Has anyone else noticed the weather forecasting gaslighting? Or whatever is happening... Is this AI? Perhaps a computer generating models based on measured conditions maybe several days in advance and then sticking to it regardless of what actually transpires? Maybe not even based on measured conditions at all but on averages for the date? (Based… Continue reading The Daily: 26 March 2024
Category: Polemics & Rants
The Daily: 22 March 2024
World Water Day is 22 March 2024. This annual observance was organized by the United Nations in 1993 to focus attention on the importance of freshwater and to promote sustainable freshwater management. Each year a different theme is chosen, centered on topics relevant to clean water, sanitation and hygiene. The theme for 2024 is Water… Continue reading The Daily: 22 March 2024
The Daily: 15 March 2024
The Ides of March & Anna Perenna Today marks 2068 years since Julius Caesar was deposed and murdered by about 60 members of the Roman Senate. Shakespearean drama notwithstanding, this was not just a few disillusioned subjects. The plot was broadly supported and intricately planned. The ruler was stabbed 23 times. We still associate this… Continue reading The Daily: 15 March 2024
The Daily: 12 March 2024
The storm that was not supposed to be a storm ended up dumping over a foot of snow on Central Vermont. My son's town had no power for eight hours on Sunday. Many rural locations did not have power until Monday evening. There were blips all weekend, knocking the electricity out which knocks out computer… Continue reading The Daily: 12 March 2024
The Daily: 7 March 2024
This past week, I was reading a book that was written by a feminist author in 2017. I suppose I had forgotten just how gutted and anxious we all felt in those days. In the pages of this book I heard echoes and almost felt those emotions again. We all thought the world would end.… Continue reading The Daily: 7 March 2024
The Daily: 5 March 2024
Participatory Democracy Today is Town Meeting day in Vermont. For the uninitiated, this is the day when Vermonters pack themselves into school gyms and various meeting halls to vote on town governance for the upcoming year. Officials are elected. Laws are debated and passed. Budgets are assigned. If there are complaints or disturbances, these are… Continue reading The Daily: 5 March 2024
The Daily: 4 March 2024
I was last-Tuesday-years-old when I learned that brassicas are effective phytoremediators. I suppose I should have deduced this from all the mustard that grows lushly on Superfund sites, enlivening the soil after we've made our messes and left the locals for dead. But I never made that connection. I also never noticed that, as I've… Continue reading The Daily: 4 March 2024
The Daily: 27 February 2024
After yesterday's diatribe, I feel rather talked out... but there are a few points that did not get made... somehow... In all the discussion of capitalism and its discontents, there is one thing that is often brushed away, like an annoying gnat. Capitalism is horrible. We acknowledge that. We know that it is destructive. It… Continue reading The Daily: 27 February 2024
The Daily: 26 February 2024
To underline Friday's assertion that everything is falling apart, perhaps led by our economy, in his weekly news summary, Justin at ClimateandEconomy.com shared links to two hypertension-provoking articles. Both were written and published by what we would normally consider conservative experts, those who are more inclined to cheer-lead despite all evidence to the contrary than… Continue reading The Daily: 26 February 2024
The Daily: 23 February 2024
A Parable of the 1%* Imagine a flock of pigeons in a corn field. Imagine that ninety-nine of them, instead of pecking the corn they need and using it as they need it, start to collect all they can into one big heap. Imagine that they do not leave much corn for themselves, but save… Continue reading The Daily: 23 February 2024
