Sunday, October 31, 2021
Saturday, October 30, 2021
"Facebook" has a new parent company called "META." They forgot one thing, adding the word DATA.
I find the new name of the company more parody than appropriate. I suppose Zukerberg looked at "Alphabet" and decided since he monopolizes so much information there needed to be a parent company that could jetson "Facebook" for a new name. Right now, Facebook has too many marks against it's name and a new fresh image would be appropriate. Along with a new name, of course, are better algorithms safe for the very essence of democracy.
Much of the permissiveness that fuels these elements in the USA that would see our democracy curtailed and destroyed, began the same time as Facebook. It was post 911 and personal information was flowing like water to be sure an American could get on a jet. September 11, 2001 brought with it the Patriot Act and all the invasive measures that could exist to find those secret terrorist cells.
"Meta" is yet another means to unmask every human life in the world and put it on display for a variety of reasons. Meta is destined to be another Cambridge Analytica (click here) that can get away with every unthical practice in the business because they are desired by many more people than Cambridge Analytica. Whoever heard of Cambridge Analytica?
This is the problem. The shuffle of what is private and should not be part of a general circulation of information and what is social? There has been far too many issues with preserving American's privacy. Need I bring up the name Edward Snowden?
Today at Connect 2021, (click here) CEO Mark Zuckerberg introduced Meta, which brings together our apps and technologies under one new company brand. Meta’s focus will be to bring the metaverse to life and help people connect, find communities and grow businesses.
The metaverse will feel like a hybrid of today’s online social experiences, sometimes expanded into three dimensions or projected into the physical world. It will let you share immersive experiences with other people even when you can’t be together — and do things together you couldn’t do in the physical world. It’s the next evolution in a long line of social technologies, and it’s ushering in a new chapter for our company. Mark shared more about this vision in a founder’s letter.
Our annual Connect conference brings together augmented and virtual reality developers, content creators, marketers and others to celebrate the industry’s momentum and growth. This year’s virtual event explored what experiences in the metaverse could feel like over the next decade — from social connection, to entertainment, gaming, fitness, work, education and commerce. We also announced new tools to help people build for the metaverse, including Presence Platform, which will enable new mixed reality experiences on Quest 2, and a $150-million investment in immersive learning to train the next generation of creators.
You can watch the full Connect keynote and learn more about how the metaverse will unlock new opportunities at meta.com. You can also learn more about our work over the past several months to develop the Meta brand on our design blog. Read all our news in the posts below:...
Friday, October 29, 2021
This was Snyder's Michigan. Few in power to control every outcome and when control was not available, then scapegoat.
Ms. Liane Shekter Smith should be a witness in any trial. She is the face of corruption by Snyder and how he manipulated every outcome in the State of Michigan.
Liane Shekter Smith, the only Michigan official fired in the Flint water disaster, was likely a "public scapegoat" who lost her job because of politics, an arbitrator said.
The only Michigan official fired (click here) in the Flint water catastrophe likely was a "public scapegoat" who lost her job because of politics, an arbitrator said in ordering $191,880 in back pay and other compensation.
It's a remarkable victory for Liane Shekter Smith, who served as head of the state's drinking water office when Flint's water system was contaminated with lead. She was removed and then fired in 2016 and subsequently faced criminal charges in one of the worst environmental disasters in U.S. history.
Shekter Smith was dismissed while engineers in her department — the "boots on the ground" in Flint — were suspended with pay before ultimately returning to work, the arbitrator said in a 22-page report obtained Wednesday by The Associated Press.
Sheldon Stark said the state had failed to show by a preponderance of evidence that there was "just cause" to fire Shekter Smith, who had an "exemplary" record in government.
The arbitrator noted that Keith Creagh, director of the Department of Environmental Quality, fired Shekter Smith without even speaking to her about Flint or waiting for a state police investigation that exonerated her.
"No one ever asked (Shekter Smith) for her story," Stark said....
SAVE THE SETTLEMENT IS ON!!!!
The lawyers love it!!!!
What could be wrong?? But, Ms. Edwards, there is plenty to be said about ethical behavior, especailly where there are fiducary relationships like with lawyers. BUT. There is often nothing illegal about unethical behavior. Yes, greed is a very unethical behavior.
Connie Edwards, who has lived in Flint for 68 years, stands with a protest sign as she listens on during a news conference protesting the attorney fees of the Flint water settlement outside of the Genesee County Circuit Court on Tuesday, July 13, 2021 in downtown Flint.
Flint - Dozens of Flint residents (click here) mistakenly opted out of a $626-million partial settlement related to the Flint water crisis, and a federal court official is recommending they be allowed to withdraw their initial filings and make claims for damages.
Special master Deborah E. Greenspan filed the report in U.S. District Court this week and gave a status update on her work to Judge Judith E. Levy during a virtual hearing on Wednesday, Oct. 27....
Defining the lines of the new civil war.
The Rittenhouse judge is seeking to divide the country along race lines. He is stating minorities don’t have the same standing as Caucasian people. He is trying to create tension and not justice.
He is setting precedent to sway the jury and legitimize the use of weapons of war on the streets of the USA against unarmed minorities.
If the deaths and injuries of the Rittenhouse vigilantism were conducted during a crime, the lives and maiming have rights. Rittenhouse has no legal standing except vigilante. There were police at the scene and were not engaged in armed assault.
Self-defense is non-sense. He doesn’t live there and was not performing a vital task to save lives and property. There were police legally hired and employed by the people.
