tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-50999212012-01-26T14:33:01.101-08:00Perspective on ideas, issues and life from Nevada County, California - belaboring the obvious since 2003Anna Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15176850465809297298noreply@blogger.comBlogger11071100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5099921.post-87060778116124164502012-01-26T14:14:00.000-08:002012-01-26T14:33:01.122-08:00

The Parable of the River is that "It's not enough to pull drowning victims out of the river; we need to walk back upstream and find out who's throwing them in." But how snake-infested and pitfall-ridden does the path upstream need to be, to make it more productive to just stay downstream and keep on pulling the drowning people out? And how can you tell if it's real productivity - would the

Anna Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15176850465809297298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5099921.post-15310686655083424482012-01-20T11:47:00.000-08:002012-01-20T11:55:03.616-08:00

For wreaking death & devastation on North America's high-elevation forests, climate change has been wielding a handy tool - the inconspicuous bark beetle. In the film Death of a Forest shown at last weekend's  Wild & Scenic Film Festival here in Nevada City, filmmaker Michael Pellegatti documented how the mountain pine beetle, an insect smaller than your fingertip can be laying waste to

Anna Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15176850465809297298noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5099921.post-83888745631509661172012-01-13T20:49:00.000-08:002012-01-13T22:42:33.748-08:00

So, a friend reports hearing news that Arctic methane releases are way worse than CO2.  How do you respond, or check out this claim? Methane's a powerful greenhouse gas but has a very short duration in the atmosphere, compared to CO2 which lasts essentially forever "(for human civilization). To understand the methane news, you can read this great overview of recent methane news coverage (and its

Anna Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15176850465809297298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5099921.post-66983487238505079882012-01-11T11:26:00.000-08:002012-01-13T20:50:20.675-08:00

This video shows a great metaphor for separating short-term variation from long-term trend: "We're looking at the dog, but we should be concentrating on the owner..."

Anna Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15176850465809297298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5099921.post-31982614404732985512011-12-31T16:23:00.000-08:002012-01-13T20:51:27.673-08:00

Your climate-doubting uncle needs to know that the Pentagon, the insurance companies, and this forward-thinking neocon with "impeccable conservative credentials" see the threats posed by climate change and the need for action: Peter Wehner - who "has impeccable conservative credentials, having served under Reagan, George H. W. Bush, and most recently, as deputy assistant to Pres. George W. Bush"

Anna Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15176850465809297298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5099921.post-57398637154013869592011-12-29T15:16:00.000-08:002011-12-29T21:31:56.579-08:00

Good advice for all of us (yes, including me) - "It is easy to be preemptively defensive of one’s own work, or of researchers whose work one has covered. Viewing alternative points of view as useful rather than threatening can help take the sting out of critiques. And if you’re covering subject matter outside your expertise, it pays to get second—and third and fourth—opinions." - from

Anna Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15176850465809297298noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5099921.post-34368163154616201002011-12-24T18:13:00.000-08:002011-12-24T18:13:11.080-08:00

Russell McLendon offers advice. "We will be judged by those who come after us, both by what we did do and what we didn't do, in the time given to us."

Anna Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15176850465809297298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5099921.post-46660378822647279482011-12-23T18:05:00.000-08:002011-12-24T10:41:40.494-08:00

If you bought instant pudding recently, perhaps on sale, at a local store, taste it before you commit an entire dessert to it.  (Mine - 2 of 2 - had mold.)

Anna Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15176850465809297298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5099921.post-8902854805490884242011-12-22T15:11:00.000-08:002011-12-22T15:31:36.953-08:00

Did you see Green Fire? We need Aldo Leopold a hell of a lot more now, than we did when he was alive. Adapted from an email sent earlier today: Leopold was a visionary - he didn't just mean to save the land for 10 or 20 years, he looked to the future.  His land ethic today would drive him to fight climate change, and to communicate about how to fight it effectively, as it's the one environmental

Anna Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15176850465809297298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5099921.post-69216121406030300452011-12-15T20:27:00.000-08:002011-12-15T20:31:03.388-08:00

Tuesday afternoon I drove down to the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco  for an evening Climate One event titled  "Wild Weather", a panel discussion with a host, 3(?) IPCC authors and an extreme-weather crop insurance startup CEO.  I've blogged it here at my climate blog (the Climate One blogger did a more complete post), and the take-home local message - besides the obvious "yes climate is

Anna Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15176850465809297298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5099921.post-79807020508783984462011-12-15T12:49:00.000-08:002011-12-15T12:56:03.913-08:00

"If the average American family still got the same share of income they earned in 1980, they would have... $13,000 more in their pockets a year.What we need to do . . . other than moving back toward a balance that would begin getting that $13,000 a year into middle-class pockets . . . is to put Americans to work modernizing our infrastructure with projects that will serve us well for 20 and

Anna Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15176850465809297298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5099921.post-56615878121100539122011-12-14T10:24:00.000-08:002011-12-14T10:41:42.169-08:00

"A hundred years from now, looking back, the only question that will appear important about the historical moment in which we now live is the question of whether or not we did anything to arrest climate change. Everything else—the financial crisis, the life or death of the euro, authoritarianism or democracy in China and Russia, the Great Stagnation or the innovation renaissance,

Anna Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15176850465809297298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5099921.post-37145794749527546362011-12-11T10:47:00.000-08:002011-12-11T10:49:24.509-08:00

Very much worth watching.

