skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Felix Jumper
Girawolf Jumper
Canis Jumper
Random, mostly unrelated events, ranging from scientific brilliance to wretched squalor.
Search This Blog
Labels - You should use these!
About Me
- Jumper
- In the Infosphere, United States
- Artist, Director, Actor, Writer, Scientist. Once upon a time: Petroleum Exploration & Development, Forensic Parts Failure Analysis, Iron Making, Metal Heat Treating, Highway Department, Transformer Materials Research, Didgeridoo Player
Email the Author
Please email me if you like. String together girawolf, the at symbol, and append yahoo dot com.
The older posts are viewed by clicking on the older portions of the archives, below, and / or "older posts" at the bottom of each page.
The older posts are viewed by clicking on the older portions of the archives, below, and / or "older posts" at the bottom of each page.
Weather Links
I worked hard to round up these loops.
Lots of superior info fast.
Big U.S.
North Atlantic
Gulf of Mexico
Gulf Plus Carribbean
Pacific
Lots of superior info fast.
Big U.S.
North Atlantic
Gulf of Mexico
Gulf Plus Carribbean
Pacific
Politics
Open Source etc.
Amusements
Science, Computing, Etc.
Reality Carnival - Clifford Pickover's indispensible site
C-Net - Download.com
Science Daily
Pandora Internet Radio - you won't regret it.
Obscured Clarity
Ron's Primitive Skills
Arctic Economics
STOAT
C-Net - Download.com
Science Daily
Pandora Internet Radio - you won't regret it.
Obscured Clarity
Ron's Primitive Skills
Arctic Economics
STOAT
Felix Jumper
Girawolf Jumper
Canis Jumper
My dentist said he needed a hand like this...
3,525 comments:
«Oldest ‹Older 1401 – 1600 of 3525 Newer› Newest»OMSM, this year will be 2/3 over tonight. I'm late, I'm late...
I've unilaterally proclaimed the August work-month to extend through Labor Day, in hopes I can make my September 1 deadline by August 36. There, problem all fixed!
In other news, "The Beloit College Mindset List for the Class of 2021":
https://www.beloit.edu/mindset/2021/
Among the most personally painful:
...iconic figures who have never been alive in their lifetimes [include] Joe DiMaggio, John F. Kennedy Jr., Walter Payton, and Dusty Springfield.
5. In college, they will often think of themselves as consumers, who’ve borrowed a lot of money to be there.
9. They have never found Mutual Broadcasting or Westinghouse Group W on the radio dial, but XM has always offered radio programming for a fee.
35. A movie scene longer than two minutes has always seemed like an eternity.
50. Wikipedia has steadily gained acceptance by their teachers.
But on the bright side:
11. The Panama Canal has always belonged to Panama and Macau has been part of China.
36. The Latin music industry has always had its own Grammy Awards.
44. There have always been Latino players on the ice in the NHL.
58. Women have always scaled both sides of Everest and rowed across the Atlantic.
Good gracious it is hot in the San Francisco Bay Area. It registered 100 here. Everyone thinks that is odd that the Russian embassy had a fire with blac smoke. Could that be related to the fact the embassy is being closed by the US govt?
Re: Texas Diaper Bank
You can donate to them by going to Amazon and finding their wishlist. Theen made your selections. Amazon will deliver for you.when I made my donation, delivery was toe in two days.
Pacifica
Did the Russians ever own San Francisco? I think they stayed farther north.
My recollection is that the SF Opera House still lacks air conditioning.
I'm taking a quick look for any cheap flights from Orlando, Sept. 9. Hurricane Irma is likely for the 10th. If it avoids us, should be a great opportunity to take pictures at the beach. If not, great time to have the car inland and me elsewhere.
Sigh
Typos
Blac - black
Theen - then
Toe - to be
Tablets are not all they are cracked up to be.
Pacifica
DoC
Russians may have come as close as Northern California.
I think they missed SF proper. As I remember CA history classes from 4th and 5th grade.
I am off to Mr. goggle
Pacifica
Weekend Orlando to Washington National is ridiculously cheap.
Fort Ross in Sonoma county was the southern outpost of Russians in early California history.
Pacifica
The significance of the Russian consulate in SF is the spying it performs on Silicon Valley. Now they'll need to find other ways to steal info.
Last time I was in California (in a September) it was >100F most every day. On a day off the publisher asked where we'd like him to take us and I opted for Half Moon Bay, for the cooler temps (although it was close to 80F even there). Down the coast a bit at the Pigeon Point lighthouse it was foggy, and so chilly that we actually had to slip on lightweight jackets!
Got one of my September 1 deadline projects done today (had needed to wait to hear from someone who'd been on internet-free vacation most of August). Yay me, although I still have a draft of another to complete by Tuesday. Drudge-drudge-drudge...
Downtown SF hit 106 degrees!!!
Caught Joel on Cspan2 interviewing Michael Lewis about his new book at the National Book Festival. Very entertaining - they were classmates at Princeton, so it's a good conversation. And Michael Lewis can talk forever and be interesting, so...It may get replayed - here's the link:
https://www.c-span.org/video/?432540-17/undoing-project
seasea
The GFS hurricane model, at the moment, has Irma aimed directly at Chesapeake Bay. I'm sure the Weather Gang will take note.
I liked the "Undoing Project." I bought it last year for a Christmas gift. Glad to see Joel is doing more stories as of August, although Eclipse, hurricane Harvey, and observatory history apparently is running him a bit ragged.
Mr. Hastings has adjusted to having cleaner and healthier ears, although there is a ways to go. Little things have kept me busy. That stirring of the fall frenzy to store nuts before winter is beginning to make itself felt in my bones.
We can only hope that Congress feels that same frenzy to store nuts in prison before winter comes. ;).
Suesea,
thank you for the Joel-link, it was good to see and hear him again.
Sure is. He's popping up more. No word on the boodle yet.
I suspect the next post, if any, will come after Trump is gone. That's fine by me, as long as we do get to pop virtual champagne then.
Looks like wind will pick up during the day Friday. I can get a really cheap air fare to Washington, Pittsburgh, or a few other nice places for the weekend. Sorely tempted. Go Thurs, return Mon.
At the moment, predicting Irma track that far out is difficult, despite US and European models seeming to converge on south Florida. Could go into the Gulf; landfall in the Carolinas starting to look somewhat less likely.
Dave, if you came to Pittsburgh I'd been happy to meet up with you, but unfortunately I am a full-time care-giver right now without a spare minute.
My unsustainable flurry of travel has been a matter of not currently being a caregiver, which in my case was a privilege.
The hurricane models are quite uncertain at the moment. Everything from the south coast of Cuba getting raked, or their north coast, or a repeat of the Labor Day storm that hit Key Largo, the most intense ever to strike the US mainland. Or Miami or even Tampa. I would not want to be coordinating disaster prep in Tallahassee, or figuring out which military bases to evacuate. MacDill base in Tampa Bay seems a dumb location for major international military operations.
I think the mirror for the next space telescope survived Harvey near Houston.
I'm assuming Joel got pulled off of some longer project. The Post really put people into Texas, even as the federal government is enough to keep a national paper's hands full.
Seeing the photo of him on stage with Michael Lewis was a reminder of Lewis's classic tale of New Orleans after Katrina.
The US has a remarkable propensity, among developed countries, for urban flooding. Could we perhaps go back to the early 20th century and have a fire or two, the kind where everyone escapes? This week's photos from Los Angeles suggest it's possible.
There is a car commercial, didn't catch the brand, where grandson asks granddad in an orange car if he told grandma he was going fishing, as he gets in his wet suit with his surfboard......
Dang that looks like Pacifica beaches, probably Rockaway, could be Linda Mar.
Pacifica
Booked the same hotel in Arlington for the upcoming weekend that I'd booked on short notice at the height of cherry blossoms two years ago. I may have booked the plane a bit too late to escape Orlando. We'll see.
Wooly Mammoth has Arsonists, which I last saw as an undergraduate, as "The Firebugs." It seems timely.
The Post's theater listings indicate an overload, even cutting out shows out in the suburbs. Enough, that the inventive production of Aida might get left out.
Hugs to gmbka. Safe voyage to Dave.
"A master class in writing from John McPhee" (review of McPhee’s latest book, Draft No. 4: On the Writing Process, by Michael Dirda:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/a-master-class-in-writing-from-john-mcphee/2017/09/06/b1d848b0-925b-11e7-aace-04b862b2b3f3_story.html
...As it happens, McPhee himself teaches creative nonfiction at Princeton, and two of his former students — the New Yorker’s editor David Remnick and The Post’s Joel Achenbach — warmly praise their mentor on the jacket of “Draft No. 4.” Apparently derived from that college course, this insider’s guide to long-form journalism, though somewhat meandering, is a book that any writer, aspiring or accomplished, could profitably read, study and argue with... [my emphasis]
Saith McPhee, ...“Creativity lies in what you choose to write about, how you go about doing it, the arrangement through which you present things, the skill and the touch with which you describe people and succeed in developing them as characters, the rhythms of your prose, the integrity of the composition, the anatomy of the piece (does it get up and walk around on its own?), the extent to which you see and tell the story that exists in your material, and so forth. Creative nonfiction is not making something up but making the most of what you have.”
Joel's tweeting from quiet Miami Beach.