When someone openly carries a weapon of war into a crowd of unarmed people there is only one motive, mass murder. What makes him any different from the mass murder in Las Vegas? A hotel instead of a street? A concert instead of a protest? Killing for the sake of killing is a crime. There was no self-defense.
How can a vigilante claim self-defense? He didn’t even belong there.
Rittenhouse was approached by a person with a handgun because he was killing people. The people were trying to disarm him. In doing so, the people were using self-defense to end his assault. Rittenhouse was the perpetrator and the others were attempting to disarm him and end his ability to kill.
Thursday, October 28, 2021
It gets interesting with a warming planet when snow is rain instead. How many inches of snow does New Jersey get every year since the warming?
By Jeff Goodman
While there’s a lull in the nor’easter early Tuesday afternoon in New Jersey, (click here) we’re not quite finished with a storm that will end up dumping as much as 6 inches of rain on parts of the state by the time it wraps up Wednesday morning.
The good news is that the heavy, flooding rains are over and that the precipitation expected to resume later in the day will be mainly light to moderate, forecasters say....
Wednesday, October 27, 2021
Wow. Talk about racism in the judiciary.
October 25, 2021
By Stacy St. Clair
Kyle Rittenhouse’s lawyers can refer to the men he shot as “rioters” and “looters,” but prosecutors still may not call them “victims” at any time during the teen’s upcoming murder trial, a judge ruled Monday.
Circuit Judge Bruce Schroeder cautioned the defense team against using pejorative terms during opening statements, but he said they could use them in their closing arguments if the evidence suggested the men engaged in criminal acts....
There is every reason to believe there will not be a fair trial for The People, Rittenhouse is doing just fine. Below is a look at the jury pool.
By John Keilman
Scott Seip, 76, and Dee Seip, 63, stand together in their yard after sharing their thoughts on the mood in town on Oct. 19, 2021, in Kenosha, Wisc.
Kenosha - If you want to know (click here) how this city feels about the impending Kyle Rittenhouse trial, a conversation with Scott and Dee Seip is a good place to start.
One mile northwest of their house is the still-vacant commercial strip that burned during protests over the police shooting of Jacob Blake. One mile northeast is the street where Rittenhouse, a teenager from Antioch who said he came to Kenosha to provide security during the unrest, shot two men to death and wounded a third.
With Rittenhouse’s murder trial set to begin Nov. 1, the international spotlight promises to focus once more on this mid-sized, postindustrial city on the shore of Lake Michigan. Numerous opinions and concerns about the case could be heard around town last week, many of which were reflected by the Seips.
Scott Seip, 76, is a Democrat. He thinks Rittenhouse was in the wrong and needs to be held accountable for his actions. His wife Dee Seip, 63, is a Republican. She thinks Rittenhouse was defending himself and a local business and deserves to be acquitted.
But there is one thing they agree on: Trouble might flare once more after the verdict....
One mile northwest of their house is the still-vacant commercial strip that burned during protests over the police shooting of Jacob Blake. One mile northeast is the street where Rittenhouse, a teenager from Antioch who said he came to Kenosha to provide security during the unrest, shot two men to death and wounded a third.
With Rittenhouse’s murder trial set to begin Nov. 1, the international spotlight promises to focus once more on this mid-sized, postindustrial city on the shore of Lake Michigan. Numerous opinions and concerns about the case could be heard around town last week, many of which were reflected by the Seips.
Scott Seip, 76, is a Democrat. He thinks Rittenhouse was in the wrong and needs to be held accountable for his actions. His wife Dee Seip, 63, is a Republican. She thinks Rittenhouse was defending himself and a local business and deserves to be acquitted.
But there is one thing they agree on: Trouble might flare once more after the verdict....
Interns beware.
It appears to me Wall Street is lined with savages looking for their next money fix. Basically, as evidenced by this event, they can be dressed up, but, they can't go anywhere.
By Isabella Khadem Hosseini
Patrick Blumenthal (click here) settled a proceeding filed in February 2020 against Goldman Sachs and his bank boss.
Goldman Sachs has settled a lawsuit filed by a former intern. He claimed that his boss had been so fooled that he left permanent damage to his brain.
Patrick Blumenthal interned at Goldman Sachs in San Francisco from September 2017 to February 2018.
The settlement, which Bloomberg first reported on Friday, took place a week before the hearing on the investment bank’s request to dismiss the proceedings.
The terms of the settlement were not disclosed in the submission to the San Francisco Superior Court.
“Goldman Sachs has not commented on the issue,” said Maeve Duvalley, a bank spokeswoman.
While working for the company, Blumental was assigned to “Team 007” under the leadership of Julius Elkimov, Goldman Sachs’ private financial asset adviser called “Fast Julie.”
On February 9, 2018, Blumenthal went out for a drink after working with about 12 colleagues....
Abortion is being used for large political donors.
This is an Letter to the Editor from Grand Forks, North Dakota. I was completely surprised to read such a thoughtful opinion supporting women seeking abortions from a very red state.
The abortion law in Texas is extremely radical and does not track with any other abortion provision in The West or other states of the USA. All this, no different than the judges out of The Federalist Society, is for money for politics. It is ALL quid pro quo. The Federalist Society and/or wealthy conservatives get what they paid for when promoting the election of a conservative Republican.
I sincerely believe this extremism that hurts women and removes their right to their own bodies is all about political monies from donors and the donors ambition to achieve a theocracy out of a democracy.
October 26, 2021
Women (click here) who are denied abortions are often in situations of domestic violence and having to keep the baby may force them to stay in contact with violent partners who put them and their baby at risk.
