illconsidered | February 19, 2013This is not directly climate related, but it does pertain to the media and its abject failure to take its responsibilities towards democracy more seriously. Via The Huffington Post, I read these strong words from an angry press towards a secretive Whitehouse Administration:
Speaking on behalf of the White House Correspondents Association, I can say a broad cross section of our members from print, radio, online and TV have today expressed extreme frustration to me about having absolutely no access to the President of the United States this entire weekend. There is a very simple but important…
illconsidered | February 18, 2013Logging the Onset of The Bottleneck Years
This weekly posting is brought to you courtesy of H. E. Taylor. Happy reading, I hope you enjoy this week's Global Warming news roundup
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Another Week of Climate Disruption News
Information is not Knowledge...Knowledge is not Wisdom
February 17, 2013
Chuckles, COP19+, Tesla, Maldives, Warnings, GreenPeace, Gleick
Bottom Line, Subsidies, Thermodynamics, Cook
Fukushima Note, Fukushima News
Melting Arctic, Polar Bears, Methane, Geopolitics, Antarctica
Food Crisis, Fisheries, Land Grabs, IP Issues, GMOs, Food…
illconsidered | February 14, 2013So it is about one year ago that Peter Gleick exposed the too-ashamed-to-admit-it donors of the science denialist industry flack Heartland Organization. Michael Tobis has a very comprehensive run-down and analysis of the event over on P3, I recommend it, especially if you need to get up to speed on what I am talking about.
My only comment on the whole morality play aspect of it is that the question "do the ends justify the means" does not have a one size fits all answer. I have always been a bit puzzled by the seemingly unquestioned moral hammer that question gets used as. Clearly we all…
illconsidered | February 13, 2013The Bottleneck Years
by H.E. Taylor
Chapter 26
Table of Contents
Chapter 28
Chapter 27
Eco 550 -- Geoengineering, November 29, 2055
When I was a student, it was not unusual to hear that virtual glasses were going to revolutionize education. Veegees, as they came to be called, were internet connected computers that used the spectacle lens to project information directly into the user-wearer's eyes. The 'virtual' came from the fact the glasses allowed the wearer to manipulate objects only they could see.
What do you tell someone who has the internet group mind mediated by supercomputer playing…
illconsidered | February 12, 2013Logging the Onset of The Bottleneck Years
This weekly posting is brought to you courtesy of H. E. Taylor. Happy reading, I hope you enjoy this week's Global Warming news roundup
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Another Week of Climate Disruption News
Information Overload is Pattern Recognition
February 10, 2013
Chuckles, Survival, Lai Pei-yuan, Nickel, Transition, Uranium, Belief
Bottom Line, Subsidies, GFIs, Thermodynamics, Cook
Fukushima Note, Fukushima News, Nuclear Policy
Melting Arctic, Polar Bears, Methane, Geopolitics, Antarctica
Food Crisis, Fisheries, Food Prices, Food vs.…
illconsidered | February 7, 2013The Bottleneck Years
by H.E. Taylor
Chapter 25
Table of Contents
Chapter 27
Chapter 26
A Quiet Sunday, November 28, 2055
Sunday is a day of rest --- theoretically. I had intended to have a quiet day, do some yard work and maybe touch up my Amazon report for Doc Y. I was awakened early by a crying baby. I didn't want to get up, but I was not going to fall asleep again, so I washed up and dragged ass upstairs to the kitchen.
Edie was heating milk in a saucepan and Anna was crying her lungs out. Edie looked like she had not slept all night. She gave me a strained look as I entered the kitchen…
illconsidered | February 4, 2013Logging the Onset of The Bottleneck Years
This weekly posting is brought to you courtesy of H. E. Taylor. Happy reading, I hope you enjoy this week's Global Warming news roundup
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Another Week of Climate Disruption News
Sipping from the Internet Firehose...
