are withheld until the last of the seven paragraphs.

Retail sales stage unexpected rebound

Sales at retailers rose 0.3 percent in January, which was an unexpected pickup that partly reflected stronger sales of new cars and gasoline, according to a Commerce Department report on Wednesday.

January's sales increase followed a 0.4 percent decline in December and was contrary to Wall Street analysts' forecasts for a 0.2 percent decline.

And now to the kicker...

Excluding gasoline, January retail sales rose 0.1 percent.

At least it was not an overall decline.

Link

Moving

2008-02-13T04:48:00.000-08:00

I watched this last night on a tip from friend (unqualified as 'net- or chat-' friend because we have met in person) sj and this morning a chat friend kio linked it for me. Those recommendations only add to the power of the presentation.

Randy Pausch Lecture: Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams

Carnegie Mellon Professor Randy Pausch, who is dying from pancreatic cancer, gave his last lecture at the university Sept. 18, 2007, before a packed McConomy Auditorium. In his moving talk, "Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams," Pausch talked about his lessons learned and gave advice to students on how to achieve their own career and personal goals. For more, visit www.cmu.edu/randyslecture.

Link

Food for thought

2008-02-13T03:47:00.000-08:00

As we grapple with the challenges of this age, the question of excising our national power has risen to the fore.

The Power Paradox

True power requires modesty and empathy, not force and coercion, argues Dacher Keltner. But what people want from leaders—social intelligence—is what is damaged by the experience of power.

It is much safer to be feared than loved, writes Niccolò Machiavelli in The Prince, his classic 16th-century treatise advocating manipulation and occasional cruelty as the best means to power. Almost 500 years later, Robert Greene's national bestseller, The 48 Laws of Power, would have made Machiavelli's chest swell with pride. Greene's book, bedside reading of foreign policy analysts and hip-hop stars alike, is pure Machiavelli.

Here are a few of his 48 laws:
Law 3, Conceal Your Intentions.
Law 6, Court Attention at All Costs.
Law 12, Use Selective Honesty and Generosity to Disarm Your Victims.
Law 15, Crush Your Enemy Totally.
Law 18, Keep Others in Suspended Terror.
You get the picture.

Guided by centuries of advice like Machiavelli's and Greene's, we tend to believe that attaining power requires force, deception, manipulation, and coercion. Indeed, we might even assume that positions of power demand this kind of conduct—that to run smoothly, society needs leaders who are willing and able to use power this way.

As seductive as these notions are, they are dead wrong. Instead, a new science of power has revealed that power is wielded most effectively when it's used responsibly, by people who are attuned to and engaged with the needs and interests of others. Years of research suggests that empathy and social intelligence are vastly more important to acquiring and exercising power than are force, deception, or terror.

Link

A real shocker

2008-02-13T03:07:00.000-08:00

Having lived in southern Missouri and seeing both the frequency and attention paid to tornado warnings in that area, it is surprising North Carolina is ranked higher than the 'Show Me' state.

TOP TWENTY TORNADO-PRONE STATES

By means of the Site Assessment of Tornado Threat (SATT) software, VorTek has just completed its annual compilation of the top twenty tornado-prone states based on the latest National Weather Service data for tornadic activity from 1950 through 2006. Mississippi again ranks number one as the most tornado-prone state.

1 Mississippi
2 Arkansas
3 Oklahoma
4 Kansas
5 Nebraska
13 North Carolina
18 Missouri

Link

Change of pace

2008-02-13T02:12:00.000-08:00

With a barrage of primary election projections, results and analysis filling my in-box, it was refreshing to see something on another subject.

Uno the beagle wins Westminster, first time for the breed

Uno the beagle won Best in Show at the Westminster Kennel Club dog show, the first time for the breed. He also became the first beagle to win the hound group at Westminster since 1939.

Link

A special view

2008-02-12T13:35:00.000-08:00

This is truly a manifestation of the age in which we live. What strikes me as significant is the number of platforms available.