The Oct. 9 Grand Forks Herald letter to the editor, “Abortion is not a woman’s right,” discussed how women should not have the right to make decisions about carrying a fetus to term because life begins in the womb. The letter, however, made no mention of the limits already in place on abortions, such as prohibiting them after viability, or after 20-weeks, which is before the viability age.
This means that the vast majority of abortions, unless they are taking place due to circumstances that threaten the carrier’s life, happen before there is any chance that the fetus could survive birth. The argument that pregnant women are killing babies is unfounded and harmful.
The fact is, if legislatures strip women of the right to have safe abortions, then the rate of unsafe and potentially life-threatening abortions will rise (limiting abortions). Laws restricting access to safe and legal abortions disproportionately impact low-income women, women of color, and women in rural areas in incredibly harmful ways. It is a discriminatory restriction that has the worst effects on already marginalized women....
Women are receiving expanded rights for abortion everywhere else in the world, except, Texas.
October 26, 2021By Isaac Nowroozi
The Northern Territory government (click here) has today introduced legislation to parliament to make it easier for women to access later-term abortions.
The proposed amendments would allow women to access a pregnancy termination between 14 and 24 weeks, with the support of one doctor instead of two.
They would also introduce an option for pregnant women to access termination after 24 weeks for medical reasons, with the support of two doctors.
Currently abortions after 23 weeks are prohibited in the NT, unless deemed necessary to save the pregnant person's life.
It is a move Family Planning NT has been calling for for years.
"This is similar legislation to other states and territories," Family Planning NT chief executive Robyn Wardle said.
Tom Cotton contributes to the insurrection.
An editorial in "The Epoch Times" written by Newt Gingrich, stated education from K - 12 was a Republilcan asset. In it Gingrich goes on to say that choice is a parents last hope for their child's education and it is a Republican winning asset.
Today, Tom Cotton attacked Attorney General Garland because he could but not because he should. There was no reason to attack AG Garland.
October 27, 2021By Harper Neidig
Attorney General Merrick Garland (click here) on Wednesday clashed with Republican senators over the Justice Department's efforts to crack down on violent threats against school boards, with one GOP member telling the former judge, "Thank God you're not on the Supreme Court."
Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) made the remark during a heated exchange in which the senator tried to tie the Justice Department's new school board policy to an incident in Loudoun County, Va., where a teenager was accused of sexually assaulting a fellow student in a school bathroom.
"This testimony, your directive, your performance is shameful," Cotton said. "Thank God, you're not on the Supreme Court. You should resign in disgrace, judge."...
Cotton was plugging into the fear of COVID-19 among parents. Tom Cotton, all of a sudden, doesn't believe in the Rule of Law.
AG Garland wrote a regulation stating that if School Board Members are threatened it can and should be considered a crime. The issue at hand is that School Board members are elected by the people and while a minority of people may not like the election outcome they have no right to threaten School Board members if they open schools while the virus is still a problem in the community.
The way the USA handles such issues is that elections can change the way a school board decides it's regulation of schools.
I understand that some parents want the schools open and diminishes the problem with the virus and some parents are more protective and want their children home, safe from COVID-19, and on zoom for classes. School boards have it tough. They are damned if they do and damned if they don't. So, the idea AG Garland is a crackpot of some kind in regard to protecting elected officals of School Boards is nothing but pandering to the extremist voters of the USA that receive their news through crackpot news organizations.
Attorney General Garland is doing the right thing and is upholding the Rule of Law. Lord only knows what sort of order Cotton is expecting anyone to abide by, probably anarchy. Live by the gun, die by the gun.
What are we paying people like Cotton for anyway?
Tuesday, October 26, 2021
Have there been enough tears in the entertainment industry over guns in the work place?
To begin, guns are deadly and belong nowhere near human life. I don't care what kind of industry it is, there is no room for guns. There are digital enhancements that can be used without the requirements of actual guns on the set of any movie. GET IT DONE! If Star Wars and Star Trek didn't need guns then no one does.
Additionally, SOCIALIZING brings down the brevity of guns anywhere. We are all used to seeing guns hanging on the hips of movie stars as they strut into a bar scene that ultimately ends in a death of someone, usually the bad guy with a gun. But, the idea socializing is normalized with guns that are within "killing distance" is completely incorrect.
Anyone ever attend a gun meet? A competition for shooting enthusiasts. There is no major noise at the ones I attended and everyone is aware they are in a dangerous but controlled environment. Do yourself a favor and attend one gun competition and observe the atmosphere and the SAFETY involved at these events. The competition makes it serious, but, the underlying understanding that a misfire or a wrongful handling could end up with a wound or worse is always apparent. The ones I attended didn't have children playing in the background either. The socializing that obviously exists among these competitors takes place at a restrauant afterwards and not at the tailgate of any truck, SUV or car.
Guns and socializing is not a good thing, it is negligence.
By Andy Rose and Susannah Cullinane
The shot that killed a cinematographer (click here) on a New Mexico film set last week was fired as actor Alec Baldwin was practicing drawing his gun, according to the director who was injured in the shooting, an affidavit for a search warrant shows.
Joel Souza, director of the film "Rust," was shot in the shoulder and director of photography Halyna Hutchins, 42, was killed when the prop gun went off during a rehearsal at the Bonanza Creek Ranch in Santa Fe on Thursday....
Would the USA exist without Bob Woodward and his influence and examples?
It is obvious that Steve Bannon was the driving force behind the overturn of the USA Constitution. Interestingly and rarely said, is the fact Trump was Bannon's puppet.