Dave, did you get outta Dodge yet? If not, are your prospects still viable?
My flight is 9:25 tomorrow morning. That means leaving here about 5 am to be reasonably sure of showing up suitably early, and assuming traffic is less crazy than it's been today. Right now, long stretches of turnpike and interstate look on Google Maps as if enemy aircraft have been strafing the fleeing victims.
Voluntary evacuation of the beach and east of US 1 began this afternoon; mandatory, tomorrow.
For us, worst case is eye of the storm very close to the Atlantic coast between Pallm Beach County and Melbourne. This afternoon's track across Orlando does a great deal to weaken the storm, terrible for the upper Keys.
"Angels in America" comes to Broadway in February. Should be an instant sellout. I missed part 1 at the movie theaters; part 2 was amazing enough. Nathan Lane as Roy Cohn, alone, was worth the time spent.
Starting to look like another Hugo as far as the track projection goes. Man, the Atlantic is throwing bowling balls fast. Reminds me of John Goodman taking down the nihilists in The Big Lebowski.
After years of listening to Vaughn Martin's Caribbeana on WPFW, I find news commentators pronouncing it BarBOOda quite grating. Spoken by Caribbean natives, it's BarbYOUda. That is all.
American vs British English, stoodent vs styudent.
Especially for yellojkt: The co-creator of the "short-fingered vulgarian" meme you so treasure is retiring as editor of Vanity Fair. "The defining — and controversial — Vanity Fair moments under Graydon Carter":
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/arts-and-entertainment/wp/2017/09/08/the-defining-and-controversial-vanity-fair-moments-under-graydon-carter
To HF: Also, is it "an-TEE-ga" or "an-TEE-gwa"?
To Calypso: I'd never heard "GRO-sher" and "GRO-sher-eez" before this week's discussion of that pronunciation.
P.S. The debate over how to pronounce "grocer" etc. was on Weingarten's Tuesday chat.
AlOOminum not AlYOUminium
Aluminum?
Hey HF, did you catch Jeffrey Brown's story about Dale Chihuly on tonight's PBS NewsHour? Part of it had to do with the controversy over the extent to which he gets credit for work coming out of his workshop (i.e., how much or how little input he has any more).
Dave, did you arrive safely and on-time?
I didn't see the News Hour piece, but Dale's been in the news due to the lawsuit & his health issues.
I don't get the newfound criticism for his credit. It's not news that he hasn't blown anything since the car accident in the 70s that took his eye. It's pretty obvious in all his videos that other folks are acting as gaffer. Pieces of this size aren't solo efforts anyway. How many other famous artist pieces were done by their assistants?
But I'm more a Lino fan...
I was looking for those sunbathers' eyeshades that only block the eyelids. They don't seem to exist anymore. At least on Amazon.
N.B., gmbka! BTW, back in my omnivorous days, I had both the signature chicken wings and some excellent pizza at the Anchor Bar in Buffalo. "The Best Cities for Pizza Lovers – 2017 Edition":
https://smartasset.com/credit-cards/the-best-cities-for-pizza-lovers-2017-edition (see table showing how they reached their calculations)
1. Detroit
2. Buffalo
3. NYC
4. Vancouver, WA.
5. Pittsburgh
6. Peoria, AZ.
7. Providence
8. Mesa, AZ.
9. Toledo & Columbus [tied]
https://i.pinimg.com/236x/37/c4/98/37c498c471659fe7b6c1d2e5b0eacc83--tanning-bed-eyewear.jpg
I guess when something reaches perfection and lasts forever the capitalists require it gone.
Jumper, my mother told me that at the 1939 World's Fair, nylon stockings were on display that were highly run- and snag-resistant. During WW II, however, nylon was diverted to the war effort. After the war, however, manufacturers realized that it wasn't good for their business to sell such a resilient (and therefore less-often replaced) product, hence the switch to stockings that ran and snagged easily.
In current news: "How do zoos prepare for hurricanes?"
https://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/animals/stories/how-do-zoos-and-aquariums-prepare-hurricanes (don't miss the photos of flamingos in the men's room!)
I really like windy.com. It even explains how Irma is responsible for the relatively cool temperatures in the Eastern US.
https://www.windy.com/?30.430,-80.925,5
BBC World Service pronounces Barbuda and Antigua as bar-BYOO-da* and an-TEE-ga, as did NPR's Michele Martin just now.
* Stream of consciousness alert: Reminds me, does anyone still hear from Byoolin?
Some back boodling:
I wonder how many 100 degree days would warrant installing AC in San Francisco. Those days are rare, and likely not worth the expense. I have a rental property in Santa Monica, and it occasionally gets hot, but didn't make it to 100 this year. The hot days seem to be more common, so it may at some point demand AC considering the rent, but when? Is 51 out of 52 weeks without weather requiring AC weather okay? 50? 49? The current tenant is happy with the current situation, and has declined my offer to reinstall the window AC that used to be in one of the bedrooms.
Typically Fall is warmer in SF than Summer(!) because it's not so foggy.
Alunimum (US) and aluminium (Brit) are two different names for the element Al, not two ways of pronouncing the same spelling.
There are a lot of words and especially proper nouns (place names, people's names, etc.) that aren't pronounced the way an American would say them based on their spelling. Someone with a West Indian accent (Jamaica, Trinidad, etc.) would demonstrate that in the first sentence. Other British names, too, such as Davies is an alternate spelling of Davis, same pronunciation, although an American would likely pronounce it differently, thinking different spelling = different pronunciation.
Aida at Kennedy Center. First live opera in years. Still amazing that singers can be so loud.
Southwest cancelled my flight back to Florida on Tuesday. Rebooking with them meant coming back the 16th, so I found a good fare on the 12th with United.
Dave of the Coonties
Dave, are you sure they're not being amplified? LA's Dorothy Chandler Pavilion is. The old European opera houses are a lot smaller.
It's a relatively compact theater. I guess seating under 2,000. I don't think any really nosebleed seats.
Dave
Did homework. Opera house seats a bit under 2,300. 2016 Post story explains that acoustics are fine for unamplified, but highly hostile to amplified. You need different design.
Dave
Amazon apparently wants a sort of auction to choose the city where its second HQ will be. When a telemarketer calls, I hang up without explanation as soon as I realize it's a telemarketer, often at the tone that indicates the automated dialing system has handed off to the individual telemarker -- I buy stuff, but I will choose the source, not the source choosing me. In the Amazon case, they should make their decision based on what they know about the cities, not a city's brown nosing. I guess the bids from the cities alter what Amazon knows about them, although a lot of the cities' attributes are just what they are, not changed by the bid.
Jim,
Cities overbid each other to attract companies who then leave when the promised tax relieves run out. Pittsburgh practically built an airport for US Air, only to see that they moved their hub to another place after a few years. This practice costs the taxpayer dearly.
I say 90 degree days warrant air conditining. Heck, I get sick sleeping at anything above 74 degrees. I'm not a lizard.
Joel is doing a flurry of hurricane tales with other reporters, reporting from Miami. 9/9 through today. Better him than me, but really why are out of state reporters even there?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2017/09/09/never-seen-anything-like-it-governor-issues-new-warning-as-florida-sees-first-signs-of-hurricane-irmas-winds-and-rain/?utm_term=.6fe22c9cb1e8
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/stories-from-irma-feeling-powerless-as-the-storm-finally-arrives/2017/09/10/7682979e-9647-11e7-b569-3360011663b4_story.html?utm_term=.fe56a3a92ad2
I'm having a bit of a grumpy start to this Monday of all Mondays. A pillow seems a good friend later on today.
Uh-oh, if I say what I've long thought of Sally Quinn, she might put a hex on me, too! Of course, I don't believe in such bunk, so maybe I should dare her, just to show her up. Also, if I say what I really think of Quinn, Jumper would be justified in banning me from the bunker.
“Sally Quinn’s hexes, marital ultimatums and visceral love of her son”:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/sally-quinns-hexes-marital-ultimatums-and-visceral-love-of-her-son/2017/09/08/94694dfe-882b-11e7-961d-2f373b3977ee_story.html
Book review by Connie Schultz (Pulitzer-prize winning columnist, and wife of Sen. Sherrod Brown [D-Oh]).
EDIT: The reCAPTCHA test had photos of freeway sign in Florida (doubtless not how the scene's looking today).
Looks like other readers are saying that on the article itself for you, NP. If you fear being hexed, well, get up your magic defenses first.
I'll consider myself thoroughly immune to hexes, if not to crazy, and the best way is not to engage.
I did wonder about a certain priest, though, and beyond-the-grave hexes, but only passingly, as in "what if it could happen" way. It's useless to prosecute the dead, anyway-- besides, the priest lived.
Which to my mind would be a superior hex, and possibly merciful in allowing for redemption. Wishing death on people is amateur hour as hexes go; it does little good. What a small-spirited woman. She should marry Dick Cheney next.
So, is everyone present and/or accounted for, in Florida? DotC is touring around, and Vuk is in . . . Mobile, isn't he? I'm waiting for a couple of people to check in from Tampa, and another couple skedaddled northward to Parts Unknown.
This "hurricane" business is MOST annoying - I think they do it on purpose, to make people worry.
