text: MTA Boston Red Sox Reading Game is under way for 2011 Any student in kindergarten through eighth grade can enter the contest by pledging to read nine books over the summer — one for each position on the baseball field — and listing them on an entry form that is then signed by a parent or guardian and sent to the MTA by July 15. After all of the forms are in, a drawing is held, and 100 students — along with their teachers — win tickets to Fenway Park for a Sox game in September. Five grand prize winners have the chance to step out onto the field for special recognition. Once again this year, Red Sox catcher Jason Varitek has agreed to serve as the spokesman for the contest. He is also appearing on reading game posters and entry forms, which will arrive by the thousands at schools across the Commonwealth in the days ahead. "You've got to read to learn," Varitek remarked. "It really is the key to success for every child." "Our company and our employees are proud to support the MTA Red Sox Reading Game for the fourth consecutive year," said Jennifer Luisa, assistant vice president of corporate community relations for program sponsor, The Hanover Insurance Group. "This program fits well with our foundation's mission — to support a wide range of needs in our homecommunities, with a special emphasis on the issues of education and youth." To enter the MTA Red Sox Reading Game, please send in one of the forms that are being mailed to kindergarten-through-eighth-grade schools in May or download an entry form from the MTA's Reading Matters website, www.readingmatters.org. Contest entries must be postmarked by July 15. Subscribe to MTA News Headlines by Email


text:
This is the second installment of the "Canisius Men's Basketball Summer Series", which will feature a look back at various aspects from the 2012-13 season and eventually a look forward to the 2013-14 campaign. These features will be posted every Monday throughout the summer until Monday, Aug. 26, the first official day of school for the 2013-14 academic year.
Last week featured an in-depth look at the top-five games of the 2012-13 season, a season that saw the Golden Griffins win 20 games for the first time since 2000-01 and was capped by a run to the quarterfinal round of the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament. This week, we look back at the top-five single-game performances by a Canisius player.
No. 1 – Billy Baron's 33 points at Niagara – Box Score
Guard Billy Baron scored a career-high 33 points to help lead the Golden Griffins to a 77-70 win at Niagara, the program's first win in the Gallagher Center since the 2002-03 campaign. Baron's 33 points, the most for a Canisius player in a road game since former Griff Micheal Meeks scored 36 in a win at Pennsylvania Nov. 16, 1994, came after he went 11-for-22 from the field, 4-for-8 from 3-point land and 7-for-8 from the foul line in 39 minutes of action. He also had four rebounds and a steal for the win, and in his column the next day, Buffalo News columnist Jerry Sullivan called him the program's best player in nearly a full decade.
No. 2 – Harold Washington's 23 points vs. St. Bonaventure – Box Score
Harold Washington scored 18 of his game-high 23 points in the second half as the Golden Griffins knocked off long-time rival St. Bonaventure 72-69 in front of a sold-out Koessler Athletic Center. The win over the Bonnies improved Canisius to 2-0, the program's first 2-0 start since 2000-01.
Washington, who had 22 points in the season-opener against Boston University five days earlier, went 7-for-14 from the field, 3-for-3 from 3-point land and 6-for-8 from the foul line, making two key free-throws with four seconds left on the clock to seal the victory for the Blue and Gold. Washington drew early foul trouble against St. Bonaventure and scored just five points in 10 minutes of action in the game's opening stanza. He ended up playing all 20 minutes in the second half and also added three rebounds, three assists and a steal to his final stat line.
No. 3 – Billy Baron's 30 points at Youngstown State – Box Score
With the 2012-13 campaign hanging in the balance, Billy Baron took over and almost single-handedly kept the season going. Baron scored a game-high 30 points, with 26 of those points coming in the second half and overtime session to help lead Canisius to an 84-82 overtime win at Youngstown State in the second round of the CollegeInsider.com Tournament.
Canisius trailed by 22 points with 18:17 left in regulation time before Baron took over. The Griffs got back in the game on the power of a 20-0 run over the span of 6:48 midway through the second stanza, with Baron pouring in eight of his team's points during the run. Trailing 73-70, Baron knotted the game up with an NBA-range 3-pointer from the top of the key with 52 seconds left to play in regulation, and with the game tied at 82-82 in the closing seconds of overtime, the East Greenwich, R.I., native was fouled on a 3-point attempt. With 2.1 seconds left to play, the team's top free-throw shooter hit two of three chances from the stripe to allow Canisius to earn its first postseason overtime victory since the program's epic four overtime win against No. 2 NC State in the first round of the 1956 NCAA Tournament.
No. 4 – Chris Manhertz's 18 rebounds at Marist – Box Score
Chris Manhertz had 10 or more rebounds in 13 games during the 2012-13 season, but his 18-rebound effort at Marist in December was easily his best. In a run-and-gun battle that saw Canisius go on the road and defeat Marist by the final score of 94-82, Manhertz's 18 boards helped key Canisius' first 2-0 start in MAAC play since the 1997-98 season. Head coach Jim Baron said after the game that Manhertz' s18 rebounds, which saw 11 come off the defensive glass, helped fuel the Griffs effort on defense and helped kick start the team's offense, which posted its highest point total in a regulation MAAC game since the 2005-06 season.
No. 5 – Jordan Heath's near triple-double vs. Loyola (Md.) – Box Score
No player in the 109-year history of the Canisius men's basketball program has posted a triple-double. There is a small list of players who have come close, and Jordan Heath added his name to that list Jan. 31 when Canisius beat Loyola (Md.) at home by a score of 91-79.
Heath scored a career-high 21 points to go with 11 rebounds and a career best seven blocked shots as the Griffs defeated the Greyhounds in their final trip to Buffalo as a member of the MAAC. Heath went 8-for-11 from the field, 3-for-4 from 3-point land and 2-for-4 from the free-throw line and was also credited with a steal and an assist in the win for the Blue and Gold. His 21-point, 11-rebound effort was his second double-double in a three-game span and he became the first Canisius player since former Griff Elton Frazier during the 2009-10 season to record 20-plus points and 10-plus rebounds in a game.