I think the USA media needs to police it's members. Facebook is part of that. The players of the One America media and all the right wing extremist sites need to be held responsible for carrying Bannon's messages to the world as well as the American people. Is Bannon's aspirations any different than that of China in controlling the content of the media on a daily basis? Is China and Russia, Bannon's models for media? I think so.
Bannon is a power player. He has been since his entrance into media services. He needs puppets. I can honestly say he has assaulted the US Constitution and the social freedoms of this country to remove "the norms." There is absolutely nothing wrong with "the norms" of the USA. It is a great society as well as a great country. Family focused, freedom of expression in enthusiasm of rights including that of children. Children and the natural world are eliminated in Bannon's rhetoric and power struggles.
The USA and The West are the few societies that value and elevate children as important to a stable and prosperous future. The idea of diversity will die with Bannon and his aspirations. He has to be recognized as a danger to democracy and made part of the record of this country.
US Rep. Elizabeth Cheney is the ONLY voice the Republican Party should embrace.
There are vast numbers of people behind her. The media does not reflect that. She is so powerful in her analysis that the extremists fear her and are working overtime to defame her and bring her power to an end. Her voice is vital to our Constitution and she is the ONLY voice that should be speaking for the Republican Party.
By Victoria Eavis
An unprecedented amount of out-of-state money (click here) is pouring into Rep. Liz Cheney’s reelection effort, as she campaigns in one of the nation’s highest-profile congressional races.
The third quarter was the second-biggest fundraising period ever for Cheney, who is facing a tough reelection fight after her vote to impeach former President Donald Trump. She raised just over $1.7 million during that period, which runs from July to September.
These hefty donations came on the heels of Cheney’s all-time fundraising record, $1.9 million, which occurred one cycle earlier....
Monday, October 25, 2021
"Good night, Moon"
18.8 day old moon
84.4 percent lit
These coming weeks are about Earth. The moon has it's place in the sky.
Sunday, October 24, 2021
We have our common home to save.
There is no greater concern for any country than to rise to this priority. I mean it. Without a planet we are nowhere.
Scienfitic meetings can be so bland and boring. There is a lot going on, but, the average person doesn't necessarily appreciate all that is going on.
Ever been to a convention? There are always halls of vendors of one type or another. I think that is what is missing at these climate meetings. Vendors bring good ideas to the world to contain greenhouse gases and begin a new era of energy and protection of our planet.
That's all for tonight. Be ready for some excitment because we are launching into a profoundly brave new world. We must make this work. There is no option. Any country that rather hate others instead of doing the work is wrong. We are a common world with common problems and we must work together to solve them.
There is no greater war than the one we are waging to protect our Earth and the future.
Young scientists have a lot on the ball. This was a delightful article to realize they harnessed the power of olivine.
I think olivnine rocks; as a geological rock that is.
(Mg,Fe)2SiO4
By Phillip Palmer
Olivine (click here)
"The problem that we've caused here is we've taken carbon out of geological storage in the form of fossil fuels and put it in the atmosphere, so we need geological ways to put it back and do so permanently," said Tom Green, the executive director of Project Vesta, a San Francisco-based nonprofit that hopes to further the science of coastal carbon capture.
The group hopes to use Earth's natural process for keeping carbon dioxide in balance as a permanent, scalable solution for climate change.
How exactly does this work?
Let's start with a recent lava flow in Spain. As it cools, volcanic rock forms. When it comes in contact with rain, it removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
"If it weren't for this process, the long-term carbon cycle or the weathering process, Earth would look and feel like Venus," explained Kelly Erhart, the co-founder and director of development for Project Vesta. "So this process has regulated carbon levels on planet Earth for billions of years, and what we're trying to do is accelerate it."...
San Francisco - In the battle against climate change, (click here) a San Francisco nonprofit has developed a cutting-edge technology that uses olivine sand to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
Carbon dioxide emissions of all human activity around the world has surpassed 40 billion tons per year.
Governments are now encouraging, and in some cases, requiring improvements, but those efforts are about reduction. What about removing excess carbon dioxide?
The group hopes to use Earth's natural process for keeping carbon dioxide in balance as a permanent, scalable solution for climate change.
How exactly does this work?
Let's start with a recent lava flow in Spain. As it cools, volcanic rock forms. When it comes in contact with rain, it removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
"If it weren't for this process, the long-term carbon cycle or the weathering process, Earth would look and feel like Venus," explained Kelly Erhart, the co-founder and director of development for Project Vesta. "So this process has regulated carbon levels on planet Earth for billions of years, and what we're trying to do is accelerate it."...
Warmer, wetter than average winter ahead for Michigan, NOAA predicts
By Hani Barghouthi
Michigan and the Great Lakes region (click here) is expected to have a warmer but wetter than average winter, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Southeast Michigan is predicted to have an almost 50% chance of above-normal temperatures in some areas, according to NOAA's 2021 Winter Outlook report, but predictions in a small part of the Upper Peninsula find "equal chances for below-, near- or above-average temperatures."
The report shows more certainty for Michigan than the 2020 edition, when the entire state's winter weather patterns were a "toss-up," according to Mike Halpert, deputy director of the NOAA's Climate Prediction Center....
I have been observing the climate of Michigan since 2012 and the winter of 12-13 when the temperatures went to subzero as if on an icefield in winter. That was the year the polar vortex displaced for the first time to lower latitudes due to the climate crisis. Very few days were greeted wtihout snow and the temperatures on northwest Michigan dropped to -60 F at it's worse.
The northern peninsula of Michigan will probably remain the same for some time yet because it is above 45 degree north latitude, but, it won't last forever if the people of the USA can't address the abusive petroleum industry and end their dependence on fossil fuels.