Anna Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15176850465809297298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5099921.post-36315205604626051732011-12-10T13:54:00.000-08:002011-12-12T13:01:00.642-08:00

Edited; I wasn't comfortable with the tone.Next time, let her speak - and rouse the old guys from negotiating business as usual - first."It always seems impossible, until it's done.""You've been negotiating all my life; in that time you've failed to meet pledges, you've missed targets, and you've broken promises. ...Long term thinking is not radical - what's radical is to completely alter the

Anna Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15176850465809297298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5099921.post-87163532515549942612011-12-09T14:14:00.000-08:002011-12-09T14:15:59.435-08:00

"The "Occupy Wall Street" movement is providing a real-time case study of the difference between a true grassroots movement and a corporate-backed astroturf movement. ..."Read here.

Anna Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15176850465809297298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5099921.post-83493212412137095962011-12-08T18:11:00.000-08:002011-12-10T14:17:30.780-08:00

See Dave Roberts on this, in Grist. Summarized:A new [? - ed.] peer-reviewed paper by climate scientists Kevin Anderson and Alice Bows ... paints a grim picture: The commonly accepted threshold of climate "safety," 2 degrees C [3.6 degrees F] temperature rise over pre-industrial levels, is now properly considered extremely dangerous;even 2 degrees C is drifting out of reach, absent efforts

Anna Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15176850465809297298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5099921.post-83747659375948391882011-12-07T17:06:00.000-08:002011-12-07T17:37:05.593-08:00

Adaptation's not going to fix this. (Those who say "let's just adapt" to climate change, & not fight it, aren't thinking it through.)"To get a glimpse of the future, look to East Africa today.The Horn of Africa is in the midst of its worst drought in 60 years: Crop failures have left up to 10 million at risk of famine; social order has broken down in Somalia, with thousands of refugees

Anna Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15176850465809297298noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5099921.post-66002970093803885692011-12-07T16:26:00.000-08:002011-12-08T09:15:36.649-08:00

(edited - plus a Thursday update from study author Knutti below.)Two peer reviewed papers, taking different approaches, document the human influence on and the continuation of global warming.In Environmental Research Letters, Foster & Rahmstorf stripped out the effect of short-term natural variability on temperature on all the available global land+ocean datasets from 1979-present, and found that

Anna Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15176850465809297298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5099921.post-81522454648570946642011-12-04T12:36:00.000-08:002011-12-04T13:57:45.447-08:00

This is a mighty fine little trail, especially compared to what we used to have, which was no trails at all accessible from town. From the East Broad/West Broad Y above downtown, you head south on the non-Broad road (Bennett), which becomes Monroe, which becomes Old Downieville Hwy, which (right after the end of civilization) forks off Champion Mine Road; the trailhead's just a bit further, on

Anna Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15176850465809297298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5099921.post-29205302005804456302011-12-03T16:13:00.000-08:002011-12-03T17:54:23.099-08:00

Read or watch - and have an answer for your English Lit. friend who says scientists always think they know & yet always turn out to be wrong, so why listen to what they're saying today.The video gives a paraphrased (& clearer) version of the original essay below - which says the English Lit. guy doesn't see that the various "wrongs" aren't equally wrong, far from it; science progresses toward "

Anna Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15176850465809297298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5099921.post-54611672322894930552011-12-03T09:38:00.000-08:002011-12-03T09:58:46.090-08:00

“Once in decade” wind storm wrecks havoc across western U.S.No reason to put off raking leaves - the wind did a fine job of pulling down all the ones still up. It was also surprisingly effective at raking them - I just wish it would place them in the garbage can, rather than leaving them (so to speak) piled up on the porch.This has been an excellent year for fall color.p.s. a quiet shout-out of

Anna Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15176850465809297298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5099921.post-66949977989156949422011-11-30T15:11:00.000-08:002011-11-30T15:25:34.191-08:00

See this ClimateProgress post: Oxfam: Extreme Weather Has Helped Push Tens of Millions into “Hunger and Poverty” in “Grim Foretaste” of Warmed WorldFrom Oxfam's report:"...[Besides the gradual decline in crop yields from climate change,] more frequent and extreme weather events will compound things further, creating shortages, destabilizing markets and precipitating price spikes, which will be

Anna Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15176850465809297298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5099921.post-62447581068572236992011-11-28T10:59:00.000-08:002011-11-28T11:05:10.920-08:00

This little 2+ minute clip of Richard Alley talking about ways of looking at the Grand Canyon is wonderful.h/t Planet 3.0

Anna Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15176850465809297298noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5099921.post-58410596612713416022011-11-24T11:29:00.000-08:002011-11-24T11:51:51.542-08:00

So help them listen - set them up with this article from Frum while you're busy in the kitchen.(Frum's Republican creds: "been a Republican all my adult life...worked on the editorial page of The Wall Street Journal, at Forbes magazine, at the Manhattan and American Enterprise Institutes, as a speechwriter in the George W. Bush administration. ... believe in free markets, low taxes, reasonable

Anna Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15176850465809297298noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5099921.post-55399673572240074172011-11-22T15:52:00.000-08:002011-11-30T12:46:45.269-08:00

Latest (Sat.&Sun.&Mon.) update: After a quick check, it looks like Barry Bickmore best summed up this batch: Contrarians File for Intellectual Bankruptcy. (First batch best post was by Peter Watts.) Mr. Steele didn't reply to my email note (from the "Wed. update" below), and didn't print my comment, but did provide a list someone had compiled of links to "bombshell" excerpts - I looked at the

Anna Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15176850465809297298noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5099921.post-71409306530507972232011-11-21T08:04:00.000-08:002011-11-21T09:02:17.111-08:00