Honorable Mention List
Isaac Sosa's eight 3-pointers in Canisius' 82-54 rout of Longwood in the Koessler Athletic Center… Reggie Groves scoring 12 points on the power of four second-half 3-pointers in the Griffs' 72-62 win at Temple… Jordan Heath's 17 points and 13 rebounds in the team's 67-50 win at Rider, just the second win in program history in Rider's Alumni Gymnasium.
Next Monday
GoGriffs.com will unveil the top-five plays of the 2012-13 season.
Join the Discussion
Want to add your vote to next week's look at the top-five plays from the 2012-13 season? Send a tweet to @Griffs_MBB using the #SummerSeries and the best suggestion will be considered for one of the year's top-five plays.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Saudi Arabia is considering halting beheadings in favor of firing squads, as officials report the government is running out of swordsmen to carry out executions.
A joint Saudi committee made up of representatives from the interior, justice and health departments is deliberating the idea, according to Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram, citing Saudi newspaper Al-Youm.
Read more: Saudi Arabia may stop beheadings over shortage of swordsmen | Fox News


text:
Notes from spring training
• The Rockies are beginning to look like they might have decent rotation depth — perhaps even enough to trade right-hander Aaron Cook once he is healthy.
Start with right-hander Ubaldo Jimenez, lefty Jorge De La Rosa and righties Jason Hammel and Jhoulys Chacin — a formidable front four.
Right-hander Esmil Rogers also is throwing well, and the Rockies believe that righties John Maine and Greg Reynolds will contribute at some point as well.
and their rivals as the season approaches.
Cook, set to earn $9.25 million this season, began the spring with right shoulder tightness, then suffered a broken right ring finger. He would be difficult to move, but at least the Rockies are in a position in which they do not need to rely on him.
• Talk about a roster crunch. By the end of spring training, the Mariners could bid farewell to five members of their 40-man roster, or 16 percent.
The M's invited 23 non-roster players to spring training, and at least five stand reasonable chances of making the team — catcher Josh Bard, infielder Adam Kennedy, right-handers Jamey Wright and Chris Ray and one of two outfielders, Ryan Langerhans or Gabe Gross.
The Mariners currently are at the maximum 40. Left-hander Garrett Olson already is on waivers, according to a major-league source.
• Another issue for the M's: Their bullpen.
"It starts with (Brandon) League," one scout says. "Try to name the next guy."
The M's might need lots of "next guys" if they open with rookie right-hander Michael Pineda and lefty Erik Bedard in their rotation. Neither is likely to work deep into games, at least initially.
• Diamondbacks GM Kevin Towers, who spent last season scouting with the Yankees, offers yet another ringing endorsement for the Yanks' top pitching prospects — and actually likes right-hander Dellin Betances even better than lefty Manny Banuelos.
Betances, 6-foot-8 and 245 pounds, "might be King Felix," Towers says.
"Teddy Higuera in his prime," Towers says, "but with a better arm."
• New Dodgers first base coach Davey Lopes raves about the work ethic of shortstop prospect Dee Gordon, who is the son of former major-league pitcher Tom Gordon.
Lopes says that Gordon is inquisitive about the game and absorbs information like a sponge.
"His dad taught him right," Lopes says.
• Finally, check out my video interview with the Dodgers' Andre Ethier, who tells an amusing story about working out last offseason with the Red Sox's Dustin Pedroia at a rehabilitation center in Gilbert, Ariz.
"He's into yelling at other patients," Ethier says. "It's a public place where anyone comes in to work out. You had some old retirees to young kids battling stuff. He's in there mixing it up with all of them, asking them what's going on, challenging them or trying to outdo them in an exercise.
"It was pretty comical for me, and I bet for those patients in there getting a chance to have some little crazy guy yelling at them every day."
— Ken Rosenthal
Um, it's "crutch"...


text:
Home › Women's › Base Layer › Theta AR Jacket
Theta AR Jacket Women's
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Highly versatile, thigh length women's waterproof breathable shell designed using two different weights of GORE-TEX® Pro to maximize durability and minimize weight. Theta Series: All-round mountain apparel with increased coverage | AR: All-Round.
The women's Theta AR Jacket is a GORE-TEX® Pro storm shelter with a longer thigh length cut for maximum coverage, purpose driven design and cross mountain versatility. Hybrid mapping technology strategically positions two weights of GORE-TEX® Pro fabric to optimize each one's specific performance benefits. Highly breathable GORE-TEX® Pro with N40p-X face fabric is used in the main body. This supple, strong nylon ripstop keeps the jacket packable and light. Hardwearing N80p-X GORE-TEX® Pro provides abrasion resistance in the shoulders and forearms to elevate durability.
The Theta AR provides extensive coverage for backcountry ski tours, climbing and alpine travel. The hip length hem comes lower than other technical Arc'teryx GORE-TEX® shells to provide more protection from deep snow and driving rain. The length also helps the hem stay put under a harness or hipbelt. The helmet compatible DropHood™ adjusts quickly and easily, provides complete coverage with minimum impact on peripheral vision, and is designed with a separate collar that provides draft protection whether the hood is up or down. WaterTight™ pit zippers speed ventilation, and an adjustable drawcords at the waist and hem secure the fit and seal out cold. Pockets include two laminated internal pockets to safely store maps, wallet, smartphone or other small devices. A small laminated pocket on the sleeve is always in reach, and the hand pockets are pack and harness accessible.
PERFORMANCE DRIVEN for WOMEN
With a focus on fit, freedom and performance, the Theta AR is indicative of the longstanding Arc'teryx commitment to deliver use specific, function driven products for women. Articulation at the elbows and gussets under the arms elevate ergonomic performance and comfort, and the streamlined Athletic Fit with e3D delivers enhanced freedom of movement with room for low profile midlayers.