The USA has a challenge before it. Can it return to moral content in it's society reflected by politics that addresses the human condition more than it addresses Wall Street. I don't know if anyone else noticed, but, Wall Street abandoned the people and rocketed their profits during the global pandemic by playing up cryptocurrency.
It is time the USA return to moral content and strong demands in their govenrment to change the path to benevolence from self-destruction of democracy.
Innovation after innovation comes with practicing the physics over time. On the should of giants come new methods.
By Chris Young
Norwegian company Wind Catching Systems (click here) developed a floating offshore wind power system that generates energy at a much more affordable rate than traditional wind turbines, thanks to efficiency gains built-in through clever engineering.
The system, dubbed the Windcatcher, can truly "unleash the power of offshore wind," Daniel Engelhart-Willoch, VP of Industry and Government Affairs at Wind Catching tells us over an email exchange.
Describing the benefits of the Windcatcher, Engelhart-Willoch says "the main highlights are that we aim to dramatically slash costs for floating wind, and that we use about 20 percent of the ocean acreage for the same electricity generation as a single-turbine 15 MW floater."...
Let is be said that Scotland inspired these massive changes to energy.
By Michelle Lewis
The UK’s Hornsea Two offshore wind farm, (click here) soon to be the world’s largest when it’s completed next year, just achieved a couple of major construction milestones.
The first wind turbine was installed in May at Hornsea Two, which is 55 miles (89 kilometers) northeast of Grimsby, in Yorkshire.
Danish wind giant Ørsted’s 1.3 gigawatt (GW) offshore wind farm will feature 165 Siemens Gamesa 8.4 megawatt (MW) wind turbines, an offshore substation, and a reactive compensation station.
Now Hornsea Two has achieved two major milestones. First, all of the wind turbine foundations are now installed, which means it’s ready for the final third of wind turbines to be put in place. Most of the blades were manufactured at the Siemens Gamesa factory in Hull.
Also, the offshore substation is complete:
What is now the world’s largest AC offshore substation weighs around 8,000 metric tons.
The Reactive Compensation Station (RCS) will also be lifted into place soon. An RCS is required because of cable length, so it will compensate for reactive power losses in order to ensure power transmission efficiency. Both the offshore substation and the RCS were built in and transported by sea from the Sembcorp Marine facility in Singapore.
Once Hornsea Two becomes fully operational in 2022, it will be the largest operating wind farm in the world, outsizing its sister project, the 1.2 GW Hornsea One. It will supply power to more than 1.3 million homes in the UK.
But its superlative status will be temporary, because it will be dethroned by the 4.8 GW Dogger Bank, also off Yorkshire in the UK, once it’s completed in 2026, as well as other global projects in the pipeline....
Oh, it can't be done without fossil fuels still playing a big part? "W"RONG!
All the experiments are in and human beings win when they abandon fossil fuels and embrace alternative energies.
Renewables met 97% of Scotland's electricity demand in 2020
...Onshore wind delivers about 70% of capacity, (click here) followed by hydro and offshore wind as Scotland's main sources of renewable power....
To CNN's point about the potential to rely on such inventions and technology as foolish.
CNN is correct. Realizing such technology can make countries like the reluctant USA lazy about climate.
Earth's climate crisis is real. It is effecting the troposphere, but, also the stratosphere and COLLECTIVELY every country on Earth MUST apply strong moral principles to their national policies or we are looking at a homogenized atmosphere that no longer supports life.
The thing about Earth is that it is real reluctant itself to change. It likes to remain stable and an ice planet, but, what is also true about Earth is that once it reaches a tipping point, it is all over and the physics of this planet change permanently until all the effects that brought on the tipping point disappear.
You see, Earth is reluctant to change BACK to it's benevolent form even after the tipping point. Or, better said, once the tipping point occurs Earth's physics will favor stability no matter the harm being caused to the support of life. Earth is a planet and not a process of daily living and certainly not a mass of financial capital that can be maneuvered and manipulated. There is no bear or bull market that can guarantee Earth's cooperation in maintaining life.
Earth has a balance and if that balance is seriously disturbed by changes in it's atmospheres, the show is over.
CNN is correct in recognizing something politicians can lob onto and state they are just as Green as any other Greenie on the planet. That would be tragic politics. Earth requries life to maintain life. It requires forests and grasslands and all sorts of diverse life adding and removing chemical content of it's atmospheres. Earth exists to support life until that life turns Earth on it's head.
There is room for every aspect of climate science.
What I find fascinating about this technology is not so much someone discovered it, but, where it was discovered. Iceland is a volcanic island and it's primary source of energy is geothermal.
When I was there to visit, I stayed in a hotel in Reykjavik. After unpacking and reading to go out on my first visit to everything climate in Iceland, I noticed there was no blanket on the bed and none in the closet or in any of the draws. So, I did what every self-respecting Westerner would do and called to the front desk. The clerk told me I was welcome to turn up the heat in the room until I was comfortable because it was hot water in the pipes in the space by the windows that warmed the room. No blankets were necessary, it was all geothermal energy and it was all free heat. Yes, I was there during the winter and I took a walk to the town's public pools where folks were in bathing suits in the coldest part of winter.
A trip to the Blue Lagoon (click here) was fascinating. Besides the volcanic mud that turns skin to silky soft in a matter of minutes, I was in hot water and it was snowing on my head. I would not have given up the experience for love nor money.