First - the police pepper spray assault on UC Davis students is horrific. This shouldn't be happening in a free society.Second, I wanted to lay out some just-for-the-record notes about my Occupy movement views, which I'll be the first to tell you are not well informed; if you want wisdom, stop reading now, or just follow the links below.I'm broadly sympathetic to the movement but dubious about

Anna Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15176850465809297298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5099921.post-21298130731460283612011-11-15T10:47:00.000-08:002011-11-15T10:49:07.131-08:00

Planet 3.0 has a critique of Naomi Klein's Capitalism vs. the Climate in "the American hard-left magazine The Nation". Klein's article is wonderfully written & well worth reading, but as I noted in a comment, I didn't find it satisfying.Please, go read Klein's piece first, then the P3 critique. I particularly agree with this criticism of Klein's "go local" focus:"Klein’s celebration of the local

Anna Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15176850465809297298noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5099921.post-90618516668954075842011-11-13T20:21:00.000-08:002011-11-13T21:37:52.474-08:00

Utah geophysicist and former doubter Barry Bickmore had doubted human-caused climate change, since his understanding was that: There was lots of scientific controversy about human contributions;Climate projections were based solely on complex computer models of physical systems, which (having worked on them, he knows) are easy to screw up; There’s always uncertainty involved in science.In this

Anna Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15176850465809297298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5099921.post-51115313470296226032011-11-10T19:59:00.000-08:002011-11-13T21:16:05.012-08:00

The proposal for the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline - said to be "'game over' for the planet" - is now likely effectively dead: Obama sent it back to the State Department "for a thorough re-review, which most analysts are saying will effectively kill the project", said Bill McKibben in Big news: We won. You won.Which brought Tim DeChristopher to the minds of many - and last month's Rolling Stone

Anna Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15176850465809297298noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5099921.post-42614896131318300442011-11-09T17:54:00.000-08:002011-11-09T18:15:54.153-08:00

I really wish that one of our major parties was better able to grasp this.Anyone who has a child has a stake in the future.

Anna Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15176850465809297298noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5099921.post-83956727126477892082011-11-09T16:58:00.000-08:002011-11-09T17:41:46.079-08:00

"They'll be standing around, they'll be happy to talk." Ah, the confidence of the inexperienced...It struck me earlier today that this afternoon's "Occupy Wall Street" gathering in Nevada City would be a great place to do an informal climate survey - ask people for their views on what's causing climate change, what science projects the consequences to be, how long the extra heat will last once

Anna Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15176850465809297298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5099921.post-82983673899249052492011-11-08T14:15:00.000-08:002011-11-09T07:39:23.834-08:00

Blue is (pseudo) skeptics, red is realists.(I think I originally saw it at Climate Progress Created by Dana at SkepSci, says P3; as separate figures, it's here at BusinessInsider.)Anyone who has a child has a stake in the future.

Anna Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15176850465809297298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5099921.post-83661941062267614362011-11-08T09:34:00.000-08:002011-11-13T21:12:12.929-08:00

When watching a movie or TV comedy, sometimes you find yourself laughing at some very antisocial actions by the hero - where afterward you wonder, WTF? since in real life such actions would be appalling. Examples would be heroes sending murderous villains to off-screen gruesome & painful ends, or even a hero/antihero behaving obnoxiously - we're tempted to suspend our judgment during the film,

Anna Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15176850465809297298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5099921.post-80750799820174651072011-11-07T14:42:00.001-08:002011-11-08T10:01:58.751-08:00

Perspective from the military in under 4 minutes.(You never rely on just one instrument or one piece of data) Admiral David Titley on Climate SkepticsFound this on Planet3.0; I'm guessing it's an excerpt from Rear Admiral David W. Titley's TEDxPentagon talk.(WP: "Rear admiral is a naval commissioned officer rank above that of a commodore and captain, and below that of a vice admiral.")Anyone who

Anna Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15176850465809297298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5099921.post-48698271119109892632011-11-07T14:08:00.000-08:002011-11-08T10:03:15.995-08:00

This is hot -- it starts from (presumably) the earliest weather stations for which we have recordings, then marches onward through time, extending to the present day: (h/t Coby Beck ) Anyone who has a child has a stake in the future.

Anna Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15176850465809297298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5099921.post-48551018050225964892011-11-04T16:01:00.000-07:002011-11-04T16:07:36.670-07:00

Which local blogs, newspapers, radio and TV show hosts are run by people want to know if they've made an error, so they can correct it? Would you like to know? One way to find out is to suggest that they join the Report an Error Alliance.

Anna Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15176850465809297298noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5099921.post-18775983073062230502011-11-04T08:36:00.000-07:002011-11-04T20:12:55.559-07:00

(Update: and no, global warming hasn't stopped.)Read Seth Borenstein's story - Biggest Jump Ever in Global Warming Gases from 2009 to 2010; we're speeding up in the wrong direction, dumping greenhouse gases into the atmosphere faster than ever. If we continue on this trajectory, we're aiming to cook your kids, metaphorically speaking.Think, folks, please; that head on your shoulders isn't just

Anna Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15176850465809297298noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5099921.post-83962832288762581132011-11-03T09:22:00.000-07:002011-11-03T17:53:54.495-07:00

This is for the teacher I met yesterday (who, not surprisingly - and, for reasonable people, not controversially - favors investing in the future, via education; & who hadn't yet seen the article): The Case for $320,000 Kindergarten Teachers

Anna Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15176850465809297298noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5099921.post-13112064941615700222011-11-02T12:20:00.000-07:002011-11-02T12:44:33.781-07:00

This post covers who should watch the (deeper than usual) video "Climate Change: What We Know and How We Know It" by (Republican) geochemist Barry Bickmore, and what the talk addresses. Climate videos aimed at the general public tend not to be satisfying to people who want to understand how the physics applies; but for these physics seekers, this video might fit the bill. Starting with some

Anna Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15176850465809297298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5099921.post-48964886916013575942011-10-29T18:45:00.000-07:002011-10-29T18:49:26.658-07:00

The segment is 24 minutes long, and features Lee Fang of ThinkProgress and Lisa Graves of SourceWatch, plus of course the Koch brothers themselves. Go watch & discuss, here at Climate Progress.