Family report fallen trees and general mess east of Tampa but no damage to homes and power is back. The report from my street is lots of debris but power back and no apparent home damage. The botanical garden in Ft Pierce suffered some damage but the bonsai are safe and the house untouched. I should be back around 2 am Wed.
I don't know how the Keys, Naples, and the Ft Myers area fared. That's partly out of suspicion that early reports won't be very good.
Dave
Having to be able to restore distribution lines after a hurricane is an interesting aspect of electricity capacity planning in the south-east. When I did the analysis for our project to integrate the input data for the three major planning systems used in the industry, the guy at FPL in Miami was the only one who mentioned that sort of thing. It seems lineworkers from all over show up and the local utility houses them.
The capacity planning systems model day-by-day electricity consumption and production, including population growth, energy efficiency programs and changes in technology, weather, and the scheduled introduction, maintenance and retirement of generating equipment, with unplanned outages and extreme events thrown in randomly. The idea is that after multiple simulations with different parameters the utility can see when it will need to add capacity, because there's a long lead time on a power plant.
It looks like hurricain Jose, after dawdling out in the Atlantic, may hit the Carolinas in a couple of weeks.
Jim, hope not; they usually don't forecast more than 5 days in advance at a time.
It's dropped to Cat 1 at this point and will be moving in circles for a while and I am hoping it peters out in cooler waters. If it revives it will not be pretty and could strike further north-- or even Florida. We will know more by Friday, I think.
HF posted this comment re Weingarten's chat today:
In the summer, roasted beets with goat cheese, fresh basil, and a drizzle of vinaigrette.
esda-beth replied:
Yummm, but don't forget the walnuts, HF!
https://live.washingtonpost.com/gene-weingarten-20170912.html
I love beets like that. And pickled beets, too.
Poirot posted this hearty Borscht recipe for the boodle a few years ago:
http://boodle(dot)wikifoundry(dot)com/page/Beef+and+Beet+Borscht
I make mine meatless, subbing vegetable broth plus a little tomato, soy sauce and red wine. To save time, I use a food-processor to grate onions, potatoes, carrots, cabbage (preferably red, purely for esthetic reasons) and (unlike Weingarten) lots of cooked beets. We prefer our Borscht hot, and I enjoy a little with my sour cream :-) YMMV.
Dave, are you home yet? If so, how are conditions there? Hope you're encountering the least-bad situation possible, and that your family/friends are all OK. Was the botanical garden relatively unscathed? We're all thinking of you.
Amazon just offered me "On The Writing Process" by John McPhee. I can't resist such an offer.
I wonder how the robot detection folks settled on street signs and cars as the most reliable indicators.
Oh Jim, that Amazon can read you like an open book ;-)
A couple of boodle faves "knock one out of the park":
"White House's Call for Jemele Hill's Firing Is Trip to Edges of Crazytown," by Charles P. Pierce:
https://www.si.com/tech-media/2017/09/13/jemele-hill-espn-donald-trump-white-supremacist-statement
"White House Rejects Supremacist Label: 'No One Has Done More Than Trump to Prove White People Are Not Superior'" by Andy Borowitz:
https://www.newyorker.com/humor/borowitz-report/white-house-rejects-supremacist-label-no-one-has-done-more-than-trump-to-prove-white-people-are-not-superior
Yeah, NP, they nailed me on that. Of course if I had been browsing a bookstore and seen it, I would have got it there. Amazon's coup is the bookstore doesn't exist.
"Will Donald Trump Destroy the Presidency? He disdains the rule of law. He’s trampling norms of presidential behavior. And he’s bringing vital institutions down with him":
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/10/will-donald-trump-destroy-the-presidency/537921/
I was unaware that "Democracy Dies in Darkness" had already for some time been WaPo's in-house motto.
On an upbeat note, the Union survived Nixon.
I've been making an effort to better seal my old cheap water smoker of late. I managed to melt the seal on the charcoal access door. The sealing rope around the top isn't quite placed right and will need to be re-glued. But the big surprise today came because the water pan developed a nice pinhole leak. It didn't appear at all damaged, but that little pinhole was peeing on my charcoal. It unloaded half the pan before I realized what's going on.
The best plan of action would probably be to give up, empty the wet charcoal, and start over. Am i doing that? No! More charcoal, more electric starter and boil off the water. It's steaming nicely now, but I'm not sure how long it will take before I start to build temperature.
That's funny. :-D
While visiting Washington, I was taken by the frieze wrapped around the National Building Museum, once the Pension Office that dispensed checks to Union veterans. It's a whole US Army on the march, a fitting memorial.
Of course much of the city is a monument to that enormous struggle. I worry that the re-establishmen of the Republic, and the following remake from the New Deal (lots more buildings) may end up in the style of Argentina. At least no suppression, yet, of the Wooly Mammoth.
Dave
Dave, the Theatre or the extinct elephant?
FWIW, there's a great free show at Lisner Auditorium tonight. It's the annual recognition concert for the the NEA's National Heritage Fellows. Nine artists are awarded for a lifetime of work. It's always a wonderful show. This year I happen to know one of the fellows. Phil Wiggins is a bit of a hero of mine... monster harmonica player, local boy, and a really nice guy.
There are tickets available still. Even if it does 'sell out' you can usually show up and get in.
The little theater with the splendidly designed facility.
Washington has lately been by far the cheapest major city to fly to from Orlando, so I need to think about dropping up more often.
"Dropping UP"? Newton must be spinning in his grave ;-)
Same-old, same-old here, which is preferable to a number of the alternatives.
Looking at the auction for second Amazon HQ. I would think it's obvious that being in the northwest or even west part of the country is a disqualification -- Seattle is already there. I haven't seen that mentioned.
Jim, that would seem obvious, but Tacoma is pushing itself for its proximity to Seattle. Not sure why Amazon is doing this exactly, but I've thought it was overstretching itself for many years, and it just keeps growing. And it's not really a bad idea, given earthquakes, traffic, expansion constraints in Seattle. Never understood why Boeing moved its headquarters to Chicago - or rather, understood, but didn't agree with it.
seasea
HeadFool, I knew Phil Wiggins way back when we were in high school. He was a friend of someone at church. I played with him once at a coffeehouse. He was excellent and I was not. I haven't seen him in decades. I have some records he did with John Cephas. Very sad to hear of Cephas's death a few years ago. He was a superb guitarist and he and Wiggins were great together.
Hi, everybody. I haven't been here in a while. I'll have to read earlier posts.
Dave, have you gotten back home? What is that like after Irma?
gmbka, I'm sorry to hear about your new status. Hugs to you both.
A "focus on core competencies" is a widely held idea in modern business. Here's an insidious side-effect. (Sorry if it's behind a paywall.)
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/03/upshot/to-understand-rising-inequality-consider-the-janitors-at-two-top-companies-then-and-now.html?action=click&contentCollection=Economy&module=RelatedCoverage®ion=Marginalia&pgtype=article
To elaborate, my company, a megabank, has contractors doing all sorts of things, from janitors to security guards to catering to IT functions. That saves money compared to having those people be captive employees. It saves money because they are paid less than employees -- fewer or no benefits, lower pay. One can understand the logic, but the overall effect is fewer "middle class" positions are offered for the same volume of business, a number which is also being reduced through AI and other computer applications. (My job is to find ways to make the processes more efficient, which translates to fewer people doing them.) Meanwhile the population increases, so the number of workers minus the number who can find a "middle class" position increases even faster. That's part of where Drumpf's support came from.
PJ!
Very cool. I've jammed with Phil and taken classes from him at Archie's Barbershop. He shows up to their jam somewhat erratically. I haven't been in a couple years either. I remember one jam where I was sitting next to Phil. They trade solos around the circle. He signals me to go ahead of him. I have no problem following him, I know he's going to blow me out of the water. But I went ahead, then sat back and watched the master.
I never really knew John Cephas. He died about the time I started playing (again). My first Blues Week at Augusta was after he passed... emotions were really flowing that week. He... they... were such a core part of that week. At one of the instructor showcases, Phil came out and did a heartbreaking solo instrumental version of 'So Lonesome I Could Cry'.
I've been back in town since very early Wednesday.
Wed: recovering from getting back at 5 am. Electricity is on.
Thurs: Air conditioner fails
Friday: Air conditioner problem worse than expected, so the tech manages to show up precisely as I was leaving for the dentist. In a typical small-town situation, I left the door unlocked and he closed the garage door when he left.
Sat: Deathly sick from Friday's immunizations. Slept all day.
Sun: Up late, major progress on cleaning next door neighbor's yard (small branches, twigs, leaves), my back yard still needs some small debris cleanup.
City achieved 100% power on, this morning. I had no significant damage to the yard, not a single hanging branch for the arborist, though a dangling palm leaf is going to be unsightly.
PJ,
You planned another music-trip to Europe. Have you gone yet? If so, how did it go?
So, Dave,
I hope you at least had a very nice long weekend because the return turned out not to be all that great in unsuspected ways. Wishing you a good recovery from all the aggravation, and soon.
gmbka,
My trip to London is at the end of October, so about six weeks away. Weren't you going to take a trip back to Germany? Did that get canceled?
Dave,
Glad to hear that you are getting better. Also good to hear that you don't survived the hurricane intact. Having power and AC back is great. Loved the anecdote about small-town life and the AC tech!
