Piling up

Posted on September 11, 2007 by bfyates

The strike has gone on for almost 2 months. What are people doing with the garbage? Some are dumping it in the parks, others with friends and relatives in nearby municipalities. We are fortunate to have a garage and a few garbage cans to stockpile away from the house. But if we were back in our old apartment in Kits we’d be screwed (particularly with the flow of dirty diapers we’re generating). Some people we know are burning stuff in their fireplaces. I’m sincerely curious about how people are managing their garbage & recycling pileup.

Link: Strike makes woman easy pickings for garbage scam.

A Vancouver woman and three of her neighbours are out $40 after being tricked by a bogus trash collector.
Tara Wohlberg told CBC News a man with a van full of garbage knocked on her door at 5 p.m. Thursday and offered to take her garbage away for $20.
She said she collected up a bag of her own trash and three from her neighbours and paid the man a total $40 to take it all away.
But the next morning, her garbage had been returned to her alley and "the rats, crows and raccoons had an all-nighter with my fish skins and cat litter," she said.

Anita Roddick Dead

Posted on September 10, 2007 by bfyates

Link: Anita Roddick dies aged 64 | The Guardian | Guardian Unlimited.

Dame Anita Roddick died tonight after suffering a major brain haemorrhage, her family said.
The Body Shop founder died at 6.30pm at St Richard’s Hospital in Chichester, at the age of 64.

Wikipedia entry

I have a soft spot for Ann Roddick – I was in grad school taking environment & business courses during the ascendancy of the Body Shop model of corporate responsibility. She cared a lot about the world in which she lived, & she will be missed.

Biofuels vs Orangutans

Posted on September 7, 2007 by bfyates

It’s starting to look alarmingly like the pursuit of biofuels will be the next poster child for the Law of Unintended Consequences – up there with thalidomide and turning cattle into cannibals. Borneo’s forests have been under siege for some time by the agricultural industry, transmigrants, and the mining industry. Demands for "environmentally friendly" energy might just drive the last chainsaw to the last tree. I’m starting to think these guys have a point.

Link: Environmental News Network.

Despite government claims pristine jungles are escaping the effects
of the "green solution" to the energy crunch, the boom is threatening
the survival of animals like the endangered orangutan and turning the
country into a major global warming contributor, environmentalists say…

…Palm oil
plantations have long been a staple of the economies of tropical
Indonesia and neighboring Malaysia. Oil made from the red, spiky
apple-sized fruit is used to make a vast range of products, from soap
to chocolate to lipstick.

But concern over pollution
from the burning of fossil fuels in Europe and the United States has
led to a new use for the oil – mixing it with diesel to make a cleaner
burning and cheaper fuel to put in cars.

The
EU parliament this year announced a renewed push to meet sustainable
energy targets, including mandating using biofuels to supply at least
10 percent of transport fuel needs by 2020.

Encouraged
by government tax breaks, many of Indonesia’s largest conglomerates as
well as foreign companies are investing millions in expanding
plantations and refining facilities on Borneo, which has one of the
richest ecosystems in the world and is one of the only remaining homes
of the orangutans.

Continue reading →

Posted on September 7, 2007 by bfyates

A couple of Aggregating Anemones (Anthopleura elegantissima) doing their thing in a tide pool at Cannon Beach.

Did he really say that?

Posted on September 6, 2007 by bfyates

Disappointing: globeandmail.com: Creationism raised as Ont. election issue.

TORONTO — Publicly-funded religious schools would be allowed to teach creationism and other theories, says Progressive Conservative Leader John Tory.
Speaking to reporters at the a Jewish day school in Thornhill, Ont., on Wednesday, Mr. Tory defended his plan to bring Jewish, Islamic and other religious schools into the public education system.
“They teach evolution in the Ontario curriculum, but they also could teach the fact to the children that there are other theories that people have out there that are part of some Christian beliefs,” Mr. Tory said at the Kamin Education Centre.

While I could understand him supporting creationism within a course of religious instruction, the linking of ID or creationism to evolution in a science curriculum should cost Tory the election.

Update: He clarifies:

In clarifying his remarks yesterday, Mr. Tory said: "The Ontario
curriculum teaches evolution and that is the curriculum that would have
to be taught in the faith-based and all other schools that receive
public funding. There are other theories that can be taught as part of
religious instruction … But the curriculum is the curriculum."

