Radiation graphs from Sacto monitor (no worries, at least not here in CA)

Just ran across the Sacramento monitor's page from the EPA's RadNet Air Monitoring Data website; they say "To date, levels recorded at this monitor have been thousands of times below any conservative level of concern." (Mar. 22 press release here)

It's a bit curious, that before the Japan quake, the [beta gross count rate] readings were higher; perhaps spuriously & it wasn't fixed until the quake brought the monitor to attention. The "gamma gross count rate" graph below it shows no such pattern.

Mixed-up weather lament

Snow. Snow. More snow.

Never thought that in spring I'd be wishing we were back in January... (or early Feb.)

For KVMR folk, on science communication - excellent piece by Chris Mooney

Excerpts from Good Communication is Good Scientific Practice:

Koch Industries sock puppetry on Wikipedia and blog comments

Koch Industries Employs PR Firm To Airbrush Wikipedia, Gets Banned For Unethical ‘Sock Puppets’, from ThinkProgress earlier this month; somehow I'd missed it.

(Note: the original user was open about his/her Koch ties, but apparently later created/recruited sockpuppets or meatpuppets, which is verboten - as is editing pages where you have a conflict of interest, which s/he also did.)

New Media Strategies was the PR firm they used here, but it's one of many: "the billionaire Koch brothers maintain contracts with over a dozen public relation firms and lobbying firms."

Cal. Dept of Public Health radiation FAQ - the URL

JeffP reprinted the FAQ, but you can find the CDPH original (which presumably they'll update) here:
http://cdph.ca.gov/Pages/RadiationFAQS2011.aspx

(There's a prominent link to it under "CDPH News" on the California Department of Public Health home page. )

Tuesday update: See also the Jeff Masters post Radiation from Japan not likely to harm North America, on Weather Underground.

How to donate to the Japan relief effort

Mar. 30 update: Robert Brady of Pure Land Mountain recommends Socks for Japan.

Mar. 19 update: Felix Salmon says Don’t donate money to Japan, and explains why. Give the groups your $$, but leave them free to put it where it'll do most good.

How to donate to the Japan relief effort from the Guardian.

Got friends/family in Alaska, Arizona or Florida?

We need their help to identify the Senator that placed a secret hold on whistleblower protection.

It's easy - and they don't have to tell their senator to do anything*, only to ask some simple questions.

* I'm still allergic to telling mine what to do.

An appreciation - Tom Grundy, and Reinette Senum of APPLE

APPLE - our local Alliance for a Post-Petroleum Local Economy - came out against Proposition 23 last fall, and Tom Grundy [speaking for APPLE at the time] stepped up to the plate and spoke effectively against it on KNCO. And Reinette Senum's just a powerhouse in making things happen - the Alpha building renaissance, our Saturday morning Farmer's Market, local educational events, etc. I also commend APPLE for their educational efforts in bringing Richard Heinberg and others to speak to our community. Thank you, folks.

But...

Journalism manuals

There's probably a better compilation out there, but recently I've run across these -

• KPOV's citizen journalism handbook for radio (pdf)
• FAIR's investigative journalism manual. (This FAIR being the Forum for African Investigative Journalists , not the anti-immigration group.)
• Story-Based Inquiry - step by step investigative journalism, "treats investigative journalism as an integrated process focused on producing an original story." (h/t HelpMeInvestigate's 5 ways to simplify an investigation; added 2011-08-08)

Of the 3, the last seemed most worthwhile; but all are helpful.

Climate education in Nevada County schools

What's taught about climate science & climate change in Nevada County schools - and is it science-aligned, or antiscience?

Here's what I've got so far; if you know folks who could clue me in further...?

* K-8

• at Seven Hills Middle School
  

* High Schools

• at Bitney College Preparatory High School (home)
  
• at Nevada Union High School (home), Earth Sciences (TBD other fields)
  
• at Bear River High School (home)
  
• TBD: at Ghidotti Early College High School (home) (Madigan, Kirwan)
  

* Community College

• At Sierra College (home), Nevada County Campus
  ESCI 0010 - Introduction to Earth Science (DeCourten)
  GEOG 0001 - Physical Geography (Cox)
  GEOG 0004 - Weather and Climate (DeCourten)
  INT 0001 - Environment/Human Impact (DeCourten & Day)

My climate blog's posts touching on climate education can be found here (link).

"Bidder 70" Tim DeChristopher trial over; found guilty

For those who weren't following DeChristopher's trial - Tim DeChristopher found guilty, shows power of nonviolent civil disobedience.

Persona Management, Twitter-bombing, and the Weaponization of Social Media

You need to read This Daily Kos post and the one it links to. From the latter:

[Chamber of Commerce tools] HB Gary people are talking about creating "personas", what we would call sockpuppets. ... {But] a persona apparently goes far beyond creating a mere sockpuppet.

According to an embedded MS Word document found in one of the HB Gary emails, it involves creating an army of sockpuppets, with sophisticated "persona management" software that allows a small team of only a few people to appear to be many, while keeping the personas from accidentally cross-contaminating each other. Then, to top it off, the team can actually automate some functions so one persona can appear to be an entire Brooks Brothers riot online.

What's the solution? I don't know. But the workaround is, don't be swayed by anyone who's unwilling to meet in person - or anyone when, when you ask if he himself wrote the comments that've writing that has appeared under his name, pauses for a moment before saying Yes.

Also we'd do well to be suspicious of first-name-only comments, that you'd assume were from well-known local people.

Post Mortem - the Nevada County basics

Basic background information; with minor additions Mar. 1

If you saw the joint ProPublica/CaliforniaWatch/PBS Frontline investigation Post Mortem earlier this month, on the difficulties, shortcomings and lack of oversight of death investigations in the United States, you may have wondered what the situation is like in Nevada County.

The stories not covered

In localizing the ProPublica et al. "post mortem" report - which is what I've been working on - I am feeling a bit like Bob & Ray interviewing the cranberry grower - since meanwhile, back at the ranch, we have a reportedly mild-mannered local artist inexplicably lashing out in alleged violence and attempted murder at a local airstrip (link), and an alleged DUI driver in Penn Valley who while resisting arrest is said to have tripped and hit his head on a rock (link).

I would be remiss if I did not point them out; for others to pursue.

Tack II - blog changing course

Feb. 21,24 updates: Or not; stay tuned...

In the last couple years this blog has gotten more & more climate change centric - but being Cassandra (who was right) doesn't seem to be working, it's feeling more & more like yet another tarpit. So it's time for a different focus. Coming up: straight investigative (& occasional other) journalism.