PJ,
yes, sadly I had to cancel it because more important things popped up. Such is life.
gmbka, you and your husband are in my thoughts as you both go through this challenging time. I hope you have helpers to "spell" you occasionally during your care-giving, so your own health isn't adversely affected.
PJ, good to hear from you, and to learn that you're well enough to make your grand trip.
Dave, glad to know you and your community are coping and helping one another.
Today in Apoplexy: "Trump says he wants a massive military parade down Pennsylvania Avenue on July 4":
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2017/09/18/trump-says-he-wants-a-massive-military-parade-down-pennsylvania-avenue-on-july-4/
What a pity if those tanks tore up the street in front of Donny's hotel ;-)
Spent several hours at the Botanical Garden, mostly raking twigs. Lots and lots of twigs. The bonsai collection suffered no damage, apart from a broken pot for a low-value tree. Some seriously damaged and fallen trees. As elsewhere, the oaks suffered leaf burn on their windward sides, and those leaves are falling. I expect new leaves in a week or so. Most of the ground-level plants, other than those with thin, delicate leaves, fared well. Begonias, aroids did fine, caladiums, not so much. Fortunately, plenty of caladium bulbs are on hand to help fill beds.
Also worked in the yard, which needs several more hours of bagging twigs and other trash. Town supposedly began curbside debris collection today. There's quite a bit of it. Fortunately essentially all seems to be tree and shrub; I haven't spotted any ruined sofas or blue tarps yet, so it's far better than the 2004 hurricanes.
Don't remember that Borscht recipe. I don't think I ever made it. However as I thawed out phyllo dough which was both copious an too fragile for samosas, I made spanakopita and moussaka for the first times last week.
Since I am distant from Greek restaurants to compare, I shan't brag to the taste, but I'm happy to say the recipes turned out well enough and edible even with my modifications-- and very filling. (3 eggs with greek yogurt flavored with hard cheeses vs 1 egg with ricotta cheese, adding mushrooms to the spinach, etc..) I also found the spanakopita easier than quiche or lasagna with phyllo at hand, so will make again.
As part of a needed break from the news grind, I commemorated the 4th anniversary of a haiku legend's passing by finishing up a posthumous blog (the story carries on-- has carried on for years in a manuscript, but the blog is done for now.)
http://2nddogtor.blogspot.com/2017/09/a-sticky-razor-and-mouse-wreaths.html
Of course, the blog starts here and can be read with a simple click at the bottom to the next installment, quite quickly.
http://2nddogtor.blogspot.com/2013/12/the-second-dog-tor-is-born.html
Gmbka, been through the caregiving grist. You can reach out for volunteers and friends to help you get respite. Hospice for the dying is good for getting some chores done, and the occasional volunteer. Mr. Hastings enjoyed all the company coming over a few days a week.
Even though the physical demand was not great, the emotional demand was great, and "being there" is so much what is needed that I don't think I even got more than 1/2 mile away much of the time. I remember 3 times I actually got away to hike over 6 months, just psychologically leaving the "town" to head to a trail usually brought up the emotion I was having problems conveying at home.
But as DotC says, it is a privilege. My wishes are with you and I hope you will ask for what you need. I went to a caregivers workshop long after the fact and they mentioned some online tools that can be used to put demands out there for a whole network to see. https://www.carecalendar.org/ was an example.
Aarp also has some support. http://www.aarp.org/home-family/caregiving/qa-tool/
I also found online support groups for my dad's diagnosis to be of some help, although heartbreaking at the same time.
Be well. There's a time to travel and a time to rest. My life has veered from one extreme to another recently. I'm glad my shoulder rehab went well enough I can drive and type more again, but travels are at an ebb right now anyway.
Pup,
you have been through that twice and I am still in awe. You are right, having to be present and the emotional stress take a lot out of a caregiver. But I am in the enviable position to hire people, so I can be off for errands, shopping and a walk for 3 hrs every weekday and quite possibly for 2 hrs on weekends if that works out. I also found out that a baby-monitor is a time- and energy saving device without which I wouldn't even be able to do laundry in the basement.
The steady stream of house-guests, adult children and relatives, is good and necessary for the patient and them, but for now I am relieved that for the next couple of weeks nobody announced their arrival.
Hospice care here is excellent.
Over all I am grateful for every day I can be a caregiver.
Yeah, I would have liked something like a baby monitor (which was not doable for me), but Mr. Hastings had to be my butler and companion to my dad while he was still able to interact. He nabbed a leak in the oxygen hose once, and in general enjoyed the company.
After a while I let him be out more in the yard for his own sake as my dad was not able to interact with him as much (throwing balls tired him.)
In my case it was concurrently. I have a friend who is caregiving her husband and has been doing so for over 9 months and she also went through an extended period with her mother. She is a retired doctor so she is more psychologically prepared and has gotten a lot of help, but it is still a great toll.
Be well. Today is Speak like a Pirate Day, but I can't muster up any arrrs today.
Well, my long-delayed ham pie recipe will have me up past bedtime. Surely a first-world complaint. I ran out of half the needed baking powder for the biscuits so had to think fast. Some baking soda and sour cream will just have to do, Very cheesy biscuits atop a ham, onion, celery, and bell pepper gravy started with a big can of cream of chicken soup; and baked until tops of biscuits brown.
Two leaders of nuclear armed states, both crazy as loons and with one negotiating tactic between them (the delicate mixture of brinksmanship & bluster)... what could go wrong?
Do we still have a Stanislav Petrov between Trump and NK? In 1983 SP ignored faulty signals that indicated a US missile attack on USSR. The current version may need to ignore signals from Trump to launch.
I did not know his name, but Stanislav Petrov was a real hero. Now I mostly hope for a hero on our side, somebody who will risk his career, freedom, and possibly his life by ignoring the faulty signals coming out of the White House.
Normal yard trash collection (bagged or bundled) happened as usual, on time, and my 26 heavy contractor bags were duly emptied (much of the stuff was from next door, endless twigs and leaves, two bags just of grass clippings, too thick to mulch).
Afternoon, while I was out, a Bobcat and an improvised hauling truck came by and did the tidiest possible job of removing everyone's big curbside debris.
Worked another four hours at the Botanical Garden. Part was serious stuff, cutting some reasonably large branches and clipping shrubs too close to the bonsai (and cutting part of a fallen olive tree too close to a bonsai). And some, shall we say, propaganda. tidying some bits of hedge behind bonsai and, noticing that a hedge behind a bonsai at the entrance to the gallery was somehow extremely tidy, as if the bonsai curator had clipped it, I gave the rest of that short hedge the same treatment, plus some other bits of landscape near the entrance. The Director had taken photos of the area in distressed condition.
Jumper, Ham pie is a first for me. I grew up on boiled dinner and scalloped potates and ham. I've never been fond of ham wellington. Maybe I'll try that sometime when I buy ham next, preferably on sale. Probably not for a while as it is so salty.
I have to try/make a proper tourtiere sometime, but that's just pork.
I am trying not to think about North Korea right now. Manafort has been "told he will be indicted" but rumors say he already has been (which makes sense, really)-- dozens of sealed indictments ready to go.
We have to fight this new healthcare repeal-- after Sept 30 the 51 vote provision expires and it will need a 2/3 majority. I really think this is a side stunt.
Sen. Chuck Grassley is trying to subpoena FBI to tell him more about the Trump campaign investigation and he is flirting with obstruction of justice if he does that. He has been photographed with Russians before, and I think he's in this up to his neck.
If there is justice served I would expect a significant number of Members of Congress to be indicted, plus members of the Trump administration, and the RNC too. Sen. Grassley would be one. Chaffetz already resigned.
A charity in Alabama backed Roy Moore (its former president, okay?) and a charity watchdog (CLC) called for them to be investigated by the IRS.
All signs are of an impending political explosion on our home soil. I just hope it happens by Halloween. I fear that if it is delayed much longer, there will be more destruction to our institutions and others will take action.
DotC, I have not done 4 hours of yardwork on my yard for over 2 months. I wish it were otherwise, but the heat is strong. I am considering setting up a raised garden bed so I can start next spring earlier than later.
This year has been disappointing, I am sure the soil mix I bought was not good enough (peat moss, manure, topsoil.) and has been retaining too much moisture. I have found mushrooms growing in it even after proper drainage of the plastic containers.
I am considering mulch, but would like tips for a good soil mix to start.
I looked over political reports on the health care bill. I think it's likely to pass. Perhaps Alaska Sen. Murkowski is critical, and perhaps her having been bullied last time around will matter. Apparently Republican senators feel obligated to vote for a repeal--they got a lot of bad feedback from repeal failure, so they're willing to vote for the nastiest repeal yet.
A fair number of theaters around the country (mostly AMC?) are running Miyazaki animations. "Spirited Away" for Halloween weekend.
The wrecking of Puerto Rico seems thorough. It may be days until a road is open from San Juan to the northwest corner of the island.
I had been avoiding yard work this summer. Post-hurricane, we had average to slightly below average temperatures, which was helpful.
Today was 3 hours of cleanup and tidying in the Japanese Garden. Mostly stuff that's necessary routinely. Debris had been mostly cleared earlier.
Pup, you missed one. But Seth Meyer's has your back. Here's his "Check In" on Dana Rohrabacher.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJPrHCCLUDg
HF, Seth's exposé of Rohrabacher was a masterpiece!
