Daily Archives: November 11, 2007

Happy Birthday Neil Young

From my Linux Calendar:

Nov 11
Kurt Vonnegut, Jr, born in Indianapolis, 1922
Nov 11
Washington becomes the 42nd state, 1889
Nov 11
Angola gains independence from Portugal, 1975
Nov 11
Independence Day in Angola
Nov 11
Independence of Cartagena in Colombia
Nov 11
Remembrance Day in Canada
Nov 11
Republic Day in Maldives
Nov 11
Armistice 1918
Nov 11
Aujourd’hui, c’est la St(e) Martin.
Nov 11
Volkstrauertag (maybe)
Nov 11
Veterans’ Day
Nov 11
Se firma el Pacto de San José de Flores, 1859
Nov 11
Dr. Sun Yat-sen’s Birthday in Taiwan
Nov 11
USA first exports oil to Europe, 1861
Nov 11
Neil Young is born in Toronto, 1945
Nov 11
N’oubliez pas les Christian !
Nov 11
Bonne fête aux Josaphat !
Nov 11
Muere Ángel Vicente Peñaloza, “El Chacho”, 1863

When the Effects of Global Warming run Smack Into the Cause of Global Warming

Five ships have sunk, so far, in the vicinity of the Kerch Strait, linking the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, in an incredible storm. One of the ships was a Russian tanker carrying 1,300 tons of fuel oil. Claims are being made that this is one of the worst environmental disasters ever. One of the things that lends significance to this disaster, regardless of how bad the environmental effects are, is the large number of ships that have sunk or have been rescued, and the dozens of sailors that appear to have died. The catch is that this is a result of one of those extreme storms that we seem to be having more and more of all the time. There are those who will always say “well, you can never attribute a single bad storm to global warming… ” Fine. But on the whole, if climate conditions have changed as a result of global warming to intensify storms and/or increase their frequency, then we can not afford to refuse to acknowledge the connection. We simply have to find a way to appreciate the connection if it is there. Denying the link every time there is a big storm is not any longer acceptable.Anyway, this oil spill (plus the other oil spill going on in California) made me wonder if all the talk the Oil Industry used to spout (prior to Exxon Valdez, that is) about how tankers were going to become increasingly safe and that we really had nothing to worry about, meant that things were actually improving in the world of oil spills. So, I got some data and I have some numbers and pretty pictures for you. Continue reading When the Effects of Global Warming run Smack Into the Cause of Global Warming

The 3D Brush

Its a little long, and eventually gets a little annoying, but it is at least an interesting idea.You will recognize the musical trope as being from the 1960s.(Ah, just asking … I’m assuming this is not real, right? I mean, I can’t get one of these right?)