View from Satellite

To view the Earth as currently seen from a satellite in Earth orbit, choose the satellite from the list below and press the "View Earth from Satellite" button. The satellite database is updated regularly but may not reflect the current position of satellites, such as the U.S. Space Shuttle, which maneuver frequently after reaching orbit.

Link

From a friend

2008-02-12T13:17:00.000-08:00

A great video and well worth watching. I am a Tigger.

Link

Tool box

2008-02-12T03:04:00.000-08:00

The fundamental question of 'Is he/she still alive?' is easily answered. I recently added this to my 'Blog Tools' tab, along with Google, a dictionary, wiki and the such. What I find interesting is that looking up one name inevitably leads to any number of those 'How about that!' moments.

Dead or Alive
This site tracks whether famous people are still alive or whether they have passed away. For a full explanation of who's included, how to find a name, and more info about the site, click on the Instructions button above.

Link

Getting spacey

2008-02-12T02:33:00.000-08:00

No pretty picture of a star, galaxy, planet or moon but a wonkish look at the state of the art in rocketry. The next leap forward, IMHO, will be significant.

Propulsion Technology Mostly Unchanged After 50 Years
Although it's been a half century since America entered the space age, the basic propulsion concepts used to push Explorer I into space will be the same type of propulsion that the nation will use to begin the next half century of space exploration. It was January 31, 1958 when a Redstone-Jupiter C rocket developed in Huntsville, Ala., lifted the 30-pound artificial satellite into space.

Clark Hawk, director of the Propulsion Research Center at The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAHuntsville) has seen most of the advances that have taken place in rocket propulsion. He has spent 50 years conducting research in the field.

"Chemical propulsion will be with us for the foreseeable future as the means to escape the Earth's gravity," said Dr. Hawk, who worked with the Air Force Propulsion Laboratory at Edwards Air Force base, before joining UAHuntsville nearly 20 years ago.

"Large forces are required for periods of several minutes to accomplish this and chemical systems do this well and relatively cheaply," he said.

Link

Green thumb

2008-02-12T02:26:00.001-08:00

Tip: Yellowing Winter Lawns

In warm areas yellowing winter lawns may be due to factors beside fertilizing. Frost damage or mowing with a dullblades manifests as yellowing and twisting of the grass leaf blades.

Words, words, words

2008-02-12T02:18:00.000-08:00

parvenu \PAR-vuh-noo; -nyoo\ (noun)
: One that has recently or suddenly risen to a higher social or economic class but has not gained social acceptance of others in that class; an upstart.
(adjective) - 1 : Being a parvenu; also, like or having the characteristics of a parvenu.

collegium \kuh-LEG-ee-um\ noun
: a group in which each member has approximately equal power and authority

philippic \fuh-LIP-ik\ noun
: a discourse or declamation full of bitter condemnation : tirade

Quote

2008-02-12T02:16:00.000-08:00

Eric Hoffer is one of my favorites.

"Self-esteem and self-contempt have specific odors; they can be smelled."
--Eric Hoffer

Just a note

2008-02-11T05:16:00.000-08:00

It is interesting to watch the rippling impact of the writers' strike. This item comes unlinked from a radio industry newsletter.

Writers' strike didn't drive TV dollars to radio.

Since network ratings held steady, several buyers tell Inside Radio they didn't see a windfall from TV's programming drought. "If the money went anywhere, it would probably go to cable first because it would use the same creative" says a New York-based media director. She says it would take a lot more effort for clients to shift dollars to other media, including radio.

Green thumb

2008-02-10T03:02:00.000-08:00

I took advantage of a beautiful Saturday to do some work in my flower bed and I discovered some of my crocus starting to emerge so this gardening note is very timely.

Tip: Check Spring Bulbs

If warm weather has jump-started your spring bulbs don't worry. Often a warm winter, moisture, and a few warm days will start them growing. If just their noses are out of the ground, they don't need protecting.