Breaking: McCain to vote against Graham-Cassidy. All appropriate digits crossed for one or more additional nays.
P.S. Rand Paul has already stated he'll vote against Graham-Cassidy, albeit on grounds he considers it not draconian enough. Strange bedfellows...
Saved by McCain, again. I don't suppose Rand Paul will change his mind because, well, Obamacare is so terrible and the Kentucky legislature so much better.
ISO the wisdom of the Boodle. Agree or disagree? I heard American Nobel Peace Laureate (re landmines) Jody Williams speaking out movingly on this matter on BBC.
"Should Aung San Suu Kyi's Peace Prize Be Revoked Over the Rohingya Genocide?":
http://www.truth-out.org/speakout/item/42024-should-aung-san-suu-kyi-s-peace-prize-be-revoked-over-the-rohingya-genocide (Full disclosure: Truth Out is a *gasp* progressive website)
See also, "Five Nobel Laureates urge Aung San Suu Kyi to defend Rohingya Muslims":
http://www.truth-out.org/speakout/item/42024-should-aung-san-suu-kyi-s-peace-prize-be-revoked-over-the-rohingya-genocide
I am not sure mushrooms are a sign of something wrong, esp. if the soil contains exhausted mushroom farm compost. I suggest a small addition of native silt or even some clay; not too much.
All I have going now is a very late potato plant. It is loving life with glorious health and vigor. I think it will make a late crop.
Happy equinox!
Mushrooms are everywhere. You just only see them when they send up reproductive structures to spread spores.
Dave, would composting the soil until it gets good and hot kill off mushroom spores?
I don't know anything about spore dormancy. They probably don't like high heat, so a compost pile that generates a lot of its own warmth might kill off fungi and spores. Of course we've heard of spontaneous combustion. For the most part, having mushroom mycelium and slime molds in the mulch would seem fairly harmless. But try to find expert advice--I live in a climate where a heap of oak leaves and lawn clippings will shrink surprisingly fast.
Thinking of heat, the Miami Herald's reconstruction of what happened at that nursing home without air conditioning at Hollywood appears highly competent, and is frightening. The building had two separate electric inputs, one for air conditioning an one for all other electricity. Staff, including physicians, were utterly slow to realize that lack of air conditioning was driving patients toward death. They did not have a means set up to contact the power company or to provide auxiliary power. Attention was finally paid at the hospital next door when dying nursing home patients started arriving at the emergency room.
This is looking like a classic case of non-dramatic failure. Bungling.
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/weather/hurricane/article174826711.html?#emlnl=Afternoon_Newsletter
A few Washington photos, almost entirely of the phone variety. Not good for someone who tries to do decent work with a real camera.
https://flic.kr/s/aHsm9mDQ4n
Turtle Ocean at the Natural History Museum.
https://flic.kr/s/aHsm9mErxD
Nice photos. You made it to a few places I've never been. I am off to the NY Botanical Gardens in the Bronx today. We planned this trip months ago but it seems there is a beer festival there today. Nobody will believe we didn't know in advance.
It was a nice way to start the day looking at your pictures, even if they don't live up to "your" expectations. I wonder how many miles you have to walk through downtown Washington to see an attractive building, but I have been in DC only twice for a short visit and may have come away with the wrong impression. The church above a gas station made me cringe.
I liked the plastic art, even more so when finally in the end it was explained how the materials were acquired.
Yello, you are right. Nobody who knows you a little will believe that this is a coincidence. How is your elbow doing?
The elbow is probably as good as it's gong to get. It's got about 85% of its full range so I can wash my hair and lift a mug of beer but can't do any yoga.
I've still never been to the NYBG, despite a fellow grad student making a great career there. It's the best.
Very nice photos, Dave. Glad you got to the Botanical Garden. The outside garden is small, but they put a lot in there and it's very peaceful to walk through and a relaxing place to sit on one of the benches. They take good care of it.
It's nice to see a photo of the old terminal at National, too. It was added onto many times, so other angles of it aren't all that attractive, but I always liked the front of the original building.
Yello, if you can lift an Oktoberfest mug, which contains one liter, you are in relatively good shape. The yet unanswered question is, can you bicycle?
Jumper and DotC, thanks. No, the mushrooms are not the concern, the damp is, and the fact that the plants grew so slowly and poorly.
That suggests something is off with the soil bacteria balance, (hence the mushrooms.) Possibly also acidity, but mushrooms are composters, of course, so the dung may simply be insufficently composted.
The mushrooms look like possible inky caps (very common)-- closest is Parasola laceta, similar-- pale grey on a thin stalk and seem to have spread from a neighbor's yard-- he has a specific spot that has chronic problem with heavy saturation and sprouts mushrooms. Everywhere else is fine. I've drilled drainage and the containers have rocks on the bottom which should help drain and reserve some soil. So it's just frustrating.
DotC, these are sharp enough but your focus is the real feature of these photographs!
I like the capitol rising from the botanical gardens. I've been there-- used to picnic lunch there at a job log ago-- but not had that particular view. Did you get to do the Conservatory? I also like the National Arboretum but that's a long way from the tourist track.
Thanks for sharing the Turtle Ocean exhibit.
1. Visited the NYBG long ago, when a friend worked there. Rained most of the day, so mainly saw indoors facilities.
2. "Delta Is Adding a Ton of New Flights to Europe in 2018":
https://www.cntraveler.com/story/delta-is-adding-a-ton-of-new-flights-to-europe-in-2018
3. Will be interesting to watch how NFL teams handle the anthem situation (and how crowds respond) this weekend, in the wake of Trump's bluster; already the Ravens and Jags (playing in London) have given him the middle finger.
The German election resulted in losses for the two big parties and the populist, anti-immigrant and anti-everything right-wing party became the third largest party in parliament. So it goes, again. Merkel's party won, but she is going to have a hard time to form a coalition since the Social Democratic Party insists on going into the opposition. Even with all that it can't get worse than it is here.
Re the Rohingya situation. About 30 years ago we vacationed in SE Asia, including two weeks in Sri Lanka. A beautiful place, and I loved the Peradeniya Botanical Garden near Kandy in the highlands. It was maybe five months after the first bombing in the eventual Sinhalese-Tamil civil war so tourists were staying away, and those of us who braved it had the place to ourselves. Our host was a woman who became a friend of my sister when they were both attending a cartography course in the Netherlands. She arranged a driver/guide for us, who shephered us around the country. One stop was Kandy where supposedly one of Buddha's teeth is the precious relic in the Temple of the Tooth, and there was a festival on that topic at that time. Besides the botanical garden, we went to the nearby Peradeniya University and met where sister's friend's older sister, who was Professor of Buddhist Studies. Over tea, we discussed Sri Lanka's state, especially the Sinhalese-Tamil hostility. She gave quite a diatribe about how horrible Tamils are, which I found surprising. When I asked what was the greatest event in the island's history, she said it was the introduction of Buddhism. That experience, combined with the events in Burma, makes me wonder if all Buddhists are as peaceful and contemplative as the standard model. Perhaps Buddhist societies become tribal wrt others.
China and Japan were predominantly Buddhist societies. I think humans are humans and that it is hard to be detached when your family and neighbors are under threat, and that dehumanization of the foe is common.
IIRC, the Tamil terrorists (many from India) really did come close to ripping Sri Lanka apart as a democracy. The hate is probably merited as a gut reaction to any threat.
Christ after all preached to turn the other cheek, and look at all the wars waged in Christianity's name.
Cows are gentle critters; although bulls can fight and are dangerous, they are pretty placid in India. Yet the Hindi word for "war" literally means "cow protection."
I think this week is a good week to get some fresh air and out and about now the heavy rains are about done.
The history of southeast Asia is not exactly kind and gentle.
A revised Cassidy-Graham bill will be made public tomorrow, loaded with goodies for Republican senators inclined to vote against. Maybe enough goodies to provoke a few others to cry "Bribery" and refuse? Unlikely. I take it that McCain and Paul are firm "no" unless perhaps Paul can be threatened withs something really nasty.
The NY Times has an editorial pleading for adequate federal aid for Puerto Rico. My comment mentioned the British parliament's response to the Irish potato famine.
About ten years earlier than you I personally experienced the people of Sri Lanka as extremely gracious and friendly, but I never had the chance to explore their attitudes towards the Tamils. There must be a reason why the Tamils are rejected, and I would guess that it is religion. What I don't understand is why the 70% of Buddhists in Sri Lanka who would not kill a fly have no problem with killing Hindus, as they did in Sri Lanka.
We too traveled with another couple in a car with driver, who was extremely helpful in explaining the culture of the country. Among many other things he explained to us that becoming a Buddhist monk is the goal of most Buddhists, although most of them limit it to one year. And giving food to the monks is an honor for which the donors thank the recipient.
We dined at one time in the hut of a fisherman on, what else, fish, with a baby in some dirty rags lying on the floor. The fish was delicious, but we were appalled by the ambiente. It was an unforgettable trip.
I don't exactly see ever getting to Sri Lanka.
When the British introduced tea plantations, which required a lot of workers, the Sinhalese weren't interested, so Tamils were recruited in India, also under British rule. Maybe the Sinhalese attitude to them is analogous to some US folks' attitude to Mexicans.