Learn More About This Product
Full Feature List
- Waterproof
- Windproof
- Breathable
- Lightweight
- Durable
- DWR finish (Durable Water Repellent) helps repel water from fabric surface
- Micro-seam allowance (1.6 mm) reduces bulk and weight
- Taped seams for added weatherproofness
- Women's specific design and fit
- Anatomical shaping for fit and comfort
- Articulated elbows
- e3D Ergonomic 3-Dimensional patterning for enhanced comfort and mobility
- No-lift gusseted underarms
- Athletic fit for a slimmer more flattering profile
- Helmet compatible DropHood™
- Adjustable hood drawcords
- Laminated brim
- Laminated chin guard
- WaterTight™ external zippers
- Pit zippers for easy venting
- Corded zipper-pulls reduce noise and are easy to grab
- WaterTight™ Vislon front zip
- Laminated die-cut Velcro® cuff adjusters reduce bulk, and won't catch or tear off
- Adjustable hem drawcord
- Drop back hem
- Laminated hem
- Laminated sleeve pocket with laminated zip
- Sleeve pocket with WaterTight™ zip
- Two internal laminated pockets
- Two high-volume hand pockets
- Note: Our WaterTight™ zippers are highly water resistant, but not waterproof. We do not recommend keeping items in your pockets that may be damaged by moisture
- N80p-X GORE-TEX® Pro reinforced highwear areas
- N40p-X GORE-TEX® Pro 3L
- N80p-X GORE-TEX® Pro 3L
- Machine wash in warm water (30°C).
- Double rinse.
- Wash dark colours separately.
- Do not use fabric softener.
- Remove from washer immediately.
- Do not leave wet.
- Tumble dry on medium heat.
- Do not iron.


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Emily Murgatroyd | March 26, 2008
By Emily Murgatroyd • Wednesday, March 26, 2008 - 10:39
The impending collapse of the Wilkins Ice Shelf in Antarctica has been all over the media the last couple of days.
Here's a video of the ice shelf collapse that was sent to us:
Ian Forrester replied on Permalink
Too bad deniers won't see this
YouTube is completely useless for deniers since they always have their heads in the sand. Even with their eyes open (I hope the sand is not too gritty) they can't see what is happening all around them.
Ian Forrester
Volcanoes and global cooling
Jennifer Marohasy and Anthony Watts are blaming it on an active volcano.
(Then again, denialists blame the Jan 2007–Jan 2008 temperature drop on "global cooling". The mind boggles.)
Frank Bi, http://tinyurl.com/yrpnmd
"Al `Fat Al' Gore [is fat]" – Harold Pierce
Paul T replied on Permalink
Want another laugh?
Some guy at a forum I visit is trying to pin it on a 5.8 magnitude earthquake, SE of New Zealand. It's about 4000 km away or so, but the real kicker is the quake was on March 17!
Troll replied on Permalink
What Crap!
This is absolute and undeniable proof that the AGW hysteria industry is getting desperate.
Antarctica has gotten cooler in the last 30 years and has recently set records for Ice Extent.
This little iceacle breaking off is an absolute non-issue.
Here is a article that puts it in perspective.
Not that AGWers will even read it but….
Oh and here is a map of the Active Volcanoesin the reageon that is the actual cause of the little break off.
And the warming map showing the overall cooling.
And here:
What complete nonsense from gulable fools.
But completely predictable…….LOL
"And the warming map showing
"And the warming map showing the overall cooling."
How does a diagram which stops at 2004 tell us anything about what happened in 2008?
Frank Bi, http://tinyurl.com/yrpnmd
"Al `Fat Al' Gore [is fat]" – Harold Pierce
Stephen Berg replied on Permalink
If Antarctica is becoming
If Antarctica is becoming cooler as you say, THEN WHY THE HELL IS IT MELTING AND THE AREA OF ICE DECREASING???
Informing you about climate science is like trying to nail a square peg into a round hole!
Paul S replied on Permalink
= Stephen said: = If
= Stephen said: =
If Antarctica is becoming cooler as you say, THEN WHY THE HELL IS IT MELTING AND THE AREA OF ICE DECREASING???
Don't panic Stephen! Breathe deeply. The Antarctica is a huge area with various climates. The interior is cooling and gaining ice mass while the Western Antarctica has warmed.
As to ice in the Antarctic, this graph is informative:
Ian Forrester replied on Permalink
Wrong again Paul
Paul S/G said: "The interior is cooling and gaining ice mass".
Don't you ever get tired of being wrong all the time? Why not write some thing that is right, just once in a while to fool us.
Go and read up on the data from the GRACE satellites to find out how wrong you (and all the other deniers) are.
Ian Forrester
Troll replied on Permalink
You guys can't convince me that you are really stupid, blind and illiterate.
It is just against the odds.
The Antarctic ice mass has been growing for years.
And there is NO evidence of ANY melting of the ice at this site.
Hello!!!!! Ice DOES NOT MELT WHEN IT IS BELOW 0 Degrees.
Check the temps for that regeon.
Good Grief!!!! I had a much higher opinion of you guys before this sill farce.
Ian Forrester replied on Permalink
Go amnd do some reading on the subject
Troll said: "Check the temps for that regeon (sic)".
You are the one who is stupid, blind and illiterate. Go and read the latest reports on the information coming from the GRACE satellites. These reports show conclusively that the ICE MASS over the Antarctic is DECREASING substantially.
Ian Forrester
att'n Troll & Paul S
Please refer to the joint press release from the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC), which is part of the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences at the University of Colorado at Boulder; the British Antarctic Survey (BAS), based in the United Kingdom; and the Earth Dynamic System Research Center at National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) in Taiwan. Entitled Antarctic Ice Shelf Disintegration Underscores a Warming World, this is the basis for all of the news stories currently doing the rounds. You may find it enlightening. See: http://nsidc.org/news/press/20080325_Wilkins.html
Fern Mackenzie
Paul S replied on Permalink
What are you blathering on
What are you blathering on about Ian? East Antarctica has been gaining mass. You speak of the Antarctica like it is one climate. It isn't.
You are entitled to your opinions Ian, but please don't try and pass them off as fact.
Ian Forrester replied on Permalink
How stupid can you be?
It is the total amount of ice in the Antarctic that is important since loss of ice there will raise sea levels quite considerably. Where it is happening does not matter it is the TOTAL loss which is important.
Of course such results do not support your biased views of reality. You are one sick person.
Ian Forrester
Paul S replied on Permalink
You are incorrect Ian. You
You are incorrect Ian. You cannot look at the Antarctica as one entity. It is several, each with different climate conditions and variables.