February 3, 2013
Chuckles, COP19+, Clean Air, Australian Floods, Tyee, Nigeria & Shell, Oh Oh Squad
MDGs, GW & Rain, Bottom Line, IMF, Thermodynamics, Crap Detection, Cook
Fukushima Note, Fukushima News, Nuclear Policy
Melting Arctic, Methane, Geopolitics, Antarctica
Food Crisis, Fisheries, Food…
illconsidered | February 1, 2013Seen on APOD, please enjoy this stunning act of simple observation.
Full Moon Silhouettes Video Credit & Copyright: Mark Gee; Music: Tenderness (Dan Phillipson)
From APOD's description:
One impressive moonrise was imaged two nights ago over Mount Victoria Lookout in Wellington, New Zealand. With detailed planning, an industrious astrophotographer placed a camera about two kilometers away and pointed it across the lookout to where the Moon would surely soon be making its nightly debut. The above single shot sequence is unedited and shown in real time -- it is not a time lapse. People…
illconsidered | January 31, 2013The Bottleneck Years
by H.E. Taylor
Chapter 24
Table of Contents
Chapter 26
Chapter 25
Rhamaposa, November 21, 2055
Due to the tyranny of digital time, I know it was 3:17 in the morning when the house system woke me to answer an urgent call. Voice only. My first thought was, 'Oh lord, now who has died?' Then I saw it was an overseas number. I sat up on the side of the bed to talk without turning on the lights.
"Yes?"
"Hello Luc. Luc Fontaine?"
"Yes."
"This is Peter Ramaphosa." He spoke quickly with a strong British accent.
"What can I do for you?" I was confused. Why was this UN hotshot…
illconsidered | January 30, 2013NASA's JPL division has an interesting article on thawing dry ice (frozen CO2) near the polar regions of Mars.
Aside from its being interesting, I only bring it up as it reminds me of the faux skeptic talking point about Mars warming, ergo the sun drives warming here on earth. It is about as far from a truly skeptical argument one could imagine as it rests (or at least it did when it originated) on the flimsiest of evidence that there is climate change on Mars at all. A truly skeptical approach would not make the leap from two photos of one spot to a global trend. Even if you establish the…
illconsidered | January 30, 2013(sorry to be so late this week, it was Australia Day weekend and I guess it threw off my rhythm!)
Logging the Onset of The Bottleneck Years
This weekly posting is brought to you courtesy of H. E. Taylor. Happy reading, I hope you enjoy this week's Global Warming news roundup
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Another Week of Global Warming News
Logging the Onset of The Bottleneck Years
January 27, 2013
Minamata, NEEM, Australia, GreenPeace, Tyee, EEA, Oh Oh Squad
Bottom Line, Subsidies, WB, Pricing Nature, Thermodynamics, Cook
Fukushima Note, Fukushima News
Melting Arctic, Methane, Geopolitics…
illconsidered | January 23, 2013The Bottleneck Years
by H.E. Taylor
Chapter 23
Table of Contents
Chapter 25
Chapter 24
The Anvil Breaks, November 20, 2055
As the train approached Centre City, I called Olivia on her personal number. A computerized voice told me the number was discontinued and dumped me into voicemail hell. I hung up and called the house. Edie answered.
"Hi, Edie. Can I talk to Olivia?"
"She's not here."
"Where is she?"
"I don't know." She paused. "She didn't tell me where she was going."
A rising panic momentarily engulfed me. "Ww...What do you mean?"
"I mean, she took all her stuff and left."
"I'll take a…
illconsidered | January 21, 2013Logging the Onset of The Bottleneck Years
This weekly posting is brought to you courtesy of H. E. Taylor. Happy reading, I hope you enjoy this week's Global Warming news roundup
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Another Week of Global Warming News
Information is not Knowledge...Knowledge is not Wisdom
January 20, 2013
Chuckles, COP19+, Mercury, Bond, Australian, The Holmes, Attributions
Bottom Line, Thermodynamics, Cook,
Fukushima Note, Fukushima News
Melting Arctic, Megafauna, Geopolitics, Antarctica
Food Crisis, Fisheries, Food vs. Biofuel, GMOs, Food Production
Hurricanes, Monsoon,…
illconsidered | January 17, 2013Global warming stopped [insert random number of years] ago is probably the most common and mainstream of all the climate denier arguments out there. It is shallow and wrong and there are many refutations of it out there. I think this video from Skeptical Science is about as clear and straightforward as it gets.