On our tour of the island, our Sinhalese driver took us to a small spice plantation run by a Tamil friend of his, so the animosity wasn't universal. (The open warfare didn't start until a few years later.)
I decided to look up whether Australia had agriculture, since Australians settled Australia over 60K years ago, and the nearest area Papua New Guinea also has very rich and diverse agriculture. That would be evidence that agriculture existed much earlier than the archaeological evidence shows so far.
http://nationalunitygovernment.org/pdf/2014/Evidence_for_Indigenous_Australian_Agriculture.pdf
Yes. Aborigines had 19 native crops. They planted and traded seeds, and did firestick agriculture (like prieta terra.) and as quoted by a surveyor, "they never dug a yam without placing the crown in the same hole so no diminution of the food supply should occur."
Archaeological records of agriculture in Asia and Europe is around 33,000 years old at the best. http://theplate.nationalgeographic.com/2015/09/11/ancient-oat-discovery-may-poke-more-holes-in-paleo-diet/
Cattail tubers and indeed up to 140 different species of plants also were eaten by Neolithic peoples (and also in the New World—by Ojibwa to this day). The earliest granary known is around 11,300 years ago. though. http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2009/06/ancient-waves-wild-grain Neanderthals ate pine nuts and mushrooms (and moss) in Europe. Many pine species are harvested for their larger nuts, including pinions in the SW and Mexico, but one species has been cultivated around 5,000 years. A lot of our crops are only known to be 4-20K years old in cultivation. But that’s just crops, not agriculture. We have seen huge crop shifts in recent history. The Columbian exchange released a lot of new crops to the Old World-- over 37 species, with sweeping changes to cuisines worldwide.
When humans are using related plants in different lands, that suggests deep knowledge. Jiang (Zizania latifolia) and manoomin (wild rice) are two very similar crops. Jiang is no longer grown for its grain, but rather as a stem vegetable available in monsoon season. Wild rice (3 species in North America) is still grown in lakes and cultivated/threshed for its grain. So, even while the proof is only 3,600 years old for wild rice harvests, I bet agriculture is much older, maybe more than 60K years old—perhaps 130,000 years old, as modern humans left Africa.
Aborginal agriculture may offer a possible model for how this worked in a nomadic lifestyle in subtropical climes. 1) scattered plots: no eggs in one basket; reduced disease risk. When mixed with neighbor’s plots, promotes cooperation, keeps company, and reduces abuse/guarding of semicommons. http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/468066 2) Transhumance: seasonal migration; more water sources found and used, safety against fire. 3) No heavy harvests with lots of food to carry (caching may have occurred.) 4) Reliance on many crops for year-around food 5) low-labor cost per plot.
#5 is crucial. Tubers fit the bill—yams can be harvested 7-12 months after planting—more wriggle room. Preparing it is work, though. Potato farming made an easy life for the Irish until the famine, too.
OTH, Grains had to be harvested all at once, with lots of labor, but they could be stored for years in storehouses and jars. This may be the real cause of civilization—sedentary agriculture & increased labor/cooperation. Or it may be, as some archaeological evidence indicates, that sedentary gatherings made grains more feasible to grow as major crops. Or it was a mix of both.
Rice farming & wheat farming require different strategies, and a study showed there is indeed a sharp change in collectivism vs more individualism in China right on the rice/ wheat growing region boundaries. https://www.economist.com/news/science-and-technology/21601812-or-rather-what-you-grow-eat-you-are-what-you-eat
I think it’s impressive that 60-15K years ago humans were around the world and would eventually domesticate plants and animals on about every continent but Antarctica. I doubt they set out on that long journey without already having the concepts down and ways to preserve that knowledge.
Rice farming required extraordinary community coordination. There should be some studies of traditional rice growing in west Africa, which of course was transplanted to the Carolinas, under duress.
Australia has a notoriously unreliable climate and tends to be short of fertile soils, so it wasn't going to be another Mexico or Fertile Crescent, yielding a bounty of plants for more or less sedentary gardeners. New Zealand was a bit better, but the Maori didn't have a broad selection of crop plants until the British showed up.
Migration works very, very well for many animals; birds and whales, among others, have made specialties of it, and there are suggestions that even dinosaurs moved around a lot. There's every reason to believe that sedentary living and serfdom was usually a bad deal for humans. Of course there's a recent book making that argument.
I need to finally visit Abbott’s Frozen Custard, which might lose its location to an intersection reconstruction that was intended about a decade ago, but got postponed by the Great Recession. I hadn't realized that it was a bit of Rochester, New York hiding in Florida.
Yep. Seasonal migration is called transhumance-- the humance is "earth" related, not "human" but it's a nice word anyway. The interesting thing is aborigines did in fact do firestick agriculture to help build up fertile soils and as you say, the climate is unreliable and very drought-prone. Water is a key need and the most unreliable factor. Soil erosion and salinity (from irrigation) is also a problem.
Even so, 21 different tribes did do agriculture, letting lands lie fallow and rotating around not to exhaust the feeble soils-- and today Australia is a major agricultural nation anyway, although the more intensive style may not be good long-term.
Good question about the rice in Africa. Africa had its native rice Oryza glaberrima (3500 years of domestication) which was supplanted partly by Orzya sativa later on. However O. glaberrima helped Africa defeat its famine of 1203.
http://ricepedia.org/culture/history-of-rice-cultivation
"From the enslaved Africans, plantation owners learned how to dyke the marshes and periodically flood the fields. At first the rice was milled by hand with wooden paddles, then winnowed in sweetgrass baskets (the making of which was another skill brought by slaves from Africa). The invention of the rice mill increased profitability of the crop, and the addition of water power for the mills in 1787 by millwright Jonathan Lucas was another step forward. Rice culture in the southeastern U.S. became less profitable with the loss of slave labor after the American Civil War, and it finally died out just after the turn of the 20th century. "
There's one rice plantation in South Carolina still with the original equipment which you can see; and growing "Carolina gold" rice.
According to Wikipedia, it was nasty working conditions and deaths were common. This was African rice, not Chinese rice. Similar, but... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rice_production_in_the_United_States
Cajuns also grew rice. "In the southern United States, rice has been grown in southern Arkansas, Louisiana, and east Texas since the mid-19th century. Many Cajun farmers grew rice in wet marshes and low lying prairies where they could also farm crayfish when the fields were flooded. In recent years rice production has risen in North America, especially in the Mississippi River Delta."
Oryza sativa production in the US began in California from Chinese immigrant workers. Today over 100 varieties of rice grow, mostly in 6 states, resulting in 12% of world rice trade.
Texmati rice is fine. The one downside about rice from the US is that many areas have high arsenic (not as bad as Bangladesh, but still.) Makes brown rice and unwashed white rice problematic to eat too often. https://www.consumerreports.org/cro/magazine/2015/01/how-much-arsenic-is-in-your-rice/index.htm
I prefer to buy jasmine rice. It's my favorite, and sadly not yet grown in the US.
The book was "Black Rice: The African Origins of Rice Cultivation in the Americas" by Judith A. Carney. Working conditions were horrible, but the workers organized their own efforts to a considerable extent.
"One-Of-A-Kind Museum Of Sri Lankan Culture Opens On Staten Island":
http://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2017/09/25/sri-lanka-art-culture-museum
(FWIW, she mentions that she's a Buddhist)
n the basement of a restaurant on Staten Island, there’s a museum that its founder claims is the only one of its kind in the country. It's a museum of Sri Lankan culture, and its founder is 18-year-old Julia Wijesinghe. She opened the museum earlier this year, fulfilling a dream she says she's had since she was 15.
Here & Now's Robin Young speaks with Wijesinghe (@SrilankanmuseNY).
This segment aired on September 25, 2017. Audio will be available soon.
I was glad to see Merkel's party get the most votes but discouraged by the rapid rise of the AfD. Sad to see a nationalist party back in German's parliament. I saw on the news that one newly elected AfD member is leaving the party because she doesn't want to be affiliated with the neo-Nazis.
The temperature crossed 90 here in DC today. Today I also got my first Fall/Holiday 2017 catalog. At least temps will get more seasonal this weekend and stay that way for a while.
Yay, Sen. Susan Collins.
PJ,
Merkel is as conservative as they come in Germany. Here she most likely would be considered a progressive Democrat. She does not do much, has a tendency to sit things out.
I am still sorry that the party my family fought for since my grandfather, the Social Democrats, is doing so poorly, but I have to admit that even I did not vote for them but for the Green Party before I left. The Greens were just more progressive, especially on women's issues. I remember Green Party gatherings where the question was "aren't there any women who want to run?" The good old days.
The AfD is painful, considering the German history.
gmbka,
I don't like some of the things that Merkel has done and would be fine with the Social Democrats. The main reason I'm glad Merkel won is that she will provide some constancy among major country leaders. We have a new one here, as do England, which has its own problems, and France. It will be nice so have an experienced hand in Europe, especially regarding Russia. But she's weakened with the loss of her party and the Social Democrats. Putting together a coalition will be tricky. Populism/Nationalism has hit Germany too, unfortunately.
I like Jasmine rice (Thai), but even when I wash it several times, it comes out sticky in the rice cooker, and I would like to make it fluffy or relatively fluffy. How to do that? It seems not using the rice cooker is step #1.