Anna Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15176850465809297298noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5099921.post-6907160531433392242011-10-28T14:38:00.000-07:002011-10-31T17:14:22.290-07:00

Please, if you've got suggestions, share them. I recently told someone that I didn't think name-calling or a focus on it was helpful. And on a one-on-one basis, I do believe that avoiding labeling is most constructive; but the more I chew on it, the more exceptions I see, or at least circumstances where IMO there shouldn't be an absolute prohibition.One exception might be employing a quotation

Anna Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15176850465809297298noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5099921.post-81959238672631151392011-10-27T07:28:00.001-07:002012-01-07T11:17:32.021-08:00

That is the NCFocus proprietor, in photo at right. But lest your jaw drop at my wild youth and a newfound regard begin to sprout within your br^H^Hchest, a confession is called for: I can't play the guitar (which was borrowed), and the hair was achieved with gelatin. In retrospect, composing Halloween-style photos like this was pretty dumb.

Anna Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15176850465809297298noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5099921.post-23280393385833733852011-10-26T23:38:00.000-07:002011-10-26T23:47:15.656-07:00

Here's the quake map; here's the quake list.

Anna Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15176850465809297298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5099921.post-47905726180168587252011-10-24T15:55:00.000-07:002011-10-24T15:59:26.715-07:00

Clear blue sphere is liquid water, pinkish sphere is atmosphere.By Adam Nieman, h/t Dot Earth.

Anna Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15176850465809297298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5099921.post-31197178255820681492011-10-24T11:31:00.000-07:002011-10-24T15:00:54.883-07:00

Moved to the United Nations Association - Nevada County (UNA-NC) weblog:Qs re holding an optimal TED-talk-based group discussion

Anna Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15176850465809297298noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5099921.post-91833621588964790582011-10-22T16:37:00.001-07:002011-10-26T08:06:34.967-07:00

Wed Oct 26 (belatedly) - Real Climate covers it from the science side; there are some oddities. Oct Mon Oct 24 update: Planet3.0 best sums this story up (and articulates my discomfort):"...if we were doing science and not politics, [this result] would be of no real consequence. Which means that when we pay attention to it, we are paying attention mostly to politics masquerading as science."This (

Anna Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15176850465809297298noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5099921.post-50511856001618846122011-10-22T08:53:00.000-07:002011-11-07T10:47:44.462-08:00

Some of the journalism I've done -* Reanalyzed obscurely-presented data in a George Mason University report to reveal that less than a quarter of TV weathercasters with even the highest certification grasped the state of the science on climate change (link)* Wrote about Greg Craven's excellent book What’s the Worst That Could Happen? A Rational Response to the Climate Change Debate”, for the

Anna Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15176850465809297298noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5099921.post-55067420419680333702011-10-20T09:40:00.000-07:002011-10-20T09:43:32.593-07:00

"It must be considered that there is nothing more difficult to carry out, nor more doubtful of success, nor more dangerous to handle, than to initiate a new order of things. For the reformer has enemies in all those who profit by the old order, and only lukewarm defenders in all those who would profit by the new order, this lukewarmness arising partly from fear of their adversaries, who have the

Anna Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15176850465809297298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5099921.post-57829419955145379812011-10-17T10:18:00.000-07:002011-10-18T14:31:10.198-07:00

If the communication is about science, listen and see if it's sprinkled with these misleading terms. And, if you can, ask the commentator: do you feel you'd be better at assessing the evidence than 97% of the experts in the field?(Updated Oct 18 "misleading terms", expertise, doing-vs-using, and minor edits)(For commentators who do think so, & who hold contrarian views, it might be worth asking

Anna Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15176850465809297298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5099921.post-57200827637753189722011-10-16T17:36:00.000-07:002011-10-17T08:42:58.389-07:00

Update: to help your well-meaning friends who could contribute effectively, pair this "high cost of delay" info with Steve Easterbrook's The power to change systems, on the need to find & use leverage points for solving systemic problems. To "work smarter not harder" is essential now.See RealClimate for the story: The high cost of inaction. The post - on an update of an earlier article by

Anna Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15176850465809297298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5099921.post-79261279695737342252011-10-13T07:15:00.000-07:002011-10-13T09:11:02.908-07:00

Just quick (and likely flawed; please report an error ) notes on the Wed. Oct 12 Nevada City City Council meeting (parts of which have been reported by Christopher Rosacker (on warming center - NC Council moves forward with homeless cold shelter ) and Jeff Pelline ( Water rates: The new elephant in the corner in Nevada City )). The other topics addressed (before the 9pm break; I didn't stay

Anna Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15176850465809297298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5099921.post-34293937640969465862011-10-12T17:29:00.000-07:002011-10-13T10:07:53.697-07:00

