“I wonder what the poor people are doing tonight?”
A great public radio interview with Kurt Vonnegut on the firebombing of Dresden and the place of humor in the darkest times.
Archive of entries posted by jfleck
Going Hungry
U.N. rights advocate sees more malnutrition Jean Ziegler, a U.N. expert on food rights, said that some 852 million people were “gravely, permanently undernourished on this planet” at the end of 2005, an increase of 11 million from the year earlier. Much of that increase came in Africa, where drought, climate change and poor farming …
Drought Update
Some interesting discussion in today’s drought monitor about the way the early water year is shaping up in the Pacific Northwest: [T]he 2006-07 wet season is off to a slow start in parts of the Northwest. From October 1 to October 24, Washington rainfall totaled just 2.48 inches (36% of normal) in Quillayute and 1.00 …
Doppleganger
Another jfleck.
Media Contributes to Floods
Inquiry Says Free Papers Make Subway Floods Worse
Daybook
art: Apropos of nothing except that I happened to have just listened to it, a marvelous old NPR piece from a few years back on Edward Hopper’s 1942 painting “Nighthawks”. paper of the day: Multi-Century Tree-Ring Reconstructions of Colorado Streamflow for Water Resource Planning, by Connie Woodhouse and Jeffrey Lukas. The tree ring people have …
Australians Turn to Crime
From the Inkstain Australia desk, word that folks Down Under are turning to crime in response to drought: Rainwater tanks around Canberra have been drained and farm ponds have been pumped dry. Police say stealing water is often the perfect crime because evidence disappears without trace.
My New Favorite Blog
Marmaduke explained (hat tip Miguel)
On DOE’s Polygraph Decision
Al Zelicoff, on the Department of Energy’s decision to back away from screening polygraphs: First proposed in 1999 by Gov. Bill Richardson — then secretary of energy — during the uproar over alleged spying at the national labs, the lie detector policy elicited the derision of scientists everywhere. The American Psychological Association, the Federation of …
Eeek!
With drought in Australia, snakes are on the move: Although snakes don’t need water because they don’t sweat, Mr Neindorf said they rely on food to keep their fluids at a reasonable level, meaning more of them were on the ground in search of a meal. “Because conditions have been so dry for such a …