But, as to Iceland. They are what one might call cosmopolitan. They take in all the world's activities and relish live at it's fullest. So, when the climate became an issue, regardless of it's lousy Alcoa Smelters that chose the island country because it had no rank in the Kyoto Protocols, Iceland gets involved. So, here we are at COP 26 and what is a possiblity, CO2 extraction by an island country without any cares as to greenhouse gas emissions.
IT IS CALLED A NATIONAL CONSCIENCE.
The USA used to have one, but, it lost it when it decided declaring war on innocent people regardless it's lousy dictator was a noble cause. "W"rong! This climate crisis and the depth of morality shown by countries like Iceland is noble. And, it is not a cause, it is a matter of life or death.
By Ivana Kottasova
Hellisheiðarvirkjun, Iceland - The windswept valleys (click here) surrounding the Hengill volcano in southwestern Iceland are dotted with hot springs and steam vents. Hikers from all over the world come here to witness its breath-taking scenery. Even the sheep are photogenic in the soft Nordic light.
Right in the middle of all that natural beauty sits a towering metal structure resembling four giant Lego bricks, with two rows of six whirring fans running across each one. It's a contraption that looks truly futuristic, like something straight out of a sci-fi film.
Humans have emitted so much carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere that machines like this are being used to literally suck the gas back out, like giant vacuum cleaners, in an attempt to slow the climate crisis and prevent some of its most devastating consequences.
The Orca plant — its name derived from the Icelandic word for energy — is what is known as a "direct air carbon capture facility," and its creator and operator, Swiss firm Climeworks, say it's the world's largest....
It works. Don't let the children catch their fingers in it because it might hurt.
October 19, 2021
By Tibi Puiu
By Tibi Puiu
The number of wind turbines (click here) across the world has grown exponentially thanks to plummeting costs. By now, people have grown accustomed to huge wind turbine farms that dot some landscapes, either onshore or offshore. But unlike solar panels, residential wind turbines are less affordable and accessible, being seen as too cumbersome and wind-dependent, and this is most evident in urban areas. You’ll be hard-pressed to find wind turbines in Manhattan, whereas rooftop solar installations abound.
It’s this predicament that inspired designer and entrepreneur Joe Doucet to fill the gap in our renewable energy generation toolkit with an out-of-the-box solution: rather than harnessing the wind with huge blades suspended on tall towers, Doucet invented a flat wind turbine that can be incorporated into walls.
The turbine wall is made up of a grid of square panes that spin along 25 axes. The first prototype consists of 25 wind turbine generators that are already commercially available, which are attached to 25 corresponding vertical rods with square panels attached alongside them to capture wind pressure....
10 percent is all the grasslands left on Earth.
October 22, 2021
By Lauren Kent
June 6, 2019
By Lauren Kent
Rochester, England - Forests have long been celebrated (click here) as the natural heroes in the fight against the climate crisis. They are so good at absorbing and storing carbon dioxide, a consortium of environmental groups are calling on the world to plant one trillion trees over the next decade.
But while we are looking up at the treetops for climate solutions, some campaigners are urging the world to look down, where another answer lies -- right under our feet.
Forests, peatlands, deserts and tundra can all absorb and hold stocks of carbon-dioxide (CO2). Of all the carbon held in land-based ecosystems, around 34% can be found in grasslands, data from the World Resources Institute show. That's not much less than the 39% held in forests.
"Whether you look at the Serengeti, the Cerrado in Brazil, whether you look at what's left of the prairies in North America or the steppes of Mongolia -- every single one of our major, iconic grassland habitats is under threat at the moment," Ian Dunn, chief executive of the British conservation organization Plantlife, told CNN.
There's also plenty of it in the United Kingdom, which will host world leaders and climate negotiators in just over a week at the COP26 climate talks in Glasgow, Scotland. Among several items on the agenda is how to protect forests and plant more trees to help slash global emissions.
But Plantlife, among other groups, is campaigning for grasslands to be protected at an international level and part of any deal that emerges in Glasgow....
But while we are looking up at the treetops for climate solutions, some campaigners are urging the world to look down, where another answer lies -- right under our feet.
Forests, peatlands, deserts and tundra can all absorb and hold stocks of carbon-dioxide (CO2). Of all the carbon held in land-based ecosystems, around 34% can be found in grasslands, data from the World Resources Institute show. That's not much less than the 39% held in forests.
"Whether you look at the Serengeti, the Cerrado in Brazil, whether you look at what's left of the prairies in North America or the steppes of Mongolia -- every single one of our major, iconic grassland habitats is under threat at the moment," Ian Dunn, chief executive of the British conservation organization Plantlife, told CNN.
There's also plenty of it in the United Kingdom, which will host world leaders and climate negotiators in just over a week at the COP26 climate talks in Glasgow, Scotland. Among several items on the agenda is how to protect forests and plant more trees to help slash global emissions.
But Plantlife, among other groups, is campaigning for grasslands to be protected at an international level and part of any deal that emerges in Glasgow....
By Kaitlin Sullivan
Global cleanups pull plastic from oceans (click here) and pledge drives guard rainforests, but grasslands get very little love. Only 5 percent of Earth’s remaining meadows are preserved, making them the least-protected biome.
Humans have already destroyed more than 90 percent of the planet’s grass, most of it to produce our food: Grazing alone takes up one-quarter of all land. What’s left is fragile because grasslands’ seasonality makes them vulnerable to climatic changes in precipitation and temperature. This is what remains....
Former Secretary John Kerry got something wrong. He stated the worst of the climate crisis will hit small countries the hardest.
The climate crisis is not regional. It is going to hit every human being on Earth with the same devastating impact. The loss of this ice is universal. There is no regional effect, it is definitely global.