There was a whole lotta honkin' going on during afternoon rush hour at Brunswick & Sutton in Burger Basin, as Occupy Wall Street came to Nevada County today. I'd estimate a turnout of 180-220.(Counted, roughly, ~80 on the BofA corner, 30 on Walgreens, 25 on each of the east corners, and 20 or so on the bridge, though the latter could have been migrants from the already-counted main body. )Other

Anna Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15176850465809297298noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5099921.post-29084467982675063632011-10-11T12:32:00.000-07:002011-10-15T16:54:56.712-07:00

Edited Oct 15.Some blogposts (h/t Nieman Labs) & a story I've run across recently (h/t MuckReads), the latter illustrating the former."Something seems wrong here" - journalism's offerings don't meet our greatest needs. In Journalism for makers, Jonathan Stray muses,"I find myself wondering what it would take to fix the global financial system, but most financial journalism doesn’t help me to

Anna Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15176850465809297298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5099921.post-27115773608166563832011-10-03T08:47:00.000-07:002011-10-03T08:59:57.242-07:00

Since this missive is general & could be of use to others, here it is (slightly edited). One Q to ask doubters, gently: "What other sciences do you understand better than 97% of the experts in the field?"("Pat" was not my correspondent's name)Hello again Pat ...If you'd like general perspective from scientists (the "diamond planet" guys) from outside the "climate debate" fray, try Diamond

Anna Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15176850465809297298noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5099921.post-86670691259233204232011-09-30T10:24:00.000-07:002011-09-30T11:51:36.294-07:00

Very much worth two minutes of your life."How we got into this hole - ... that's $4 trillion right there; part of the way you fix this problem is don't do those things..."(hat tip Andrew Tobias; discussion at Sierra Voices )

Anna Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15176850465809297298noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5099921.post-45070893121225376722011-09-29T10:16:00.000-07:002011-09-29T11:07:31.016-07:00

Time to go back to paper ballots.A Salon exclusive: Diebold voting machines can be hacked by remote control. (h/t ProPublica)"Computer science and security experts at the Vulnerability Assessment Team at Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois...say the newly developed hack could change voting results while leaving absolutely no trace of the manipulation behind."If you forego using remote

Anna Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15176850465809297298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5099921.post-27698146375357517172011-09-28T12:16:00.000-07:002011-09-28T12:23:42.950-07:00

This NYTimes article on a Georgia company's new way of turning wood chips into biofuel is encouraging - if it works out, it'd be great news for meeting Nevada County's energy needs and clearing our underbrush.(and no, I have not tried to work out the math here.)

Anna Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15176850465809297298noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5099921.post-30649590497385691882011-09-26T17:36:00.000-07:002011-09-26T17:39:01.398-07:00

From ThinkProgress, Clinton: ‘There Is Not A Single Solitary Example’ Of A Country That Has Succeeded With A Tea Party PhilosophySo, in tomorrow's Emery vs. Rebane cage match, perhaps the Tea Party proponent should be asked to provide one?

Anna Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15176850465809297298noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5099921.post-51481520545023522502011-09-25T21:42:00.000-07:002011-09-25T21:47:39.377-07:00

The best part starts about 90 seconds in.

Anna Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15176850465809297298noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5099921.post-66671495478134825492011-09-21T11:54:00.000-07:002011-09-21T12:13:28.774-07:00

This Mother Jones backgrounder is excellent - What You Need to Know About the Horn of Africa Famine. "Eastern Africa's worst drought in 60 years has combined with political violence in Somalia to produce what the United Nations is calling the "worst humanitarian disaster" in the world. ..."Sections:The basicsWhat makes a famine a famine?How bad is it really? The famine by the numbers (plus: map

Anna Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15176850465809297298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5099921.post-75014649653314610922011-09-19T12:56:00.000-07:002011-09-20T11:49:31.007-07:00

Saturday was SYRCL's 14th annual Greater Yuba River Cleanup and restoration. Some photos and notes: (Also hear Catherine Stifter's Skipping Stones Across the Yuba River, on KQED's California Report)Tue Sept 20 update - SYRCL's Miriam Limov confirmed that the Broad St exit trash pile pictured below *is* from the river cleanup, saying it's just from two sites, & overall, 600+ volunteers

Anna Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15176850465809297298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5099921.post-63531990784525940132011-09-19T07:33:00.000-07:002011-09-19T07:36:08.977-07:00

(link)

Anna Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15176850465809297298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5099921.post-7465869409341888652011-09-16T11:24:00.000-07:002011-09-16T11:40:44.814-07:00

This is fantastic - I so want to see GV or NC(s) try this out... (or, are we too small for it to be optimal...)A Nieman Labs blogpost, about a tool for constructive online civic engagement -"...a civic-media experiment aimed at generating positive behavior ... Community PlanIt, a web-based social network that turns planning — in this case, designing standards for gauging school performance —

Anna Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15176850465809297298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5099921.post-10486141218668892352011-09-16T10:23:00.000-07:002011-09-20T13:09:53.182-07:00

Photos and notes. Updates Sept 19 & 20 - Give-o-Meter photo, a nice Boardwalk story in today's Union, some fact-tracking. I will suggest a Sustainability Team website with FAQ since there appears to be confusion on some points, particularly the probation period (details below)."Thursday night after the San Francisco Mime Troupe performance, the whole town was dead, except for this one spot - and

Anna Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15176850465809297298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5099921.post-52325757698558912722011-09-15T15:03:00.000-07:002011-09-15T15:09:17.899-07:00

From American public opinion and climate change: No green Tea -"Tea Partiers, unsurprisingly, tend not to believe in the phenomenon (the 53% who don't believe in global warming just outnumber the 52% who don't believe humans evolved from other animals) and are the most strongly opposed to all sorts of government action on the issue (yet quite keen, like majorities in all sorts of polling, on

Anna Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15176850465809297298noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5099921.post-52146576612459943502011-09-15T13:42:00.000-07:002011-09-15T13:51:20.010-07:00

It swathes a branch tip in webbing, and the leaves disappear.And a quick google brings up...... the fall webworm. .(thank you UC Davis Integrated Pest Management!)