Mindless amusement

2008-02-09T12:10:00.000-08:00

Would we really want to take the effort to be good at this Marioesque game? I do, however, admit the concept is more 'palatable' than what it could.

Link

I was curious about this race

2008-02-09T11:26:00.000-08:00

I was glad when I read about Franken putting much effort into fundraising for the local party organizations. It seems to be paying off.

Poll: Franken popular with DFLers, but many undecided

A new Minnesota Public Radio News/Humphrey Institute Poll indicates DFL Senate hopeful Al Franken poses a tougher re-election threat to Republican Sen. Norm Coleman than any of the other Democrats who want Coleman's job.

The poll in no way predicts what will happen at the Feb. 5 caucuses.

But it does indicate that if the election were held right now, Sen. Norm Coleman and Al Franken would be in a statistical dead heat.

It shows Coleman beating DFLer Mike Ciresi by five points. And it gives Coleman double digit leads over the two lesser known DFL contenders; Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer and Jim Cohen who dropped out of the race Friday.

"We were very surprised by how far ahead Al Franken is of Mike Ciresi and the rest of the campaign," said University of Minnesota Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs Professor Lawrence Jacobs, who directed the poll.

A fact often lurks as a murky shadow

2008-02-09T07:57:00.000-08:00

This is one of those things which made the past, at least to me, offer a whole realm of possibilities. In fact, the truth is actually rather mundane.

Battery, Baghdad, 250 BCE

The Baghdad Battery is believed to be about 2000 years old (from the Parthian period, roughly 250 BCE to CE 250). The jar was found in Khujut Rabu just outside Baghdad and is composed of a clay jar with a stopper made of asphalt. Sticking through the asphalt is an iron rod surrounded by a copper cylinder. When filled with vinegar - orany other electrolytic solution - the jar produces about 1.1 volts.

There is no written record as to the exact function of the jar, but the best guess is that it was a type of battery. Scientists believe the batteries (if that is their correct function) were used to electroplate items such as putting a layer of one metal (gold) onto the surface of another (silver), a method still practiced in Iraq today.

Link

Simply interesting

2008-02-09T04:13:00.000-08:00

We are finding new ways of looking at our world and some are actually rather stunning.

Link

Putting it all together

2008-02-09T04:00:00.000-08:00

There are people who are looking at the actual results of climate change and the picture they find is not pretty.

Scientists identify 'tipping points' of climate change

Nine ways in which the Earth could be tipped into a potentially dangerous state that could last for many centuries have been identified by scientists investigating how quickly global warming could run out of control.

A major international investigation by dozens of leading climate scientists has found that the "tipping points" for all nine scenarios – such as the melting of the Arctic sea ice or the disappearance of the Amazon rainforest – could occur within the next 100 years.

The scientists warn that climate change is likely to result in sudden and dramatic changes to some of the major geophysical elements of the Earth if global average temperatures continue to rise as a result of the predicted increase in emissions of man-made greenhouse gases.

I think the specifics are worth noting; many of them are outside the perview of scenarios already presented.

Irreversible changes

* Arctic sea ice: some scientists believe that the tipping point for the total loss of summer sea ice is imminent.

* Greenland ice sheet: total melting could take 300 years or more but the tipping point that could see irreversible change might occur within 50 years.

* West Antarctic ice sheet: scientists believe it could unexpectedly collapse if it slips into the sea at its warming edges.

* Gulf Stream: few scientists believe it could be switched off completely this century but its collapse is a possibility.

* El Niño: the southern Pacific current may be affected by warmer seas, resulting in far-reaching climate change.

* Indian monsoon: relies on temperature difference between land and sea, which could be tipped off-balance by pollutants that cause localised cooling.

* West African monsoon: in the past it has changed, causing the greening of the Sahara, but in the future it could cause droughts.