Let me remind those that read this blog, that France was one of the earlist countries to be hit with the power and devastation of Earth's warming.
10 October 2003
By Shaoni Bhattacharya
At least 35,000 people died (click here) as a result of the record heatwave that scorched Europe in August 2003, says an environmental think tank.
The Earth Policy Institute (EPI), based in Washington DC, warns that such deaths are likely to increase, as “even more extreme weather events lie ahead”....
That was 35,000 people in ONE CLIMATE EVENT. Those people were in "The West" and not Africa or some other impoverished nation. There is no discrimination by Earth's climate. It's going to get you if these priorities are not moved along by 2030 and in place.
Not to diminish any losses of people in any country, but, this climate event killed more Western citizens than any storm or flooding or tornado or massive wildfires as witnessed in Australia and California. The only other major event that dwarfed this was the 50,000 deaths in Russia due to wildfires. But, this wasn't fire, it was heat and people literally died of in their homes not realizing what the heat was doing to them.
By Stephanie Pappas
A huge hole opened in the Arctic's oldest, thickest ice in May 2020, (click here) a new study revealed. Scientists previously thought that this area of ice was the Arctic's most stable, but the giant rift signals that the ancient ice is vulnerable to melt.
The polynya, or area of open water, is the first ever observed north of Ellesmere Island. But in their report on the hole in the ice, published in August in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, researchers deduced from old satellite data that similar polynyas may have opened in 1988 and 2004.
"North of Ellesmere Island it's hard to move the ice around or melt it just because it's thick, and there's quite a bit of it," study lead author Kent Moore, an Arctic researcher at the University of Toronto-Mississauga, said in a statement. "So, we generally haven't seen polynyas form in that region before....
A huge hole opened in the Arctic's oldest, thickest ice in May 2020, (click here) a new study revealed. Scientists previously thought that this area of ice was the Arctic's most stable, but the giant rift signals that the ancient ice is vulnerable to melt.
The polynya, or area of open water, is the first ever observed north of Ellesmere Island. But in their report on the hole in the ice, published in August in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, researchers deduced from old satellite data that similar polynyas may have opened in 1988 and 2004.
"North of Ellesmere Island it's hard to move the ice around or melt it just because it's thick, and there's quite a bit of it," study lead author Kent Moore, an Arctic researcher at the University of Toronto-Mississauga, said in a statement. "So, we generally haven't seen polynyas form in that region before....
Really is a shame about that car.
October 24, 2021
The Financial Stability Oversight Council. Right. And all it takes to sink financial stability is to elect people like Donald John Trump.
If this council wants to sincerely address financial stability in the USA, they need to embrace the climate crisis in it's reality and end the dangers of greenhouse gases aggressively.
...An interagency panel of financial regulators (click here) on Thursday approved a series of recommendations meant to help the federal government identify and fend off climate-related risks to the financial system.
The Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) (click here) on Thursday issued a long-awaited report on the ways climate change and the societal response to it can pose risks across the financial sector.
The report does not order member agencies to take any direct regulatory action, nor does it call for mobilizing the financial sector against the fossil fuel industry. Instead, the FSOC report lays out a series of steps regulators should take to help the U.S. match other nations with stronger climate finance regimes.
Who else is on board?: FSOC also includes the leaders of the Federal Reserve Board, Securities and Exchange Commission, Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Federal Housing Finance Agency, and National Credit Union Administration, along with an independent member with insurance industry experience.
All FSOC members voted to recommend the report except for FDIC Chair Jelena McWilliams, a Trump appointee who abstained from the voting but expressed a general concern with the financial impact of climate change. McWilliams is one of two Trump appointed FSOC members - including Fed Chair Jerome Powell - but is the sole Republican on the FDIC board.
While some FSOC member agencies have already begun accounting for climate risks, the report marked a breakthrough moment of relative agreement among financial regulators, who had long ignored such issues until President Biden's election....
I am grateful for a Democratic administration this year, especiallly.
October 22, 2021
By Ciara Nugent
By Ciara Nugent
The stakes at COP26, the U.N. climate summit (click here) that begins Nov. 1 in Glasgow, couldn’t be higher. U.S. climate envoy John Kerry has called the summit the world’s “last best hope” to avoid the worst consequences of climate change. Over two weeks, some 20,000 delegates representing 195 countries will try to resolve significant differences on how the world should cut its greenhouse gas emissions, with the aim to “keep 1.5°C alive.” That is, to meet the Paris Agreement’s target of limiting global average temperature rise to 1.5°C over the preindustrial era by 2050, after which point climate change will likely reach catastrophic proportions.
But the hope already seems to be fading among politicians and campaigners, with a week still to go before delegates step foot inside Glasgow’s Scottish Event Campus. Political obstacles to success at the conference are mounting. Many world leaders of major emitters are declining to attend. Developing countries face major costs and barriers to participate. The U.K.’s COVID-19 transmission rates are near an all-time high. And there are doubts over preparation for the summit; according to The Guardian, a group of major COP26 sponsors recently wrote to organizers condemning the event as “mismanaged” and “very last minute,” blaming “very inexperienced” civil servants for the problems.
Officials are already tamping down expectations for the COP26 outcome. U.S. climate envoy John Kerry told the AP that “there will be a gap” between countries’ emissions commitments at the summit and the reductions needed to reach the Paris agreement’s goals. British prime minister Boris Johnson, normally an enthusiastic booster, conceded this week that negotiations will be “extremely tough.” Last month he said that there is only a “six in 10 chance” that rich countries will fulfill their promises on climate aid.