I’ll take it at face value. I suspect that this is just a gaffe, rooted in some eagerness to pander a bit to his religious voters, and he spoke without thinking.

Nation’s Experts Give Up

Posted on September 6, 2007 by bfyates

The Onion:

"Public reaction was favorable to the news that a glass of wine a day can help prevent heart attacks," Peavy said. "Of course, most people figured that eight glasses of wine a day must be better than one. And many Americans reacted well to the news that eggs probably wouldn’t kill them outright. Aside from that, they’ve pretty much ignored every word we’ve ever said concerning just about everything."

Because the experts’ advice was barely followed, the mass resignation is expected to have little impact on the lives of most Americans.

"Go ahead, America," Peavy said. "You don’t need us. Watch all the topsoil go down the Mississippi. Transport your children in baskets on top of your SUV deathmobiles. Keep playing with your cute and cuddly pal, the atom. Press your nose against the TV screen for even more educational 3rd Rock From The Sun enjoyment. Use plentiful gasoline to burn book- readers at the stake. Don’t eat anything but sugared pork lard. Do whatever you want."

“The Truth”

Posted on September 4, 2007 by bfyates

Link: The Science Creative Quarterly: THIS IS THE TRUTH.

1. Cigarettes are bad for you.
2. Men and Women are equal.
3. Global Warming is real, and (by the way) it’s all our fault.*
4. It’s not all relative.
5. ~~Gin is better than Whiskey.~~ Whiskey is better than Gin.
6. Intelligent Design is wrong.
7. Over consumption is a serious problem.
8. The Millennium Development Goals are worthy*.
9. Wilco is good, sometimes exceptional, but often inconsequential.
10. Shit happens (ditto for sex and death).
11. Creationism is silly. (also, see 6)
12. SUV’s are just stupid.
13. The truth is worth more than an iPod*.
14. On the whole, disorder increases.
15. Science, for better or for worse, is all around.

Oregon

Posted on September 4, 2007 by bfyates

I just got back from an Oregon trip with the family and I can echo what Sean said, including the outstanding beaches and parks. I would spend every hour of every day at a beach if I could, so the Oregon coast is in my sweet spot. We spent most of the time in or around Seaside (35C temperatures drove us out of Portland the one day we attempted it). The weather was perfect, sunny and the low 20s. Oregon is definitely the place to go, particularly with young kids, for a summer holiday. Among my daughters’ favourites were the bonfire on the beach, bumper cars, and the vintage carousel.

At left is Ecola State Park, my favourite stretch of sand.

Checking

Posted on August 31, 2007 by bfyates

I’m in agreement with Balloon Juice that this should be filed under General Stupidity. I was an ardent hasher when I lived in Jakarta so of course I consider this to be completely ridiculous. If they had been arrested for public drunkeness – well, that would be understandable.

Link: New Haven Register – ‘White powder’ scare cost agencies $50G.

The cost of the public safety response
to Thursday’s "white powder" scare that closed the Ikea store on
Sargent Drive for four hours was more than $50,000, a city spokeswoman
said Monday. The incident drew dozens of New Haven and state police
officers, firefighters, health department workers, FBI agents and other
personnel from New Haven and neighboring communities, as well as
special equipment from the U.S. Postal Service’s Wallingford processing
center, which authorities say is the only place in the state that has
such equipment.

It prompted the evacuation of Ikea at about 5
p.m. and kept it closed until the next morning — but the "white powder"
turned out to be flour used to mark a running trail by local members of
the international Hash House Harriers running club.

The group holds runs with similar trails all over the world, including New York City, Washington, D.C., and Baghdad….

…On Friday,
Mayorga said officials were inclined to seek restitution from the two
"hashers" who were charged with a felony in the case. She said after a
meeting Monday on the case that no determination was made on whether to
seek restitution…

…Dr.
Daniel Salchow, 37, who is an ophthalmologist at Yale-New Haven
Hospital, and his sister, Dorothee Salchow, 31, a lawyer visiting from
Hamburg, Germany, both were charged with first-degree breach of peace,
a felony. Their lawyer, Michael Jefferson, has pointed out that the
charge applies when a defendant intentionally causes alarm or risk by
placing a material such as a hazardous substance in a public place…