Anna Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15176850465809297298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5099921.post-83159040226206290012011-09-14T11:55:00.000-07:002011-09-14T11:59:30.876-07:00

"Back then, they thought we were crazy... People then thought the Freedom Rides were a useless venture, but they did change things. And it taught me that if you believe in something deeply enough, you can bring about change."- from Liz Kellar's Storyteller shares tale of freedom in Civil Rights era

Anna Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15176850465809297298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5099921.post-77241933940694861422011-09-13T15:48:00.000-07:002011-09-13T16:54:50.144-07:00

Can anyone suggest a gathering place that's free tomorrow evening, where we could join together to watch this? We would need a large screen with internet connection; and NC Library community room & Seaman's Lodge are both taken. and I, so far, am drawing a blank.Email from 350.org - Wednesday Sept 14 - yes, tomorrow - starting at 5pm, for us - begins 24 Hours of Reality from the Climate Reality

Anna Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15176850465809297298noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5099921.post-26261666755989865522011-09-11T22:00:00.000-07:002011-09-13T13:44:15.010-07:00

Yes, we remember. But have we honored them?At today's Constitution Day parade the Tea Party Patriot contingent paraded holding the names & photos of New York City firefighters who died on 9/11; their theme was, "Remember" Never Forget.(*)Yet James Bamford observes that Post-9/11, NSA 'enemies' include us:".... Somewhere between Sept. 11 and today, the enemy morphed from a handful of terrorists

Anna Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15176850465809297298noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5099921.post-15305962957284046502011-09-11T12:54:00.001-07:002011-09-11T13:02:23.950-07:00

Of these bike rack variants, which would you prefer and why? (not that all possibilities are open...)I understand the rack will be going in the street, at the uphill end of the boardwalk.(from email: "The exact area is on the uphill side of the boardwalk, near/over(?) the access plate in the road.")

Anna Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15176850465809297298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5099921.post-30313695888338141192011-09-06T08:51:00.001-07:002011-09-06T09:36:58.745-07:00

I asked Igor Birman to confirm that the initial denial that McClintock had been a member of ALEC had actually come from McClintock himself; it seemed odd that his name was on ALEC's Alumni list (link) and that ALEC staffers weren't responding to my emails about the discrepancy.Birman's response today:"Tom was indeed a member of ALEC between roughly 2000 and 2003."

Anna Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15176850465809297298noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5099921.post-85133903104632240112011-09-06T08:43:00.000-07:002011-09-13T21:52:48.870-07:00

Wow. Read it, send it to your friends. (Or send them Andrew Tobias's post with excerpts; it too links back to the original.)From the article:"A couple of years ago, a Republican committee staff director told me candidly (and proudly) what the method was to all this [Republican] obstruction and disruption. Should Republicans succeed in obstructing the Senate from doing its job, it would

Anna Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15176850465809297298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5099921.post-8953547233952684472011-09-02T14:53:00.000-07:002011-09-02T15:03:32.882-07:00

Based on roughly 30 seconds of deep thought, I disagree with the feds on this. (Recommendation: read & decide for yourself) "Federal prosecutors maintained in a filing on Thursday that Jack Abramoff crony Kevin Ring should face 17 to 22 years in jail because he is "is not entitled to the benefits, or leniency, enjoyed by his co-conspirators who stood in a very different position in 2005 to 2008

Anna Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15176850465809297298noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5099921.post-6443275698075602262011-09-02T11:15:00.000-07:002011-09-02T11:23:15.896-07:00

I seem to be having some difficulty getting staffers of Assemblyman Dan Logue to answer a few Qs about his ties, if any, to ALEC. If you read this, and you know of a Logue aide who's typically responsive to his constituents, please tell me who - you can email me at ncvoices.us (don't forget the .us!) at gmail.

Anna Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15176850465809297298noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5099921.post-37972402978262686002011-09-02T10:20:00.000-07:002011-09-02T10:28:21.983-07:00

This according to 2005 whistleblower and current Climate Science Watch director Rick Piltz, who was among the honorees. "Stopping the pipeline, which would carry the tar sands carbon bomb from Canada to the Texas Gulf Coast, can be viewed as a litmus test of Obama’s character and integrity on climate change."Applause to Rick, and to the other 842.