Secondly, you have to look at how much ice mass has possibly been lost, remembering that it is *only* the newer Grace measurements which support this belief. Even if the Grace measurements are definitive, the loss of ice mass is tiny, and possibly just a measurement error.
So pardon me if I don't work myself up into a self-righteous lather as you are wont to do.
Stephen Berg replied on Permalink
"Even if the Grace
"Even if the Grace measurements are definitive, the loss of ice mass is tiny, and possibly just a measurement error."
Wrong. The Antarctic is losing 36 cubic miles (150 cubic kilometres) of ice each year. Hardly "tiny" or "just a measurement error."
Paul, your calling this "tiny" is like calling the Empire State Building puny or Mount Everest short. Also, you and your ilk continue to declare anything which goes against your "denialist" message as having instrumental errors. Excuses, excuses. Just grow up and take your being wrong like a man!
Paul S replied on Permalink
Good, you coughed up a
Good, you coughed up a number Stephen. You said:
"The Antarctic is losing 36 cubic miles (150 cubic kilometres) of ice each year. Hardly "tiny" or "just a measurement error."
And how big is the Antarctic? It's 27,000,000 cubic kms..
So the question remains, can scientists precisely measure a 150 cubic km loss of ice mass out of 27,000,000? What is their margin of error? And please don't try and tell me there is no margin of error.
Even if accurate, the loss is tiny.
Stephen Berg replied on Permalink
A hundred years at this rate
A hundred years at this rate would inundate all land within a half-foot of sea level. This rate, however, is going to accelerate with increasing GHG concentrations, which will lead to the rise in sea levels of maybe a metre. As 100 million people live within a metre of sea level, this will result in mass destabilization and a refugee crisis which will dwarf all the refugee crises in human history COMBINED.
Get your head out of your ass!
Paul S replied on Permalink
A hundred years at this rate
A hundred years at this rate would inundate all land within a half-foot of sea level.
Uh, I don't think so Ian.
At this rate, over 100 years, would raise sea levels by approx. 1.5 inches.
That's Stephen, not Ian
And I guess we'll find out, won't we? Or somebody will, as I doubt we'll still be around. But something tells me that the trend is going to be increasingly obvious as time goes by.
Fern Mackenzie
rob replied on Permalink
Accurate? You decide.
Paul S. wrote:
"So the question remains, can scientists precisely measure a 150 cubic km loss of ice mass out of 27,000,000? What is their margin of error? And please don't try and tell me there is no margin of error.
Even if accurate, the loss is tiny."
Good point, Paul. One would have to be exceedingly credulous to think anyone could accurately measure that volume accurately. The tolerance of even the best measurement techniques would render the accuracy of the desired measured value useless.
We're talking about 0.006% here! With such an infiniteslimaly small change, coupled with cummulative measurement errors, for all they know, the ice volume is actually increasing. Basic metrology.
Paul S replied on Permalink
I appreciate the
I appreciate the measurements that scientists are attempting to accomplish but rarely, if ever, are the measurements placed in their proper perspective.
If the population of Canada decreased by 150 people in one year, we would say the population is stable or, even more likely, that measuring Canada's population that precisely was not possible. If the Antarctic (presumably) loses 150 cubic km in one year, looming disaster is immediately predicted.
Troll replied on Permalink
Please explain
Please explain how Ice melts when the ambient temperature is well below 0.
Is this some kind of special AGW physics?
I can't believe I am reading this crap from people I had thought were intellegent.
Guess I was wrong about that.
Here is a reference for temperatures in antarctica.
Will Science ever recover from this farce?
Stephen Berg replied on Permalink
The ice melts during the
The ice melts during the Antarctic summer when temperatures in certain regions of the continent are actually ABOVE ZERO! (Hmmm, a novel idea. Ice melting when the temperature is above the freezing point!) The Wilkins Ice Shelf is near the Antarctic Peninsula, which is the continent's northernmost region. Also, temperatures often climb above zero along the coasts of Antarctica where the ice sheet isn't many hundreds or thousands of feet thick.
If you hadn't realized parts of Antarctica aren't completely frozen throughout the year, it's time you took an introductory atmospheric science class or read a textbook.
Stephen Berg replied on Permalink
The interior ice is
The interior ice is increasing in thickness, but the area of ice over the Antarctic continent is decreasing due to the melting and calving caused by warming temperatures. Can't you get this through your head?
Dan replied on Permalink
that's a keeper
Every once in a while we see a post of such pure denial, that it almost qualifies as a beautiful specimen worth preserving in a case.
"Antarctica has gotten cooler in the last 30 years and has recently set records for Ice Extent.", etc., etc.,
eco-disaster! replied on Permalink
Video of boiling kettle proves Earth is melting: http://tinyurl.com/yp4u5u
Denialist tactic
That might be some sort of devastating point if denialists aren't always trying to dispute climate models by making up their own toy "models".
Frank Bi, http://tinyurl.com/yrpnmd
"Al `Fat Al' Gore [is fat]" – Harold Pierce
hugo replied on Permalink
Ice shelf
Sorry for my English but look carefully pictures…Something strange. It look that the ice (snow) as bean cut straight!(maybe Alien! or USA!):)
If you check other ice shelf, the ice don't collapse like this….i think it's a another story to make people scared of…And it's not the the first time the Wilkins Ice Shelf collapse so……Media still afraid people!" Look and analyze by yourself before believing anything! Thanks!
Next on Weekly World News: Aliens Cause Global Warming
Weekly World News, you'll be missed.
Frank Bi, http://tinyurl.com/yrpnmd
"Al `Fat Al' Gore [is fat]" – Harold Pierce
Johan i Kanada replied on Permalink
The global sea ice coverage
is growing, see this link:
And it is even more obvious in the southern hemisphere:
All this after decades of catastrophic AGW.
_Not_ growing
"is growing, see this link:"
Oh jeez. The overall trend in sea ice area is clearly downwards. Notice that the red line ("global sea ice anomaly") has started to touch the bottom of the graph only in recent years?
But in the denialist world, down is up, false is true, and dependence is freedom.
Frank Bi, http://tinyurl.com/yrpnmd
"Al `Fat Al' Gore [is fat]" – Harold Pierce
Hugh Campbell replied on Permalink
"decades of catastrophic AGW"
Do you have peer-reviewed citations for this statement?