* Amazon rainforest: a warmer world and further deforestation may cause a collapse of the rain supporting this ecosystem.

* Boreal forests: cold-adapted trees of Siberia and Canada are dying as temperatures rise.

Link

One of my all-time favorites

2008-02-07T14:14:00.003-08:00

Of the many things I have seen via the internet, this is perhaps the most interesting. You can see the Trans-Siberian railway as a series of dots stretching across the expanse of Russia. Just last night I saw you can also see below it traces of the Silk Road.

Another goodie

2008-02-07T14:10:00.000-08:00

This comes from net friend doctdore.

By the number
What does it mean to give MORE than 100%?
Ever wonder about those people who say they are giving more than 100%?
We have all been to those meetings where someone wants you to give over 100%.
How about achieving 103%?
What makes up 100% in life?
Heres a little mathematical formula that might help you answer these questions:

If:
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Is represented as:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26.
Then:
H-A-R-D-W-O-R-K
8+1+18+4+23+15+18+11 = 98%
And
K-N-O-W-L-E-D-G-E
11+14+15+23+12+5+4+7+5 = 96%
But ,
A-T-T-I-T-U-D-E
1+20+20+9+20+21+4+5 = 100%
And,
B-U-L-L-S-H-I-T
2+21+12+12+19+8+9+20 = 103%
AND, look how far ass kissing will take you.
A-S-S-K-I-S-S-I-N-G
1+19+19+11+9+19+19+9+14+7 = 118%

So, one can conclude with mathematical certainty that While Hard work and Knowledge wil l get you close, and Attitude will get you there, its the Bullshit and Ass kissing that will put you over the top.

Just because it is right

2008-02-07T13:12:00.000-08:00

Show your support for survivors of domestic violence. Each click gets a $1 donation from the Allstate Foundation to the assistance fund. Good deal, eh?

Click to Empower

With the New Year comes new beginnings, but for many in domestic violence relationships it is a continuous struggle to survive. You have a chance to make a difference.

For many domestic violence survivors, economic empowerment is critical to their long term self-sufficiency. The Education and Job Training Assistance Fund enables survivors to pursue long-term financial security by providing much needed financial assistance for education, training and job-related expenses such as books and supplies for school, tuition and registration fees.

Link

Words, words, words

2008-02-06T01:57:00.000-08:00

somniloquy (som-NIL-uh-kwee) noun
The act or habit of talking while asleep.

diurnation (dy-uhr-NAY-shuhn) noun
The habit of sleeping or being dormant during the day.

soporose (SOP-uh-ros) adjective
Sleepy; in an unusually deep sleep.

Quiz

2008-02-06T01:45:00.000-08:00

Although slightly better than random guessing, I got only 5 of these.

Trivia Quiz: Weird City Names
Going no place for your vacation this summer? Why not go to No Place, England instead -- or to one of the ten cities listed below? Believe it or not, these are all real place names. Can you guess in which state or country each one is located?

Link

One-stop shopping

2008-02-06T01:41:00.000-08:00

This is a clear picture of primary voting. All that is missing are the 'internals' laying out who voted for who.

Primary Season Election Results

Link

Getting spacey

2008-02-03T11:20:00.001-08:00

What caused this outburst of V838 Mon? For reasons unknown, star V838 Mon's outer surface suddenly greatly expanded with the result that it became the brightest star in the entire Milky Way Galaxy in January 2002. Then, just as suddenly, it faded. A stellar flash like this has never been seen before -- supernovas and novas expel matter out into space. Although the V838 Mon flash appears to expel material into space, what is seen in the above image from the Hubble Space Telescope is actually an outwardly moving light echo of the bright flash. In a light echo, light from the flash is reflected by successively more distant rings in the complex array of ambient interstellar dust that already surrounded the star. V838 Mon lies about 20,000 light years away toward the constellation of the unicorn (Monoceros), while the light echo above spans about six light years in diameter.