If someone watches that and still thinks the argument holds water, then they can not be reached with reason.
If attribution arguments are too complicated, there is always this excellent graphic:
(click to enlarge)
illconsidered | January 16, 2013The Bottleneck Years
by H.E. Taylor
Chapter 22
Table of Contents
Chapter 24
Chapter 23
The Ax Falls, November 20, 2055
A friendly guy took charge of me in the trailer. I stumbled back through the rings of security in a daze and was deposited at the train station like a lost child. I had to wait a couple of hours to catch a train east. By this time it was mid-afternoon. I barely remember that time. My mind was in a whirl. I couldn't stop seeing that amorphous Henry-goo thing. I sat staring at nothing. When they announced the train, I got on board and it was only after staring out the window…
illconsidered | January 15, 2013Logging the Onset of The Bottleneck Years
This weekly posting is brought to you courtesy of H. E. Taylor. Happy reading, I hope you enjoy this week's Global Warming news roundup
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Another Week of Global Warming News
Information Overload is Pattern Recognition
January 13, 2013
Chuckles, Hottest Year, Australia Burning, Holmes Family, Retrospectives
Bottom Line, Subsidies, Thermodynamics, Cook
Fukushima Note, Fukushima News, Nuclear Policy
Melting Arctic, Orca, Geopolitics, Antarctica
Food Crisis, Fisheries, Food Prices, Food vs. Biofuel, GMOs, Food…
illconsidered | January 9, 2013The Bottleneck Years
by H.E. Taylor
Chapter 21
Table of Contents
Chapter 23
Chapter 22
Vancouver, November 20, 2055
Apparently being in ConSec means never having to wait for a plane. Carman walked me through a gate and out onto the tarmac. No body scanners, no sniffer bots, no security check of any sort as far as I could see. There were all of five people on the plane. Nobody spoke until we were in the air and then sparingly.
I really did not know what to expect. Why would Carman drag me all the way to Vancouver? What was going through his mind? What did he mean by "a body that shouldn't…
illconsidered | January 7, 2013Logging the Onset of The Bottleneck Years
This weekly posting is brought to you courtesy of H. E. Taylor. Happy reading, I hope you enjoy this week's Global Warming news roundup
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Another Week of Global Warming News
Sipping from the Internet Firehose...
January 6, 2013
Chuckles, COP19+, Object Lesson, Tasmania, Retrospectives
Bottom Line, Pricing Nature, Thermodynamics, Cook
Fukushima Note, Fukushima News, Nuclear Policy
Melting Arctic, Kulluk, Geopolitics, Antarctica
Food Crisis, Fisheries, Food Prices, Food vs. Biofuel, GMOs, GMO Labelling, Food…
illconsidered | January 7, 2013So Tasmania is in the news, which is where I am living (see here for links). The stories are about heat and bush fires. So far, nothing as dramatic as "Black Saturday" four years ago has happened, thank goodness, but conditions are very similar.
The post's "featured image" above is of the electronic weather station monitor sitting in my kitchen, taken last Friday. The official Hobart record was set at 41.8 oC, we had a reading of 43.3 oC (33.5 was the inside temperature). I have no idea if this device is well calibrated or subject to some particular siting problem (I tried) or if it…
illconsidered | January 4, 2013The Bottleneck Years
by H.E. Taylor
Chapter 20
Table of Contents
Chapter 22
Chapter 21
At a sidewalk cafe, November 19, 2055
In North America, privacy is a thing of the past. How often we hear that! Wherever you go, newseyes operated by various government agencies or private corporations flit about recording every sight and sound to be analyzed by computer. Electronic communication is routinely monitored. Stationary cameras are everywhere. Microbugs make the detection of surveillance almost impossible. Newseyes put it in your face.
When someone is watching over your shoulder, you feel…