Or is it strictly hypberbole being used to beef up a weak argument?
Brian replied on Permalink
I tend to follow the larger
I tend to follow the larger scientific community, since I know very little in this field. To someone who is inexperienced, some piece of data might seem much more significant than it actually is.
To those in the field who disagree, it is a good thing there are people like you. To those not in the field who disagree, please consider the consequences if your instinct is wrong.
For those "scientific" arguments presented here:
The freezing point of water is 0 C only when it is pure. Also, cracks are not necessarily caused by thawing, but by temperature variations.
The margin of error regarding the receding ice has nothing to do with the whole of Antarctica!
The average temperature in Antarctica might indeed decrease, but the average says nothing of distribution. It is kinda like average GDP, which seems so useful, but it says nothing of wealth distribution.
"If a man is offered a fact which goes against his instincts, he will scrutinize it closely, and unless the evidence is overwhelming, he will refuse to believe it. If, on the other hand, he is offered something which affords a reason for acting in accordance to his instincts, he will accept it even on the slightest evidence." (Bertrand Russell)
Brian replied on Permalink
I think scientists are
I think scientists are concerned most with the old ice melting. Although the sea ice levels might stay the same, more of it might be coming from old ice.
Old ice melting is certainly
Old ice melting is certainly a sign that the melt is going further and further each year. The disintegration of the shelf is also an indication that it is being eroded from below as warmer water circulates beneath it. On reading the press release from the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) (here: http://nsidc.org/news/press/20080325_Wilkins.html), it is my impression that the scientists are most concerned with the loss of a "brake" of ice that has held back the glaciers by providing protection from the direct assault of the open sea. Should the Wilkin shelf disappear, any glacier thus exposed would start to deteriorate in the same way as the dramatic retreat that has been observed in Greenland over the past few years. That's when sea-level rise becomes an issue.
Fern Mackenzie


text:
Asparagus, Leek, and Gruyere Quiche
This spring dish is made richer with Gruyere -- an aged Swiss cheese with a nutty flavor that tastes great with eggs.
- Prep:
- Total Time:
- Servings: 6
Source: Everyday Food, April 2009
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 leek (white and light green parts only), halved and thinly sliced, then well washed
- Coarse salt and ground pepper
- 1 bunch (1 pound) asparagus, tough ends removed, thinly sliced on the diagonal
- 4 large eggs
- 1 1/4 cups half-and-half
- Ground nutmeg
- Our Favorite Pie Crust, fitted into a 9-inch pie plate, well chilled
- 1 cup shredded Gruyere cheese (4 ounces)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees, with rack in lowest position. In a large skillet, melt butter over medium. Add leek and asparagus; season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until asparagus is crisp-tender, 6 to 8 minutes; let cool.Watch: How to Prep Asparagus
In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, half-and-half, 1/2 teaspoon salt, teaspoon pepper, and a pinch of nutmeg. Place pie crust on a rimmed baking sheet. Sprinkle with cheese; top with asparagus mixture. Pour egg mixture on top.
Bake until center of quiche is just set, 50 to 60 minutes, rotating sheet halfway through. Let stand 15 minutes before serving.


text:
Sheriff, county hospital facing multimillion-dollar deficit
RIVERSIDE, Calif. - The Board of Supervisors next week will begin the process of figuring out how to address multimillion-dollar deficits confronting the sheriff's department and the county hospital while balancing other county agencies' needs.
The first budget workshop focusing on appropriations for departments in fiscal year 2013-14 will be held at the County Administrative Center, starting at 9 a.m. Monday.
"While the county balanced the 2012-13 adopted budget, going forward, significant risks and challenges remain," county CEO Jay Orr wrote in his introduction to the 50-page workshop report. "Although the Executive Office anticipates modest revenue growth long-term, beginning in 2013-14, the county also confronts steep cost escalations."
He pointed out that labor costs will be steadily rising to meet obligations under a half-dozen collective bargaining agreements reached in the last two years that call for automatic across-the-board cost-of-living and merit pay increases for employees through 2016.
The county will also be making larger contributions to the California Public Employees Retirement System and will be dipping into the general fund to cover expenses tied to the new digital public safety radio network going live in July, Orr noted. The Indio East County Detention Center construction project, expected to be completed in three years, will further increase the county's outlays.
Property tax receipts -- the county's primary source of discretionary revenue -- are expected to grow around 2 or 3 percent annually over same period, according to economists.
"Given the escalating costs and gradual revenue growth, balancing the budget continues to require considerable restraint," Orr said.
He did not mention layoffs, though in the midyear budget report in February, reducing payrolls was one of the options put on the table to contain expenses. County agencies have cut more than 30 positions since July to keep costs down, according to the Department of Human Resources.
According to budget workshop documents, the Riverside County Regional Medical Center in Moreno Valley will be heading into the next fiscal year with a roughly $105 million deficit. Last month, RCRMC Director Doug Bagley expressed confidence much of the shortfall would be covered by one-time money and improved cost-recovery from patients.
However, a disparity in the state's Medi-Cal reimbursement program formula was expected to keep revenue below a level commensurate with services, and Bagley also worried about a state practice of intercepting federal subsidies due to the hospital.
The county, which provides about 5 percent general fund support for the medical center, was considering legal action.
The sheriff's department will go into 2013-14 with a $54 million deficit at the level of appropriations anticipated in the workshop documents. The sheriff estimated departmental revenue of $328 million and $219 million in general fund support, compared to expenses totaling $602 million.
Since 2008, the sheriff's office, which includes not only patrol but also coroner operations and management of the Ben Clark Public Safety Training Center, has lost 300 positions through attrition.
The supervisors have each expressed a strong desire to maintain the agency's effectiveness, increasing the number of deputies on patrol and staffing jails. The sheriff is seeking a 20 percent increase in general fund commitments compared to four years ago. About a third of the sheriff's budget is made up of county revenue; the rest is generated through contract fees and grants.
On paper, both the District Attorney's Office and the Fire Department were showing balanced budgets going into the next fiscal year. The D.A. said he required 9 percent less in general fund commitments compared to 2008, while the fire chief was seeking 27 percent more in appropriations.