2008-02-03T11:00:00.000-08:00

This is one of those stories which makes me imediately search for a local application.

Nigerian 5-Year-Olds Repair OLPCs in "Hospital"

Affordable Laptops Are Simple to Repair
Greener Gadgets Conference in New York City, former One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) CTO Mary Lou Jepsen explained that the discount laptops have met with a number of roadbumps in Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation. Part of the problem has been wavering support from lawmakers there and negative local press. But part of the problem has been literal bumps.

Jepsen explained that children in Nigeria learn at metal desks that are bolted together in pairs. They are supposed to seat two young learners, but more typically seat five in common crowding conditions. This means the desks are constantly getting jostled around, and the brand-new XO OLPCs get knocked to the floor. Even though they were built to be extremely rugged, occasionally a screen or other component will get broken.

In the developing world, a consumer can't just drive to the nearest repair shop. That's why Jepsen and team designed the XO to be so easily repairable (it even comes with embedded extra screws). The key components can be easily swapped out with a screwdriver, including the $1 backlight for the LCD display (something that usually cannot be readily replaced on typical laptops). Even motherboards can be swapped out easily, though actually repairing one takes some expertise — about as much as repairing a TV, suggested Jepsen, depending on what's wrong.

Link

Time to think

2008-02-01T04:20:00.000-08:00

The home foreclosure/mortgage crisis is having impacts for beyond the blur of headlines and numbers. Admidst the tragedy and sorrow of people losing their homes, there must be a pony. We just have to be alert enough to find it.

Can't Pay Your Mortgage? Trash Your House and Leave.

On the lookout for disturbing trends? Here's one for your pile: According to a recent article in Fortune, there has been a noticeable increase in not just fraud but arson that has kept pace with the housing depression. Professionals in the insurance and lending industry are bracing themselves for all manner of similar situations, as homeowners either trash, or simply leave their trash lying around their houses, often taking off without even claiming their furniture. This is already a dirty problem in the housing business, with owners, lenders and banks having to figure out a way to stick each other with the check when tenants destroy their property on their way out the door. Woe is the person left behind to clean up the chaos.

"We just estimated a trashout yesterday where we're going to have to drain the pool," one Fontana, CA resident posted on AgentsOnline.Net, a resource and idea site for realtors, "and the stench from it when you enter the backyard is overwhelming. Then, of course there are mosquitoes all over the top and it's been sitting so long without chemicals that it's green on top and murky black on the bottom. We've already had to refuse one pool because of its really creepy condition and I'm not so sure about this one either. [I] just hope we don't find the previous homeowner at the bottom when we drain it."

Link

My initial thought was: What use could be made of those empty pools? Storage for rainfall capture? Cistern?

What about the homes themselves? Could they be bought and converted to low-income housing? That sure would enourage diversity and the rehabilitation would supply honest work. I think back to the fact there is hardly a community in the country that did not benefit and still is enjoying the work of a WPA-era project. Schools, roads, bridges, post offices, parks and rest areas... the list goes on and on. Why not now? Why can't we do something to improve everyone's life?

What is needed and what would work in your community?

Just too spiffy

2008-01-30T04:41:00.000-08:00

Link

Words, words, words

2008-01-30T04:39:00.000-08:00

drumble, v. To move slowly, reluctantly and sluggishly.

beholden \bih-HOHL-dun\ adjective
being under obligation for a favor or gift : indebted

albeit \awl-BEE-it\ conjunction
conceding the fact that : even though : although

Fun'n'Games

2008-01-28T08:09:00.000-08:00

Here is a handy little language test.

Plurals

Find the correct plural form for the following words (we've used the Concise Oxford Dictionary

as a reference.