Anna Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15176850465809297298noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5099921.post-43545147169605215092011-08-31T06:45:00.000-07:002011-08-31T08:00:24.201-07:00

See also Sierra Voices, Hundreds Arrested in D.C., Including Dr. James Hansen, Protesting Tar Sands Pipeline. These people - the imprisoned Tim DeChristopher, and the 500+ arrested (including Bill McKibben, James Hansen, and a luminous Daryl Hannah) for opposing the proposed Keystone XL "tar sands" pipeline - whose opening would likely be "game over" for the climate, according to Hansen (link)

Anna Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15176850465809297298noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5099921.post-51514763385229309322011-08-29T18:28:00.000-07:002011-09-20T12:24:33.895-07:00

Updates: UWNC CEO responds, below; and (Sept 20) I've checked with some past & present recipients.It's true that nobody could call the United Way of Nevada County's Maltman Drive digs "opulent"; nor do the salaries of their one executive director and two hourly staff seem excessive. "Vis-a-vis other United Way organizations, we probably fall in the lower quartile of expenses", UWNC Board

Anna Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15176850465809297298noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5099921.post-20822789602165586242011-08-29T16:17:00.000-07:002011-08-29T16:30:04.682-07:00

"Misinformation sticks in people’s memories, even when they acknowledge a correction, and even when they earnestly seek to discard a memory they know to be false*.""Today, The Conversation launches a week-long series, looking at how the media influences the way our representatives develop policy. To kick off, Stephan Lewandowsky asks how media misreporting undermines a functioning democracy."Read

Anna Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15176850465809297298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5099921.post-17536583791290537312011-08-26T13:51:00.000-07:002011-08-29T15:33:16.281-07:00

Earlier this summer Dr. Scott Denning went into the deniers' den & gave an excellent talk at the Heartland Institute conference, pointing out that libertarians and conservatives have been AWOL in developing constructive climate policy, and challenging his audience to quit being ostriches (his term was "cowards") and step up to the plate - "we need you". Here's the talk: (...or if you're short on

Anna Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15176850465809297298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5099921.post-69107861802480235612011-08-26T13:28:00.000-07:002011-08-26T16:22:07.560-07:00

An "outrage" email I got today said: "Monday on Fox news they learned that the staffers of Congress family members are exempt from having to pay back student loans. This will get national attention if other news networks will broadcast it. ... just where will all of it stop?" Now I'm as gullible as the next person, so I confess I might have swallowed it but for the "Fox News" reference. But

Anna Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15176850465809297298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5099921.post-73147919274779616082011-08-12T12:20:00.000-07:002011-08-15T18:31:50.306-07:00

Soundscape from Nevada County (mp3) "Who" may be fairly obvious, as is when and where - but can you tell (or rather, guess) what's going on? Hint: like many people, they hate being judged.

Anna Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15176850465809297298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5099921.post-32023334736003365592011-08-10T18:17:00.000-07:002011-09-06T09:02:46.151-07:00

Sept 6 update: Igor Birman reports that McClintock was an ALEC member after all, circa 2000-2003.Mon, Tue updates: a Friday email from Kim Pruett (who says this info came from Igor Birman) reports that Tom McClintock is not and has not been a member of ALEC; although this appears to conflict with ALEC's online records; and LaMalfa aide Mark Spannagel says LaMalfa's answers were no, he's had no

Anna Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15176850465809297298noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5099921.post-66341577811066492602011-08-09T10:49:00.000-07:002011-08-09T12:45:46.635-07:00

Is it humble, to feel that with no training you're a better judge of a scientific field than the scientists who've spent their lives in it? - or just to feel that it doesn't signify anything, if their understanding of the meaning of their research* differs from yours? (* I'm not talking about contrarian climate scientists extrapolating beyond their research - which happens regularly, and is

Anna Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15176850465809297298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5099921.post-58381009853466135452011-08-08T09:54:00.000-07:002011-08-08T14:45:41.682-07:00

I talked to Stephen Greenberg (an attorney, as y'all presumably know) about the resurrected anti-loitering ordinance effort this weekend (as did Jeff Pelline on or before last Friday; his post & comments has links to relevant resources, e.g. the agenda packet), and Stephen filled me in on a few additional points: Note: this is from recollection, & I haven't verified any of it since my focus is

Anna Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15176850465809297298noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5099921.post-73513388958912788442011-08-07T11:42:00.000-07:002011-08-15T19:52:56.157-07:00

A caution, for those jumping to conclusions: this community does have (rather) more than one community leader. What does it mean when a community leader answers a question readily & in the negative, when you're not recording, but when afterward you have second thoughts and (repeatedly) email him and leave voicemails asking he'd be willing to be recorded answering no, he doesn't respond? Assume

Anna Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15176850465809297298noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5099921.post-21673200909439137592011-08-01T09:35:00.000-07:002011-08-01T09:43:00.291-07:00

(Something to chew on, as a masticatory exercise for the reader. And apologies in advance - this is a breedist post, based only on old reading about pit bulls and no personal experience with them. Perhaps they're just more susceptible than (some) other breeds, to influence from bad upbringing.)The problem with pit bulls is that they either don't recognize, or don't care to heed, the normal

Anna Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15176850465809297298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5099921.post-44571668181177330722011-07-29T10:41:00.000-07:002011-07-29T11:28:08.880-07:00

Just ran across the "Search the files of the Registry of Charitable Trusts" Calif. Attorney General webpage, and found some history on the Sierra Environmental Studies Foundation, the anti-environment charity vehicle of George Rebane, Russ Steele and John McDaniel; history which, not surprisingly, exposes more anti-environment roots.(Also, SESF is "delinquent"; is this meaningful?)SESF is

Anna Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15176850465809297298noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5099921.post-80270851465922256292011-07-27T12:47:00.001-07:002011-08-08T10:30:52.602-07:00

Food for thought, when you see someone in a position of influence behaving wildly out of character. Includes this advice: "Contemplate the algebra of forgiveness. Some of you reading this may have already tumbled over the edge. It may already have happened to you. Some moment of weakness or falling into temptation. Perhaps even blackmail based upon faked photos, or something you never did!