It seems the Department of Housing and Urban Development has a good deal to do with rebuilding flood-ravaged southeast Texas. it also seems their regional administrator took a big interest in Sharia law, and that the Secretary has various members of his family hanging around and attending official meetings to support him.
https://www.texastribune.org/2017/05/08/trump-taps-irving-mayor-beth-van-duyne-regional-hud-administrator/
http://whyy.org/cms/radiotimes/2017/09/25/checking-hud-epa-department-interior/
Today was waves from hurricane Maria at the beach. Not especially large, but crunchy.
https://flic.kr/s/aHsm9ybcQc
If your rice is too sticky, you are using too much water. Reduce the water until it seems too dry. Jasmine rice is good because it does get sticky. Basmati rice and a few other varieties tend to be drier.
Wanna bet that Roy Moore gets calls from the Green family, the folks behind the Hobby Lobby Bible Museum?
The Arecibo Observatory suffered only minor damage from the hurricane and will be resuming operations Friday. They even have a spring with good water.
https://www.elnuevodia.com/ciencia/ciencia/nota/mariadanaunas15planchasdelobservatoriodearecibo-2360700/
Our president considers himself a person of superlatives, but it is only one superlative I am willing to grant him: He is the openly meanest politician I have ever witnessed. 45 000 refugees cap? Please.
Part of a New York Times reporter's Q & A with Puerto Rico's governor:
Q. I’ve had people on social media tell me that they hoped Puerto Ricans would not be able to come to the United States, because we’ve already met the 50,000 refugee cap.
I don't mind the Puerto Ricans but hope that the people in Alabama and Texas stay where they are.
I agree, gmbka.
Re the player kneeling issue. It began as a protest against police brutality to black people. Now it seems to have metamorphosed into solidarity among the players, black and white, owner and player. The original issue has been lost. Is this another example of Drumpf's ability to reframe issues so the essence is hidden and it becomes us against them? I wonder if he does that deliberately or it's just an inevitable side-effect of his speaking his mind on his awful attitudes.
Trump's tweet today accusing NFL team owners of being afraid of their players strikes me as yet another instance of his projection of his own (white supremacist) fears.
Gotta show those players who's boss. Maybe Trump will find a whole set of federal employees to fire, just like Reagan.
Looking at the Post's analysis of federal response (or not) to the Puerto Rico crisis, I don't want to criticize Puerto Rico governor Rosselló, but in hindsight, he might have delegated to subordinates warning people to flee the failing Guajataca Dam and trying to respond to lack of power, lack of communications, lack of roads, and all the other crisis items, so that he could have holed up in an office to "request" federal assistance the way his less-burdened counterparts in Texas and Florida apparently had. In particular, the Post story noted that the Posse Comitatus Act restricts deployment of military personnel within the US, so that it's actually easier to deploy to, say, Haiti.
At least Florida's senators, Nelson and Rubio, are busy pushing for whole-hog military involvement. It's still at a very low level. At least the Aguadilla airport at the island's northwest corner has finally opened up for relief flights and at least one cruise ship is departing, loaded with people leaving the island.
Story about McPhee in this weekend's NYT
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/28/magazine/the-mind-of-john-mcphee.html?_r=0
It's a notably McPhee-like profile. I should perhaps have applied to Princeton just for the honor of receiving an inevitable rejection. It would have been a matter of good, if forlorn taste.
What yello said about jasmine rice-- wash first, then use less water. I just rinse (wash), then add enough water to cover and then some.
When cooked it should be fairly soft and is a bit stickier than long rain rice-- it is not gonna be like Uncle Ben's parboiled rice by any means, or like correctly washed and cooked basmati--but should be dry and slightly shiny when fully cooked, and easy to fluff up with a fork, rather than be soggy and falling apart.
I like it for the smell and color (jasmine white.)
I also have separate sticky short-grain rice for risotto. THAT takes plenty of water and stirring. You can also make that with other grains (I've done it with barley.)
Now Tom Price is free to look for a job that provides private jet travel for someone at his administrative level. Imagine the indignity of having to fly in coach: Owe, the humanity!™
At the bottom of the NYT story:
"An earlier version of this article referred incorrectly to the events leading up to Secretary Price’s resignation. It was President Trump, not former President Barack Obama, who threatened to fire Mr. Price."
Classic.
Orlando area schools and charities are prepping for an anticipated influx of Puerto Ricans. Central Florida provided refuge and often new homes for people displaced by the 2005 hurricanes, so there's relevant experience. The economy is more or less at full employment, even if median wages are very low. Schools in the Orlando area as well as my county are accustomed to children who arrive not speaking English.
The state is set up on the notion that "social services" should be the worst or near-worst in the country. Same for public schools. Need I mention that the Secretary of Education has a residence in my county?
Thanks for the rice tips, Yellow and Pup. Currently I am working on a large bag of Basmati, so won't be getting Thai Jasmine for a while, but I'll remember that using less water makes rice less sticky. (I typically use about 1.5 water by volume) I recently went to a Persian restaurant and had some of the incredibly fluffy Basmati, caramelized on the bottom, and am now trying to recreate that when I make rice. After rinsing, they boil it like pasta to an "al dente" state, and drain, then steam covered, so the starch goes down the drain with the boiling water.
Jim, the latest season of America's Test Kitchen (sans Christopher Kimball) has an episode that includes Chelow (which the Persian rice dish you mention sounds like):
https://www.americastestkitchen.com/recipes/8718-persian-style-rice-with-golden-crust-chelow
Excellent article on what people think about whether health care is a right
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/10/02/is-health-care-a-right
IMO the key sentence is:
To [conservatives who accept Medicare], Medicare was less about a universal right than about a universal agreement on how much we give and how much we get.
BTW, that's by Gawande. Everything he writes is good.
Gawande has been hugely influential.
He suggests that a corner has been turned in American expectations. We aren't going back to the days when emergecy rooms didn't admit people without insurance (Gawande doesn't mention the really bad old days when a great many emergency rooms only admitted white people). Today, people with Obamacare are getting sick, getting treated, and resuming normal life, without going bankrupt, as Gawande describes through a friend's account.
Unfortunately, there's visceral support for undoing Medicaid expansion.
Another quarter of the year is coming to a close, and as usual I didn't get as much done as I'd planned. So what else is new?
At least I take solace in the knowledge that Trump's been taking it on the chin from a variety of Latino precincts:
1. Hurricanes named after two of my grandparents (no, not Katia or Lee) demonstrated their strength;
2. The female mayor of San Juan, Carmen YulÃn Cruz Soto, is speaking truth to power no matter the Tweeter-in-Chief's insulting ethnic stereotypes (frankly I'm surprised he didn't stoop to intoning the song "Mañana," or remind us of how some years ago he bullied the Miss Universe from Venezuela after *horrors* she gained weight); and,
3. Now Trump's "very fine people on both sides" stance has been magnificently demolished by the anti-racism message of the new head of the US Air Force Academy, Lt. General Jay Silveria.
Also fighting racism: Many NFL players and team owners are respecting the Constitutional free-speech rights of their players to protest racism, as opposed to our Projecter-in-Chief, who accuses the owners of being scared of [Black, implied] players, thus revealing that HE's the one who's the fraidy-cat (I was going to say p***y, but thought better of it ;-) ). As the late NFL QB, Congressman and GOP(!) VP candidate Jack Kemp sagely observed, "I can't help but care about the rights of the people I used to shower with."
During his regular segment with Bill Littlefield during this weekend's Only a Game on NPR, Charlie Pierce commented that he'll take the fans who oppose the kneeling and arm-locking seriously when he hears of bookies suffering reduced NFL game betting revenues in protest. And I wonder how many of the blowhards are turning in their season tickets in markets like DC where there's a long waiting list, meaning they can't get them back for years to come. Yeah, right...
There, spleen all vented for a while!
You did it so elegantly and gently re spleen venting. I got irritated with people making hay of the NFL issue and overlooking Puerto Rico completely in their picayune drama that I ranted in less than kind terms.
Mr. Hastings has been rearranging furniture this week.
I also wish to report sad boodle news-- Maggie O'D has passed, suddenly, of a heart attack last weekend. TBG let me know. I don't know any other details re obits, condolences, etc. :(.
I see Monty Hall of the eponymous statistical problem has died.
Science magazine reports millions of dollars in damage to the aging Arecibo radio telescope, perhaps enough to seal its fate. It's been on a short list of facilities facing de-funding.
The Orlando area is prepping for new residents from Puerto Rico. Local community colleges and the University of Central Florida will offer in-state tuition, no waiting period.
The Orlando Sentinel reports that a big corn maze near Zellwood survived Irma's wind; they had parked a bunch of big trucks around it as windbreaks. The story notes that the farm had provided pickle cucumbers to Claussen and Mount Olive, but both had demanded lower prices, which they couldn't meet. Tough pickle business.
Dave, I enjoyed the story about the corn maze, etc.
The corn maze was quite a relief from the nasty stuff.
Locally, Internet remains unreliable.
https://flic.kr/s/aHsm6amySU
Bonsai repotting. This one tree took most of the day.
I am surprised how small and flat the root system is in relation to the tree. "A common guideline recommends a tree protection zone with a radius of one foot for every one inch of trunk diameter – a 12 to 1 ratio." That's for normal trees, not Bonsais.
Bonsai are nearly hydroponic. Minimal space for roots, daily watering. More or less ample nutrients (which can be manipulated to affect growth).
