Climate

Oh, give me a break:

How green is your pet?

SHOULD owning a great dane make you as much of an eco-outcast as an SUV driver? Yes it should, say Robert and Brenda Vale, two architects who specialise in sustainable living at Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand. In their new book, Time to Eat the Dog: The real guide to sustainable living, they compare the ecological footprints of a menagerie of popular pets with those of various other lifestyle choices - and the critters do not fare well.

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To measure the ecological paw, claw and fin-prints of the family pet, the Vales analysed the ingredients of common brands of pet food. They calculated, for example, that a medium-sized dog would consume 90 grams of meat and 156 grams of cereals daily in its recommended 300-gram portion of dried dog food. At its pre-dried weight, that equates to 450 grams of fresh meat and 260 grams of cereal. That means that over the course of a year, Fido wolfs down about 164 kilograms of meat and 95 kilograms of cereals.

An interesting post on MeFi about survivalists - here's the lede:

"Civilization is Just a Thin Veneer. In the absence of law and order, men quickly revert to savagery. As was illustrated by the rioting and looting that accompanied disasters in the past three decades, the transition from tranquility to absolute barbarism can occur overnight. People expect tomorrow to be just like today, and they act accordingly. But then comes a unpredictable disaster that catches the vast majority unprepared. The average American family has four days worth of food on hand. When that food is gone, we'll soon see the thin veneer stripped away."

Hi. Yeah, it's me. Got back to KC a little bit ago. Uh-huh. Just left the airport. Should be home by 10:30. But I don't think we're going to make it. No. See, the windshield is covered with ice, and the driver doesn't want to pull over to get it fixed. No, I mean really covered. *Really covered.* I think the driver's driving by E.S.P. or something. Uh-huh. Yeah. I'm just laying down because I don't want to see it when we die.

That was from the idiot woman who sat behind us in the shuttle from Kansas City. Who felt it incumbent upon her to call several friends and family members and relay that particular narrative of our imminent demise.

Ever stand on the bank of a stream and watch a submerged stick oscillate up and down? Or maybe seen something similar happen when you were fishing, and a cork/bobber got pulled underwater, the way it will swing back and forth?

That's vortex induced vibration. And it is a real problem for all kinds of engineering disciplines - just about any real world application which involves a fluid (or a gas, or even a plasma I suppose).

It could also be the thing which saves us from a carbon-based energy nightmare. Vortex Hydro Energy is a new technology which could supply clean, renewable energy. Professor Michael M. Bernitsas at the University of Michigan has helped pioneer this system. From his University profile:

OK, I've been gone/sick for the last couple of days, and not really up to anything tonight.

But I just had to share this hilarious item from Phil Plait, the Bad Astronomy dude, from Antarctica:

Door to Hell in Antarctica - Watch more free videos

Bloody hell, that's insane.

Jim Downey

Via PZ, link to the amazingly absurd Ray Comfort blog wherein Ray answers this question:

"There've been several hundred gay marriages enacted in California in the past few days. Maybe a couple of thousand by now, I haven't checked the numbers. And in the non-gay-marrying Midwest, they're fighting floods, while in California it's fair and dry. How is The Golden State managing to escape the wrath of your imaginary friend, I wonder?" Weemaryanne

A perfectly reasonable dig, eh? Well, you're gonna love Ray's response:

4 dead, 48 injured as tornado hits Boy Scout camp

BLENCOE, Iowa - Frightened Boy Scouts huddled in a shelter as a tornado tore through their western Iowa campground, killing four people and injuring 48 others who had little warning of the approaching twister.

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The tornado that struck a Boy Scout camp in western Iowa killed three 13-year-old scouts and one 14-year-old scout, said Lloyd Roitstein, an executive with the Mid America Council of the Boy Scouts of America. He did not release the names of the victims.

Too bad Pat Robertson doesn't have a regional headquarters there on the Iowa side, across from Omaha. He could have prayed the tornadoes away, like he does hurricanes. And it's a shame, really, that Jerry Falwell isn't with us any longer to explain why God was punishing those Scouts. But not to worry, I'm sure that ol' Fred Phelps will find time to do so.

*sigh*

This morning NPR ran a segment on global warming, focusing on how Texas, if it were an independent nation, would be the world's 7th-worst carbon-producing culprit. The whole piece was interesting, as it goes through and looks at the culture which has contributed to this problem, and how industry has stymied efforts to even raise awareness.

But what caught my ear was one bit where they were talking to a Baptist preacher who addressed the issue of climate change in a sermon. Here it is:

But efforts are being made, even by religious leaders, to try to minimize consumption. In a sermon one Sunday by Rev. Raymond Bailey, pastor of Seventh & James Baptist Church in Waco, he suggested that his flock consider reducing so many trips in their cars. His message was not received too favorably by a few members of his church.

*Sigh*

I'd hoped we were beyond this: government-sponsored mass incantations to appease the weather gods.