Example: Ox
Answer:Oxen

1. Louse.

2. Mother-in-law.

3. Index.

4. Teaspoonful.

5. Crisis.

6. Phenomenon.

7. Court martial.

8. Incognito.

9. Opus.

10. Manservant.

11. Grant-in-aid.

12. Armful.

13. Addendum.

14. Stigma.

Answers

Excellent material

2008-01-28T06:46:00.000-08:00

This is a delightful exposition on the state of things and highly recommended.

The Story of Stuff
Link

Meaty stuff

2008-01-28T05:43:00.000-08:00

This appeared in the New York Times Magazine, an analysis of the world's direction by a fellow at the New America Foundation. The points made ring true and should be a catalyst for contemplation. It is eight pages long so it requires some dedication to read.

Waving Goodbye to Hegemony

Turn on the TV today, and you could be forgiven for thinking it’s 1999. Democrats and Republicans are bickering about where and how to intervene, whether to do it alone or with allies and what kind of world America should lead. Democrats believe they can hit a reset button, and Republicans believe muscular moralism is the way to go. It’s as if the first decade of the 21st century didn’t happen — and almost as if history itself doesn’t happen. But the distribution of power in the world has fundamentally altered over the two presidential terms of George W. Bush, both because of his policies and, more significant, despite them. Maybe the best way to understand how quickly history happens is to look just a bit ahead.

It is 2016, and the Hillary Clinton or John McCain or Barack Obama administration is nearing the end of its second term. America has pulled out of Iraq but has about 20,000 troops in the independent state of Kurdistan, as well as warships anchored at Bahrain and an Air Force presence in Qatar. Afghanistan is stable; Iran is nuclear. China has absorbed Taiwan and is steadily increasing its naval presence around the Pacific Rim and, from the Pakistani port of Gwadar, on the Arabian Sea. The European Union has expanded to well over 30 members and has secure oil and gas flows from North Africa, Russia and the Caspian Sea, as well as substantial nuclear energy. America’s standing in the world remains in steady decline.

Link

Words, words, words

2008-01-27T08:06:00.000-08:00

univocal, adj.
Having only one meaning; or, said of several people
expressing themselves with one voice

deaskeuast, n.
One who prepares material in detail. A researcher, editor,
et al. Even a lexicographer

foozle \FOO-zul\ verb
to manage or play awkwardly : bungle
* I was pretty darn close with 'finger fuzzle' in describing my typos

Getting spacy

2008-01-27T07:59:00.000-08:00

This will hopefully be logged into the 'Gotta Check It Out) file.

Record Fifth Planet Discovered Around Distant Star

Astronomers have spotted a record-setting fifth planet orbiting the sunlike star 55 Cancri, 41 light-years away in the constellation Cancer. Researchers say the planet, a "mini-Saturn" of about 46 Earth masses, lies fourth out from the star in a large gap between the third and fifth planets, placing it squarely in the estimated habitable zone around the star where water might remain liquid, according to the group's report, accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal.

Although the planet's size implies that it is a ball of hydrogen and helium gas incapable of supporting pools of liquid water, the finding raises the possibility that additional, earthlike planets might be discovered around it.

Bad timing

2008-01-27T05:42:00.000-08:00

Just as the new super-green Watauga County high school is nearing the start of construction, this happens. The contractors just last week discussed the project with the county commissioners and got approval of a guaranteed maximum price of $47.2 million. It will be interesting to note how close to reality that will be eventually.

Rising building costs deal blow to local budgets
When money from property, sales and income taxes was steady and interest rates low, state and local governments planned long-needed updates to roads, bridges and other building projects. But now, as construction costs rise and budgets shrink thanks to the troubled housing market, officials are struggling to foot the bill.

According to the New York Times, costs have grown for diverse projects, including improvements to roads, airports, schools as well as upgrades to long-neglected water and sewer systems. Levee construction in New Orleans and Everglades restoration in Florida have also stalled. Even officials working on the reconstruction of the Interstate 35W bridge in Minneapolis, which collapsed this past summer, are unsure whether it will come in on budget.