The 2013-14 fiscal year begins July 1.


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Chicken Recipes is a Windows Phone app that delivers a collection of meals featuring chicken as the key ingredient.
I can remember my doctor advising me to eat more two legged animals than four legged every time he reviews my cholesterol levels. It's no secret that part of being fit is having a healthy diet and chicken can be a key ingredient to a nutritional meal. Plus it makes those Chick-fil-a cows happy.
While this Windows Phone app has potential but left us a little on the hungry side and may have some asking "where's the beef?"


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'"We did this deal with Curt Styres and Lewis Staats. I know they are big supporters of the Sabres, and I consider them my friends now. They were really great in getting this thing done, also. I hope that we'll see each other a lot more in the future."'
Terry Pegula 'arrives' in Rochester
June 29, 2011 Submitted by
Via: Canandaigua Daily Messenger


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Looking for some help with some information. I purchased a 2003 Corvette Z06 rolling chassis off Ebay. I am planing on putting this under my 67 Chevelle. I need to stretch the torque tube about 21" in order to be the right wheel base. #1 Anyone have any information on how to lengthen the torque tube? #2 the upper control arms are connected to the Corvette frame, and the lower's are connected to the aluminum cradle front and rear. I am making a new frame, but am trying to figure out how to set the uppers to be in line with the lowers for proper travel. Any thoughts on how to make them be in the proper posistion?ANY THOUGHTS WOULD BE OF GREAT HELP.THANK YOU, JIM.
Extreme Member
Did you buy it out of a wrecked vette? just the chassis or did you get the powertrain also?
I have the suspension, brakes, engine, 6 speed trans, rear end. It is a complete rolling chassis, with out the corvette frame. They just unbolt it and drop it out from under the car. It was out of a 2003 Z06 with 20,000 that a guy slid sideways in to something. Body wrecked, but the running gear is good. Now to put it togather is another story. Something to keep me busy at night.
Extreme Member
Chassis straightening equipment as used by quality body shops uses measurements from reference points to reestablish the locations of subframes,etc. You may be able to buy this data from a shop. This could give you a place to start. jimmyt4
Hi Jim,I started my 71 olds a-body project back in 2004 with the c5 full drivetrain setup.I only finished the rear section. What I did to get the setup for the upper control arms to frame was to buy a rear frame rail section from a guy off ebay. He had to cut them as to fit them in a paper box for easy shipping. He gave the space measurement before cutting though. I then (snugly) bolted them on the rear subframe. I used a round steel bar cut to the measured spacing and tack welded in place between the left and right railings. You should now be able to attach the control arms to the frame. I worked from the rails to my original frame by cutting/welding in new pieces. Boxed off the hollow corvette frame rails and went to work, when I got all my center to center hole measurements in place including ride height with desired wheels. The corvette frame rails are now grafted into my a-body frame. The torque tube is another problem. The only person I know who extended one is Jay Leno with his big dog garage on the olds toronado twin turbo all c5 drivetrain/suspension setup.I want to call them to see if they fabricate the one I need.If you found someone to do it, please let us know here, thanks.
I thought that I would check back and see how you project is coming. Any new news? Great idea on the measurement idea. Do you still have what the measurement is between the rear upper control arms? I was reading the article on project x and how they had cut the front cradle to narrow it. It looks like I may have to do the same to be able to get to fit under the Chevelle. They did not go in to detail on how the welded and reinforced it. Any ideas on how they made it strong enough once welded? Did they just tig weld and it is fine, or did they need to add more aluminum to the seam once welded? Any other ideas or thoughts as you move forward would be appreciated.Thanks Jim.
Extreme Member
hello Jim il have the same problem here in the netherlands il have a C6 Z06 rolling cassis but not the frame so how far are you whit your project? martin
Z06chevelle:Looking for some help with some information. I purchased a 2003 Corvette Z06 rolling chassis off Ebay. I am planing on putting this under my 67 Chevelle. I need to stretch the torque tube about 21" in order to be the right wheel base. #1 Anyone have any information on how to lengthen the torque tube? #2 the upper control arms are connected to the Corvette frame, and the lower's are connected to the aluminum cradle front and rear. I am making a new frame, but am trying to figure out how to set the uppers to be in line with the lowers for proper travel. Any thoughts on how to make them be in the proper posistion?ANY THOUGHTS WOULD BE OF GREAT HELP.THANK YOU, JIM.Jim, I am also using a C-5 setup in 2 project cars. The first is a 1934 Coupe by Streetbeast, and the second is a 1971 Chevelle SS coupe w/a BBC. I have an extra front cradle that has been narrowed 5", that I may consider selling, but I have also designed a steel alternative frame section that will do the job with a lot less hassle. As we speak, I am fabricating the front unit. The rear steel alternative will be coming soon. I haven't yet completed the design for the Chevelle wheelbase problem, but I'm confident that it will be the same as the way I used for the 34 Coupe. I just moved the engine back, so that I didn't have to mess with the driveline. The 21" that you mention seems extreme, but I will double check my own dims. I don't know of anyone who has succesfully cut/or leghtened a Corvete torque tube, but I'm sure that it would be cost prohibitive and pose a real problem if you ever had to replace in, on the road, unles you are Jay Leno!! After almost 50 years of building cars, I have learned that exotic modifications make for an undesirable ride. Just the mental pressure that comes with fact that you know that if it brakes, you CANNOT get it fixed on the road,should lead you in an alternative direction. I try my best to build cars that can be taken into a dealership for 90% of the driveline and suspension repairs. Feel free to contact me if I can be of any futher assistance, firstname.lastname@example.com
Jim, I need to correct a mistake in my reply, The narrowed C-5 cradle that I have is a REAR CRADLE, not a front cradle. It was cut and tig welded on a jig. This is no DIY job!! The jig has to be capable of making sure that the doner cradle is square and straight ( my third cradle passed the test!!), then it has to be cut on a large bandsaw and put back in the same jig ( with the narrowed location pins ), beveled for 100% tig weld penatration, and expertly welded in a manner which doesn't warp or over heat the cradle. I had mine narrowed 3 years ago and the cost then was $700.00 plus the 3 E-Bay cradles @ $approx $200.00 each incl S&H. When going this way, you will also have to have shorter axles made, or see if you can find someone to cut and respline yours-just another high unexpected expense that I ran into. Please let me know if there is any thing else that you are having a problem with, although I am not in business, nor do I own a business, I sometimes have an extra part or two that I may be willing to sell. I also make more than one of the parts that I find I can't get somewhere else, so sometimes I may have the part that you were wondering where to get, or how to build. lwriddell I don't have any specs on a 2003 Z O6, but I do have both torque tubes for a 2001. One is for a standard transmission and measures approx 49 1/2" and the other is for a 4L60E transmission. If you are interested in comparing lengths, mine are out of the cars, so just let me know what measurements that you need.