Via the Bad Astronomer, word that Gov. Sonny Perdue of Georgia will hold a prayer service next Tuesday at the State Capitol. From the news article:

Heather Teilhet, his spokeswoman, said the governor began talking about wanting to host a service to pray for rain on his way back from Washington D.C. last week.

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"Georgia needs rain. The issue at the heart of our drought problems is a lack of rain," Teilhet said. "And there is nothing the government can do to make that happen."

You're right, Heather. There is nothing the government can do to make that happen. And indulging your superstitions won't make one whit of difference.

Jim Downey

We all want a cleaner America, but corporate America wants us to do it for them.

It is interesting what happens when you read American news in foreign publications. I found the following article on the BBC news website. A NYC family stopped using all modern conveniences, including turning off the power in their apartment for one year. I found this intriguing, and started reading up on their progress. The Father created a blog called 'No-Impact Man' to track his progress.

On their blog, there is a post about the organization 'Keep America Beautiful,' which I remember from my youth as the organization with the Indian spokesperson. It always seemed like a good idea, with good motives. However, I found out something very disturbing about this group;

“Keep America Beautiful was founded in 1953 by group of businessmen from the beverage and packaging industries who were concerned that government would make them responsible for solving the litter problem by regulating their industries.”

...and offer them gifts of hydrogen peroxide.

Standing there, looking out the window to the driveway just below, I saw the fox take the unwitting squirrel. One quick, quiet leap from behind a tree, a snap, pause to snap again at the struggling grey mass, and it had breakfast. A pretty, lethal thing, yellow-red short fur, characteristic long legs and bushy tail, eyes sharp as it looked around. Probably weighed twelve to fifteen pounds, lean and long. Made me consider keeping the cats inside.

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So, in this discussion over on dKos this morning, I made the following comment pertaining to the question of whether or not we face the prospect of some kind of civil disintegration in the US, specifically regarding some kind of violence generated by the far Right:

(My paranoia level is rising...) Because this country is a tinderbox, and once some idiot strikes a match, the whole thing could go up in flames around us.

I'm not saying that we have to give in just because some idiots threaten violence. I am saying that we must work in ways that avoid violence. Because as anyone who understands violence will tell you, even if it is justified, once it happens it will change you forever.

To be honest, I'll be astounded if we make it through the next decade without something disasterous happening in this regard. I hope I'm wrong, and will work to do what I can to avoid it - but I fear I'm right.

Have a drought? Facing real-world problems? Then solve them with real-world solutions, not prayer. That is basically the message here:

SOUTH Melbourne priest Bob Maguire says church leaders across Australia can pray for rain "until they go black in the face" but it won't solve the water crisis.

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Father Maguire, of St Peter and Paul's Parish, is among many Melbourne priests warning drought-stricken farmers not to pin all their hopes on divine intervention.

"Praying for rain is great and we will be doing it in our services, but we have to be prepared to work on finding solutions to the problem ourselves," he said.

Of course. Sky Daddy ain't there to solve your problems. You have to do it yourself, or with the help of other people in the real world. And when even the local Shaman admits this, you know that a bit of cognitive dissonance is starting to kick in.

Naturally, though, they don't want to lose the religious gig, so others start in on the 'well, prayer helps us cope' routine:

The title says it all but the article is here.

I've got to wonder how often this sort of thing happens but never makes it into news.

There aren't words to describe how disgusting this is.

Giant mirrors....hell why not, I mean the Strategic Missile Defense System has been such a resounding success, this should be a cake walk. I wonder what the code name for this asinine project will be?

..giant mirrors in space or reflective dust pumped into the atmosphere would be "important insurance" against rising emissions..

You had to figure that these greedy oil pricks weren't going to give in that easily.

See the US document here

So, today the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists Society is moving the "Doomsday Clock" two minutes closer to midnight, to just five minute before 'Doomsday'. From their website:

We stand at the brink of a second nuclear age. Not since the first atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki has the world faced such perilous choices. North Korea’s recent test of a nuclear weapon, Iran’s nuclear ambitions, a renewed U.S. emphasis on the military utility of nuclear weapons, the failure to adequately secure nuclear materials, and the continued presence of some 26,000 nuclear weapons in the United States and Russia are symptomatic of a larger failure to solve the problems posed by the most destructive technology on Earth.

For a long time our friends in the religious right felt that there was no real need to worry about global warming. After all, no matter what happens Santa will continue to deliver Christmas presents to all the good little boys and girls who still believe in him, right? Not any more. It turns out that Santa’s long time abode (a little house cleverly hidden away in a secret crevice in the ice around the North Pole) is being threatened in an unprecedented way.
It’s those thrice-shat upon atheists? You might ask. Is it scientists insisting that no matter how many core samples they take they’ve never brought up pieces of unfortunate elves who couldn’t get out of the way fast enough? Even though we all know what brutal elf-haters these scientists are it isn’t them.