"Everybody's scared," said Uche Udemezue, director of engineering and transportation for San Leandro, Calif., which will soon put out a request for construction bids on a retiree center and a parking garage. "You don't know what you’re going to find when you go out to bid."

Link

Something else I cannot grasp

2008-01-23T05:53:00.000-08:00

As our view of the heavens expands we are discovering there are sources of power beyond our comprehension.
LIGO Sheds Light on Cosmic Event
An analysis by the international LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory) Scientific Collaboration has excluded one previously leading explanation for the origin of an intense gamma-ray burst that occurred last winter. Gamma-ray bursts are among the most violent and energetic events in the universe, and scientists have only recently begun to understand their origins.

The LIGO project, which is funded by the National Science Foundation, was designed and is operated by the California Institute of Technology and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for the purpose of detecting cosmic gravitational waves and for the development of gravitational-wave observations as an astronomical tool. Research is carried out by the LIGO Scientific Collaboration, a group of 580 scientists at universities around the United States and in 11 foreign countries. The LIGO Scientific Collaboration interferometer network includes the GEO600 interferometer, located in Hannover, Germany, funded by the Max-Plank-Gesellschaft/Science and Technologies Facilities Council and designed and operated by scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics and partners in the United Kingdom.

Link

This is very significant

2008-01-23T03:47:00.000-08:00

The airwaves which belong to you and me, like just about everything else of value in this country, is up for sale to the highest bidder. It sure would be nice when benefit, not profit, were our national standard.

Auction of key airwaves begins Thursday
Bidding begins on Thursday in a crucial auction of government-owned airwaves that is expected to help set the future course of the U.S. telecommunications business.

Companies ranging from AT&T Inc and Verizon Wireless, to possible new competitors like Internet company Google Inc, EchoStar Communications Corp and Cablevision Systems Corp will be able to snap up some of the last remaining wireless spectrum and perhaps use it for a new generation of wireless broadband and other advanced services.

"This spectrum is probably the last spectrum (to be offered) for the foreseeable future," said Tole Hart, an analyst with Gartner Group. "So it's kind of the last crack at the apple."

Link

Like we didn't know

2008-01-23T03:37:00.000-08:00

A lot of studies do nothing but confirm what most of us already know intuitively. This report from China is a prime example.

Empathy: Who cares most?

A neurological study shows that women have a greater ability to recognize the emotion of other people than men

It has long been suspected that men and women differ in their ability to empathize. Now Shihui Han and co-workers at Peking University in Beijing¹ have gained the first neurological evidence of this gender difference.

Thirteen males and thirteen females were asked to do simple tasks while being shown images — some of which included painful situations, such as hands being trapped in doors or cut by scissors (pictured). The images of painful situations caused both men and women to perform the tasks less accurately.

At the same time, the 'event-related brain potentials' of each subject were monitored using scalp electrodes. These showed that the brain transmits an early signal in the frontal lobe to differentiate between painful and non-painful images. This is followed by a signal response that appears later with longer latency over the central brain that represents controlled evaluation of the pain. The second signal was stronger, and lasted longer, in females than in males.

The results imply that females evaluate painful stimuli more intensively than males — possibly because the care of offspring requires more sensitivity to danger signals. This reinforces the notion that men traditionally function as the liaison between family and society, while women focus on interpersonal harmony in the family unit.

Link

Getting spacey

2008-01-23T02:35:00.000-08:00

Thor's Emerald Helmet
This helmet-shaped cosmic cloud with wing-like appendages is popularly called Thor's Helmet. Heroically sized even for a Norse god, Thor's Helmet is about 30 light-years across. In fact, the helmet is actually more like an interstellar bubble, blown as a fast wind from the bright, massive star near the bubble's center sweeps through a surrounding molecular cloud. Known as a Wolf-Rayet star, the central star is an extremely hot giant thought to be in a brief, pre-supernova stage of evolution. Cataloged as NGC 2359, the nebula is located about 15,000 light-years away in the constellation Canis Major. The sharp image captures striking details of the nebula's filamentary structures and also records an almost emerald color from strong emission due to oxygen atoms in the glowing gas.