Hi Iwriddell, I too am considering of using the corvette C5 OR 6 chassis under an original steel 34 3W coupe. The original wheel base of the car is 112 inches the corvette is 105 or 106. Please tell me what I can expect as far as problems adapting this to the original frame rails, which I have. Any photos you have would greatly be appreciated...PLEASE send to firstname.lastname@example.com Thx., in advance, Dave.
OK Boy's here is the link to a shop that can modify any Corvette suspension to fit any auto or truck, short or long wheel base...torque tube driveshafts are modified to any length and the frame is custom made tubing to fit any application. Talk about a professional job, whew!!!http://www.sriiimotorsports.com/projectsandbuilds.htmlDrop in for a visit...Thanks, Dave.
Dave, I have seen work from this shop at the Corvette show in the Chicagoland area and they do build some nice stuff.Thanks for the link
Extreme Member
Well, chalk up another Z06 chassis going under a Chevelle. There has to be someone out there that has done one and has the upper control arm mounting points figured out..CHECK MY POST DATED 3/24/2010 ON PAGE TWO !!!
I have all the same questions about exactly where to position the control arms, etc. I have just bought a C5 driveline from ebay that is complete from the front bellhousing to the rear brakes, all except the missing differential cradle. It hasn't been shipped yet so I can only visulize everything for now. I will have to narrow it a bit and shorten it about a foot. This should be a lot easier than lengthening it. I am not sure whether I will want to use the cradle or just build my own attachment. The latter would make things a lot more difficult, but I'm a hard case on these things. At any rate, I plan to stuff this thing into an Austin Heally 3000 four-seater. I will be at this for quite a while. I hope to limit the whole thing to 2000 pounds. I will let you know if and when I come up with any answers and will be watching the forum to see what everyone else has to say.Keith
Hi Jim, I have noticed from looking at ebay pictures that the a-arm attachment points on the cradle are ligned up with the CV pivot point on the axle. That way, it would seem, the axle swings in the same arc as the lower a-arms. If the cardle is narrowed the axles may have to slide in and out of the carrier splines excessively as they now describe a different arc. Have you noticed much difference in the spline travel? Keith


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Bill Miller | November 13, 2007
By Bill Miller • Tuesday, November 13, 2007 - 12:25
Relentless human-population growth coupled with rising consumption has outpaced the planet's ability to cope.
An article in BBC's Green Room says we are now in "overshoot" – our numbers and levels of consumption greater than Earth's capacity to sustain us for the long-term. The writer says we must end world population growth, and then reduce population size in industrialized as well as developing nations.
Colorado-based environmental writer John Feeney says despite expanding coverage of climate change, today's environmentalists avoid discussing the link between population and environment more than any other ecological truth, either for political motives or because they misunderstand the issue.
Total resource use is the product of population size and per-capita consumption, and there's no chance of solving the predicament without reducing both factors in the equation.
Feeney said we need a complete transition to clean, renewable energy as reliance on non-renewable energy is, by definition, unsustainable. But that alone will not solve our problems. There remains population growth, which increases consumption of resources other than energy.
"We have to rethink the corporate economic growth imperative," Feeney said. "On a finite planet, the physical component of economic growth cannot continue forever.
"Fortunately, expert consensus tells us we can address population humanely by solving the social problems that fuel it."
rob replied on Permalink
You know what to do, then
""We have to rethink the corporate economic growth imperative," Feeney said. "On a finite planet, the physical component of economic growth cannot continue forever."
Malthus said virtually the identical thing around 1798.
History has mocked him ever since.
What I find telling about neo-malthusians is while they always predict the immanent doom of humanity, due to increased population – they never take their belief to it's logical conclusion.
If they actually did something about their beliefs, perhaps they'd have some credibility?
Really, how hard can it be? All you need it is a window ledge, a stout piece of rope, or a bottle of sleeping pills and some booze. Go ahead. Help solve the population "problem" and Global Warming. Show us how it's done. Take one for the team!
There is an excellent organization called Population Connection, that until 2002 was called ZPG, or Zero Population Growth (http://www.populationconnection.org/). I became aware of them while in highschool in the early 1970s. This group deals with issues of birth control and reproduction education, encouraging people to be thoughtful and responsible re: the number of children they have. They also advocate assistance programs for putting reproductive control in the hands of women in countries where large families are still the norm. Their motto in the 70s was "Stop at 2". I took this very much to heart, stopping at 1.
It seems to me a very simple equation: sea level rise due to AGW = less land per person; and if the population keeps rising, that means more & more people on a shrinking reserve of dry land!
rob replied on Permalink
So, you're so concerned about overpopulation and the impending Global-Warmalypse, you decided to double your carbon footprint? Don't you care about Mother Earth?
In other words, as regards reducing the population on the planet – you've done absolutely nothing.
As I said in my initial comment – you people are all about sanctimonious finger-wagging, but then you let yourself off the hook. It's all everyone else's fault, but especially Karl Rove's.
Since I don't have any children, I think that gives me dispensation drive a Hummer and take as many jet flights as I feel like. Nothing I do will ever come close to inflicting the amount of damage you have caused by reproducing.
Or did you have the forsight to have a child who is devoutly Amish? No? Then, Game On!
Ignore the troll.
Ignore the troll.
Zog replied on Permalink
Rob: Bill isn't concerned
Rob: Bill isn't concerned about himself, what he and Feeney mean is "there's too many of those others". Right Bill? Shades of Ehrlich!