“It’s been definitely more challenging from the outset than any other COP,” says Yamide Dagnet, climate negotiations director at the World Resources Institute and a former E.U. COP negotiator. “Securing the outcome is going to be the most challenging of any COP [in over a decade].”...
But the hope already seems to be fading among politicians and campaigners, with a week still to go before delegates step foot inside Glasgow’s Scottish Event Campus. Political obstacles to success at the conference are mounting. Many world leaders of major emitters are declining to attend. Developing countries face major costs and barriers to participate. The U.K.’s COVID-19 transmission rates are near an all-time high. And there are doubts over preparation for the summit; according to The Guardian, a group of major COP26 sponsors recently wrote to organizers condemning the event as “mismanaged” and “very last minute,” blaming “very inexperienced” civil servants for the problems.
Officials are already tamping down expectations for the COP26 outcome. U.S. climate envoy John Kerry told the AP that “there will be a gap” between countries’ emissions commitments at the summit and the reductions needed to reach the Paris agreement’s goals. British prime minister Boris Johnson, normally an enthusiastic booster, conceded this week that negotiations will be “extremely tough.” Last month he said that there is only a “six in 10 chance” that rich countries will fulfill their promises on climate aid.
“It’s been definitely more challenging from the outset than any other COP,” says Yamide Dagnet, climate negotiations director at the World Resources Institute and a former E.U. COP negotiator. “Securing the outcome is going to be the most challenging of any COP [in over a decade].”...
The floods in this region of the world were catastrophic. Entire chunks of towns were washed away.
The floods were disabling.
By Rachel Elbaum and Andy Eckardt
Three months after historic floods hit Dernau, swaths of the German village are still in ruins.
Figure 1 (click here) shows observed trends in mean annual river flood discharge in medium and large catchments in Europe over the period 1960–2010. The analysis is based on the European Flood Database, which is the most complete database on flooding available for Europe so far [i]. The figure and the underlying analysis shows that climate change has both increased and decreased river floods in Europe....
Ahrweiler, Germany — Layers of dried mud on sidewalks, (click here) concrete roads turned to gravel and time-worn stone bridges washed away. Three months after this summer’s catastrophic floods in Germany’s Ahrweiler region, there are reminders everywhere of the destruction they wrought.
The deluge, which was preceded by three consecutive summers of drought, has brought a new urgency for many to find climate change solutions — and that has impacted Germany’s politics, too.
In last month’s federal election, the environmentalist Green Party had its best results yet, winning nearly 15 percent of the vote, and trailing just behind the two largest parties.
Unlike in the United States where the issue is still subject to debate, global warming is a key concern in Germany that voters increasingly expect politicians to address.
Its prominence in the election was no surprise to architect Florian Trummer, 65, whose hometown of Antweiler was hit by the floods. He officially joined the Green Party two months ago after a lifetime of swing voting....
The patterns are all part of the evidence that brings countries together to end the blight on Earth by greenhouse gases produced by industries that care little for people regardless of the fact that people are their bottom line. It is time for regulations that work to end deadly trends in climate. Would we neglect the quality of food we eat? Then why neglect the soils that grow it?
Saturday, October 23, 2021
How many times does it have to be said before they finally "get it?" 63 years of FACTS and the build up of CO2 has changed for the worse.
From 310 ppm to 350 ppm took 32 years, but, from 350 ppm to 400 ppm took only 25 years.
Governance leaders in the world see the emissions as a long term issue that should not effect immediate governance. The rate of decline of the Earth's troposphere is increasing. It has never been a long term problem, it has always been an immediate problem.
If this were a long term problem until it ain't.
What are ya goin' to do then, anyway?
The climate crisis is a moral and not an economic issue. If economies were all that was at stake, it wouldn't be an issue at all.
The Six Americas on climate.
Thursday, October 21, 2021
Ah, ha! People are walking away from the multi-million $$$$ settlement.
By Sara Powers
Flint - A $641 million settlement (click here) with people affected by Flint’s lead-contaminated water was reduced by $15 million Wednesday after a judge agreed that a hospital could cut its pledge.
McLaren Health will pay $5 million instead of $20 million. It had the right to drop out completely if not enough claimants signed up for its share of the settlement.
Flint managers appointed by then-Gov. Rick Snyder and regulators in his administration allowed the city to use the Flint River in 2014-15 without treating the water to reduce corrosion. As a result, lead in old pipes broke off and flowed through taps.
Separately, experts have blamed the river water for an outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease, which led to at least 12 deaths in the Flint area. They believe there wasn’t enough chlorine in the water to fight off bacteria....
McLaren Health will pay $5 million instead of $20 million. It had the right to drop out completely if not enough claimants signed up for its share of the settlement.
Flint managers appointed by then-Gov. Rick Snyder and regulators in his administration allowed the city to use the Flint River in 2014-15 without treating the water to reduce corrosion. As a result, lead in old pipes broke off and flowed through taps.
Separately, experts have blamed the river water for an outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease, which led to at least 12 deaths in the Flint area. They believe there wasn’t enough chlorine in the water to fight off bacteria....
McLaren tried to be a part of the BIG POT OF MONEY to get away with it's role in the Flint Water Crisis deaths. Some would say that is a harsh statement, but, it appears to be the truth. The families of those that died are not happy with McLaren and rightfully so. We don't know all of what they know and we certainly don't know and understand their loss.
But, here it is, the slow dissolving of the settlement. Some of it is surviving for now, but, as the onion peels away there will be more people rethinking their participation of the settlement.
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