Anna Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15176850465809297298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5099921.post-86014351356711022782011-07-26T20:36:00.000-07:002011-08-31T07:01:07.837-07:00

Wed. update, DeChristopher's statement to the court: I Do Not Want Mercy, I Want You To Join Me. "Tim DeChristopher, convicted earlier this year with two federal felonies, will be spending two years in prison for his creative act of non-violent protest against an illegitimate oil and gas lease auction set up by the Bush administration in late 2008." Details, updates and links to other coverage

Anna Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15176850465809297298noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5099921.post-73998800816310830642011-07-26T14:56:00.001-07:002011-07-26T14:58:05.512-07:00

Information over at Sierra Voices...

Anna Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15176850465809297298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5099921.post-48037599487655750372011-07-25T11:15:00.000-07:002011-08-31T07:05:52.942-07:00

From Chris Hedges (link). Read it please. (Also - you can contribute to making the "Bidder 70" documentary.) Tim DeChristopher is scheduled to be sentenced in a Salt Lake City courtroom by U.S. District Judge Dee Benson on July 26. He faces up to 10 years in prison and a $750,000 fine for fraudulently bidding in December 2008 on parcels of land, including areas around eastern Utah’s

Anna Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15176850465809297298noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5099921.post-29938935472911197412011-07-23T11:10:00.000-07:002011-07-23T16:59:39.358-07:00

It's an intriguing herd.At the start of this year, Francisco Partners acquired the venerable Grass Valley Group; once Nevada County's largest private employer, GVG was founded half a century ago by Doc Hare (link), was sold to Tektronix and then later to Thomson/Technicolor. ( And got rechristened "Grass Valley" somewhere along the way, by some nimrod afflicted with googling namespace myopia.

Anna Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15176850465809297298noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5099921.post-7301371029691828582011-07-23T10:56:00.000-07:002011-07-23T11:01:42.108-07:00

A good one from Coby Beck, reporting that..."...simple human nature, of the sort the most earnest and conscientious of us all possess, lends itself to being deceived by whomever yells loudest, even when the verifiable truth follows quietly and obsequiously after. An article titled "Setting the record straight almost impossible" describes a new study... by Ullrich Ecker and colleagues...that

Anna Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15176850465809297298noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5099921.post-45435234073107938552011-07-20T12:40:00.000-07:002011-07-20T12:46:19.058-07:00

Stephanie Mencimer in Mother Jones last week, Tea Parties Aren't Cheap - "The group, which made a name for itself by calling for more government transparency, had tinkered with its filing date in order to avoid public disclosure as long as possible. ... Eventually, I filed a complaint with the IRS, noting that the group wasn't complying with the law. That seems to have done the trick. ... Many

Anna Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15176850465809297298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5099921.post-84730399788440394522011-07-19T23:13:00.000-07:002011-07-19T23:18:26.425-07:00

Locally-contrarian food for thought (link) -"When country A enacts a blockade or economic sanctions against country B, does country B become more prosperous or less? Does country B thank country A for the good fortune of being forced to “buy local,” or does it claim that country A has committed an act of war?Free Banking – The Folly that is “Local” Currency: “More importantly, the object that the

Anna Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15176850465809297298noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5099921.post-46004122213400499502011-07-17T11:01:00.001-07:002011-07-17T11:08:11.368-07:00

Tom McClintock, take note. From Eduardo via Stoat: "[Scientists want to know (and do know - ed.)] what are the factors or combination of factors that have caused this [recent, global] warming. Note that even if temperatures had been much higher in, say 1800, even much higher than today -which I doubt - this question would remain. We see a change and we have to find an explanation for that

Anna Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15176850465809297298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5099921.post-5157712431517262522011-07-15T09:02:00.000-07:002011-07-20T13:22:07.418-07:00

A great piece, from Tuesday: On Experts and Global Warming, by Gary GuttingIn short: We non-experts are in no position to argue against the consensus of expert scientific opinion. ... once we have accepted the authority of a particular scientific discipline, we cannot consistently reject its conclusions. To adapt Schopenhauer’s famous remark about causality, science is not a taxi-cab that we

Anna Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15176850465809297298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5099921.post-62218887245571922722011-07-14T21:25:00.000-07:002011-08-08T10:32:12.915-07:00

If you were driving through the Plaza(*) intersection in Nevada City about 8pm tonight, you likely spied something alien... ...wheeling around the Stonehouse parking lot, bearing a passel of small humans - a mutant lifeform, the Now-a-Saurus. Now-a-Saurus creator Chris Merrick gave the last Tech Talk of the series at Sierra Commons tonight, sharing pointers on how to build a Mutant Vehicle,

Anna Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15176850465809297298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5099921.post-37679636891182788632011-07-14T12:58:00.000-07:002011-07-14T13:10:07.376-07:00

Many thanks to those who put on the TEDxGrassValley event yesterday - which was mostly contemporaneous streaming from TEDGlobal 2011 with the addition of several local speakers.It was great to see the TEDGlobal folk locally, albeit onscreen.(Alas I had obligations, & couldn't stay for the whole event.)For those who weren't able to come & see it, Brain Pickings offers highlights of the TEDGlobal

Anna Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15176850465809297298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5099921.post-58920350383803598002011-07-12T15:48:00.000-07:002011-07-13T10:02:15.386-07:00

Looks like there'll be some good speakers. From See Jane Do email: TEDxGrassValley, an independently produced event, operated under license from TED, will live stream from the TEDGlobal 2011 conference, on July 12-15, on Wednesday, July 13, 2011 to the Miners Foundry Cultural Center, 1030am- 630pm. This year's theme for TEDGlobal is "The Stuff of Life". What is life? And how can it be

Anna Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15176850465809297298noreply@blogger.com0