Good to know because I'd never acquire such a demanding plant.
I'm happy to deal with the likes of rain lilies, bromeliads, palms, cycads. Zinnias. Beach sunflowers. Tree orchids. Remarkably tough, fend for themselves. Bromeliads don't even like fertilizer.
What a miserable morning. PR may be turning a corner on basic food and bottled water supplies, but I think Congress's response to the calamity will go down in history as comparable to Parliament's to the Irish potato crop failure, which absolutely need not have been a famine, and would not have been, had it happened in 18th century England. The Post reports from Ututado, Puerto Rico's mountain heart.
The Nobel goes to researchers at Brandeis and Rockefeller. Really nice institutions. My mother grew up a block or two from Rockefeller, which set aside a bit of their campus for community gardening during the Depression. Brandeis is another college I should have had the good taste to apply to, no doubt to get a rejection slip.
Spelling correction: Utuado.
A very odd swirl of rain on our coast caused flooding north of us and promises further mischief and wind today.
Apart from weather, I think I'll conduct a moratorium on news and social media until much later in the day. Circadian rhythms are bound to be the only good news of the day, unless someone distributes a whole lot of water and food in Puerto Rico.
For last week's work travel, I picked up Celeste Headlee's "We Need to Talk". Problem is, I never made it past the introduction. I was sitting in National airport's B terminal when I started to read. And she starts going through the conversation between the Captain and 1st Officer of Air Florida Flight 90... (some of you see where I'm going with this)... which left National Airport in January of '82 couldn't gain altitude due to icing and crashed into the 14th Street Bridge, killing almost all onboard.
It was a little too on the nose at that point. I haven't started back into the book.
HF, have you seen the recent "Neighbors" episode of Craft in America that includes glassblower Jaime Guerrero? Interesting how he fuses parts together to make glass sculptures.
http://www.craftinamerica.org/artists/jaime-guerrero/
Speaking of ill-advised books to read on public transportation: long ago I bought a copy of Dave Barry Turns 40 at an airport bookshop, reasonably anticipating a humorous read during my flight. Midway through, the reader gets sucker-punched when Dave discusses his mother's depression and suicide. Luckily I was alone in my row, because it took a while to stanch the tears.
Trump seems to be blaming Puerto Ricans for failing to take advantage of his A+ relief program.
He just made a terribly ill advised comment about the low death toll compared to Katrina. No one knows the actual number of deaths. Bodies haven't been counted. Some no doubt haven't even been found. There's been no communications.
Oxfam America has decided to treat PR as if it were something other than a developed country, thanks to Washington's failed or didn't-bother relief efforts.
NP, I'm not familiar with Jamie Guerrero. His work looks similar to the "inside sculpting" work of Martin Janecky.
https://www.cmog.org/bio/martin-janecky
A Miami Herald headline at Facebook: "Donald J. Trump, like Hugo Chavez, is an incompetent leader who constantly brags about things that, in reality, are often total fiascos, writes Andres Oppenheimer."
Oppenheimer, an Argentine, is the Herald's rather conservative Latin America correspondent who has a pretty wide following in Latin America. The comparison of Trump to Chávez is something of a backhanded insult; the latter ran his country into the ground but remained popular doing it.
HF, I infer that Jaime and Martin are colleagues, or perhaps friendly rivals.
Dave, the scariest part is worrying who will be the US's Nicolás Maduro.
The Puerto Rico body count has more than doubled since this morning, and I fear that's only the beginning. Trump's comment about their hurricane casualties could come back to bite him hard on the derrière.
Makes me want to travel to Oaxaca and get one of those rugs. I suppose there are many weavers making them, in different styles.
Would you put it on the floor where it would wear out, or just display on a wall?
Wow, it's the 60th anniversary of the launching of Sputnik. Two classmates and I devised a musical skit in honor of the event (our title song had parody lyrics we penned to the then-popular film theme Around the World in 80 Days), which we performed at the next school assembly.
I'm somehow reminded of being around the Smithsonian Art Museum/Portrait Gallery before Christmas, with a street market around the building. Went home with two low-key pots etched with sea turtles and fish by MarÃa Reyes Pérez, Nicaragua, San Juan de Oriente, the pottery town.
At the New Yorker, Anthony Lane dwells happily on the new Blade Runner.
Well well, Tim Murphy, things are always a little different when they affect you personally.
"And you have zero issue posting your pro-life stance all over the place when you had no issue asking me to abort our unborn child just last week when we thought that was one of the options," Shannon Edwards, a forensic psychologist in Pittsburgh with whom the congressman admitted last month to having a relationship, wrote to Mr. Murphy on Jan. 25, in the midst of an unfounded pregnancy scare.
http://www.post-gazette.com/news/politics-nation/2017/10/03/rep-tim-Murphy-pro-life-sought-abortion-affair-shannon-edwards-susan-mosychuk-pennsylvania-chief-of-staff-congress-emails-texts/stories/201710030018
Murphy announced he will not to run for office again.
gmbka, do you think Murphy will even be able to ride out the remainder of his term, or feel pressured (I hope) to resign sooner?
Also in Pittsburgh news, I note that the Westies will be protesting there today. Sigh...
And I had the bad luck of getting stuck with the car in their demonstration.
Murphy's resigning.
And most likely our D governor gets to name a replacement. :-)
Quick, bus a hundred thousand anti-abortion protesters to Harrisburg!
One less hypocrite in the House.
I thought governors could only fill US Senate vacancies, but that they had to call special a election for a House one. Or does it vary from state to state?
It seems passing strange that no attacks on demonstrating Westies have ever been reported in the news. They must get very expensive police protection (at us taxpayers' expense).
NP, you thought right. I fell prey to misinformation and tried to correct my post, but did not succeed. We'll have a special election.
A clear explanation of how the NRA runs gun legislation in state legislatures, using their ultra-successful Florida lobbyist as an example. The only significant failure in Florida is lack of open carry. The state supreme court has blocked some "improvements" to stand your ground, but new justices will surely be appointed.
http://www.npr.org/podcasts/381444908/fresh-air
gmbka, there's nothing like getting one's hypocrisy divulged 'round the world. Tim Murphy is in such deep doo-doo now that the story was even reported on the BBC World Service hourly headlines (by my basso profundo heartthrob Neil Nunes).
WaPo indicates that Murphy's district is solidly GOP, so his replacement seems likely to be another Republican, alas:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/powerpost/rep-tim-murphy-resigns-from-congress-after-allegedly-asking-woman-to-have-abortion/2017/10/05/7a68a414-aa08-11e7-850e-2bdd1236be5d_story.html
I wouldn't be so sure of a straight Republican replacement. Many seats are flipping even in deep red districts, and if the Dems put in the effort they may be able to do it in PA too. I hope they do.
Meanwhile the gerrymandering case before the SCOTUS is gaining interest. Notorious RBG smacked down Gorsuch for his attitude the SCOTUS had no business hearing a gerrymandering case ebcause the states ran the elections. "Where does 'one man, one vote' come from?" And Sotomayer threw off Ms. Murphy (lawyer representing Wisc) by asking her if there was any benefit to democracy from gerrymandering whatsoever. She was unprepared to argue that and went into word salad.
I think somebody else will resign from the Trump administration tomorrow. Tillerson, Gen Kelly, Kellyanne Conway, Muchnin, who knows? (Tillerson or Kelly seems to be the smart money. Maybe both.)
The second guest on Ian Masters tonite argues the Goldwater Rule, that you can't psychoanalyze someone you haven't personally come to know, doesn't apply to Trump, because he has multiple personality disorders that are defined by outward behavior, that anyone can see.
https://www.ianmasters.com/
"Then we are joined in the studio by Dr. Lance Dodes, who was a clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and is a contributor along with 26 other Psychiatrists and Mental Health experts who have contributed to the new book assessing President Trump, “The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump”. We examine the consensus that Trump is dangerously mentally ill and that he presents a clear and present danger to the United States and the world as long as he has access to the nuclear codes allowing him to start a nuclear war because of a childish tantrum or some other trigger that could unhinge Trump’s frail psyche."
There's the story going around (big enough to make late night talk shows) about how Kelly, Tillerson, and Mnuchin have a pact to stay or go as a unit. We shall see.
I hope the SCOTUS gerrymandering case goes toward outlawing it, I don't have a ton of faith however. Come on Kennedy, they gave you the measuring stick you asked for... use it.
"Suicide pact"
I thought the Three Musketeers were Mattis, Tillerson and Mnuchin.
Holy cow! "Inside Tim Murphy's reign of terror":
http://www.politico.com/story/2017/10/05/tim-murphy-abortion-scandal-office-staffers-243521
...fears among senior Republicans about a potential wave of negative stories on how Murphy ran his congressional office were what ultimately pushed him out the door...
A number of former Murphy staffers told POLITICO that it was Mosychuk’s behavior that drove them to leave Murphy's office. And these ex-aides said the combination of Murphy and Mosychuk — who had a close personal relationship, according to GOP lawmakers and staffers — made the situation intolerable. Mosychuk was promoted to Murphy’s chief of staff in 2004, just a year after becoming his legislative director.
...the two of them were fond of each other — he said he saw them feed each other at events — but terrible to many others... Ick.Nast.™
Post a Comment