Getting dirty

2008-01-23T02:23:00.000-08:00

There are many reasons to be dismayed about what is happening to our environment. In some cases the concerns are a simple as dirt.

The lowdown on topsoil: It's disappearing

Disappearing dirt rivals global warming as an environmental threat

The planet is getting skinned.

While many worry about the potential consequences of atmospheric warming, a few experts are trying to call attention to another global crisis quietly taking place under our feet.

Call it the thin brown line. Dirt. On average, the planet is covered with little more than 3 feet of topsoil -- the shallow skin of nutrient-rich matter that sustains most of our food and appears to play a critical role in supporting life on Earth.

"We're losing more and more of it every day," said David Montgomery, a geologist at the University of Washington. "The estimate is that we are now losing about 1 percent of our topsoil every year to erosion, most of this caused by agriculture."

"It's just crazy," fumed John Aeschliman, a fifth-generation farmer who grows wheat and other grains on the Palouse near the tiny town of Almota, just west of Pullman.

"We're tearing up the soil and watching tons of it wash away every year," Aeschliman said. He's one of a growing number of farmers trying to persuade others to adopt "no-till" methods, which involve not tilling the land between plantings, leaving crop stubble to reduce erosion and planting new seeds between the stubble rows.

Link

Wonderful Idea

2008-01-21T06:51:00.000-08:00

When I first heard of this organization, offering specially written songs to young people with chronic or terminal conditions, I immediately tried to think of a local application. I was frankly amazed at the 'production values' of each song. Granted that could be one of those 'best of...' compilations, but it is a neat idea. I was thinking more in the line of guitar-strumming hippies but that would be too obvious personification. ;-)
Songs of Love
The Medicine of Music
Link

stumpysfindings

Paying attention

Gotta love it

The "It's Not Because He's Black" Excuse Wheel®

Just for fun

Allow an Aries his fixation

Canary with scales?

Getting spacey

More maps

A capsule quote:

From one of the best

Surprising source

We Are in a Crisis

There is a Solution

We Can Bring Change

Resisting the obvious odorifous crack

Green thumb

Q&A: Caterpillars on Tomatoes

Democratic float

Words, words, words

One of those 'wordy' pictures

With commentary

Story

Mixed media

Words, words, words

Back in action

The Varying Impact of Gas Prices

Words, words, words

Time Waster

Serious stuff

Sign of the times

Green thumb

Challenge

Getting to the root

Trend

One would hope we will start making smart decisions about our energy sources.

Coal Boom to Bust? New Power Plants Face Challenges

Words, words, words

Wise words

Great thought from the world's smartest man

Local application?

Where have I been?

Update For Spring 2008

Obama Wins Watauga County Democratic Straw Poll

Hey, I can identify with this guy

Saoul Mamby back in boxing ring fighting at age 60

Another discovery

Getting spacey

Words, words, words

This gets me excited

Back

My latest interest

I am curious if this could be a locally-produced substitute for those obiquitous sytrofoam containers.

Molded pulp

H2O - Pt. 3

H2O - Pt. 2

Going Down: Climate change, water use threaten Lake Mead

H2O - Pt. 1

Human Shadows on the Seas

It lives!

Tools

Tools

Words, words, words

Yep, a quiz

Problem solver

More on 'Earthlights'

A tidbit for your memory bank

Find May Rewrite Americas' Prehistory

Food for thought

Red sky in the morning

Wheat hits $20 in North Dakota and Minnesota

A new source?

Once again offering hope

One more item

The Smell of Space

Getting spacey

Hubble Finds Double Einstein Ring

Digging through the numbers

Retail sales stage unexpected rebound

Moving

The "It's Not Because He's Black" Excuse Wheel^®