So what's the solution, Bill? A few well placed mega-nukes on some of the world's scrofulous megacities? Yeh, that should do it, just watch out for fallout on West Van and Saltspring Island.
Steve L replied on Permalink
I guess I shouldn't be too surprised that neither of you read to the bottom of Bill's post:
"Fortunately, expert consensus tells us we can address population humanely by solving the social problems that fuel it."
It would never occur to them
It would never occur to them that promoting women's equality and improved education and reducing poverty would produce a lower birth rate and healthier children. But Zog and Rob don't want to talk about solutions. They think anyone who talks about solutions is a commie.
rob replied on Permalink
So, VJ, since you claim to be all in favour of women's equality, improved education, and reducing poverty, can we assume you are in favour of defeating the Taliban regime in Afghanistan?
What a predictable jerk.
What a predictable jerk. Yawn.
rob replied on Permalink
As in Humane Society? He never goes on to tell us how this "expert consensus" (Oh, look, another consensus!) plans to "address population humanely". Mass-sterilization programs, and if that doesn't take, then perhaps gas-chambers?
Maybe the "expert consensus" will take a page from the pioneers in population reduction – communist regimes of the 20th Century. Hey, they managed to take no less than 100 million – and counting – off the census rolls. Why reinvent the wheel?
By the same token, Steve L., we shouldn't be too surprised you didn't notice the end of the post doesn't actually say anything – well, other than reassuring us that, somehow, another "expert consensus" already has it all planned out.
Now go back to sleep.
Steve L replied on Permalink
So your question is...
Rob, I already know (because I read) that research suggests increased education of women reduces birth rate. Do you know how to use 'the Google'? But let's get back to the beginning – suicide and nukes (and now sterilizations and gas chambers) were your rebuttals to the article. (Zog's suggestion of nuking large cities was particularly lame considering the part I quoted.) Why didn't you just ask what 'humane reductions' to the birth right might entail? It was a failing of the article not to describe it, so you would have been right to ask out of ignorance. To bring in all the other garbage is juvenile.
The reactionary attitude of
The reactionary attitude of the previous post re: mass sterilizations, gas chambers, etc. is exactly the reason that over-population is rarely brought up in discussions about AGW, although I suspect anyone who has thought about it seriously realizes that they are inextricably linked. As soon as it's mentioned the discussion swings wildly into hysterical claims of societal engineering, eugenics, racism, mass murder etc etc etc. I guess that's the legacy of 20th century totalitarian states.
Fortunately, as you point out, Steve, education DOES work, as does empowering women to have control over their bodies. Of course, it would help a LOT if His Holiness would get onside about birth control, but that's another struggle …
rob replied on Permalink
You know what would have helped even more?
"Of course, it would help a LOT if His Holiness would get onside about birth control, but that's another struggle …"
Of course, say what you will about The Pope, he still has one less kid than you.
Or is that his fault, too?
rob replied on Permalink
Social Engineers Wanted - No Engineering Degree Req'd.
"Do you know how to use 'the Google'?"
Does it matter? I'm sure in either case you'll continue to further my "education" – or at least, hand out some more reading assignments.
"Zog's suggestion of nuking large cities was particularly lame considering the part I quoted."
Compared to the prolonged miserable agony of death due to the effects of overpopulation and Global Warmerization you predict, surely a nuclear strike is humane. But that's not for us to decide. We must defer to the "consensus of experts".
"Why didn't you just ask what 'humane reductions' to the birth right might entail?"
Oh, so there's a "humane" way to deny someone their rights? I hope you first remember to make "humane reductions" in the right of people to defend their liberty. Otherwise, once you start meddling, they might have a tendency to shoot people like you in the face. Wouldn't want that to happen.
But I'll assume the people to whom you want to make "humane reductions" are the little brown and yellow people who are poor, largely unarmed, and don't really count – except as convenient victims, of course.
And why not? You're already enthusiastic when it comes to clipping their wings and foiling their aspirations to enjoy the same standard of living as you enjoy. No cars, no electricity or phones, no hot and cold running water. Not letting them have kids is just a minor inconvenience.
But, no, nuking them would be "inhumane". You just want what's best. And God help us if those women ever gained an education. They'd just waste it becoming doctors, accountants and engineers. The next thing you know, they'll be expecting to have air-conditioning and a nice kitchen.
"To bring in all the other garbage is juvenile."
Not to mention completely tasteless of me to point out the inevitable result of your misanthropic philosophy. My bad.
Steve L replied on Permalink
My misanthropic philosophy?
I think you have no idea what my philosophy is. How could you when you can't comprehend what I write. Example: I'm denying people their rights by suggesting that women get an education? I think a carbon tax would be helpful if income taxes were reduced concomitantly, so I'm a racist? That's, uh, a strange conclusion. Did you read this article I suggested?:
Are these guys, who discuss carbon taxes rationally (and largely outside the context of AGW), also misanthropes?
You know, your hypocrisy seems to know no bounds. You suggest that people you disagree with should commit suicide. You imply that your 4x4 is good at running over cyclists. You fill your posts with violence ("shoot people like [me] in the face"). Yet I'm the misanthrope. Huh.
(It would make a difference if you tried to answer your questions yourself, first. And don't get upset about the reading assignments. You have asked for them. You should at least do the reading as a courtesy.)
You see the problem, Steve?
There will always be people who assume that "population control" is some kind of racist or socialist tyranny, rather than a cooperative effort to restore balance. They will never understand that there is a difference between making available the means and education to make choices that will improve their lives, and "denying people their right" to reproduce and live a satisfying lifestyle. We're talking to brick walls here – ones that they have erected around themselves and their little worlds full of paranoia and xenophobia. Trying to have a rational conversation about this (or for that matter, about AGW) with someone who takes this stance is exhausting and circular, but you are making very good points and I applaud your patience in the face of such ignorance.
Steve L replied on Permalink
Yep, you nailed that prediction.
I'm not very wise. It might not be patience that I'm expressing. I'm still clinging to the hope that engaging contrarians will result in a productive dialogue, but I guess that's really just an expression of stubbornness on my part. It has been … a lesson for me.
It makes a difference
Thing is, even if the contrarians can't be swayed, other people who read these threads can plainly see the difference between reasoned consideration of the facts and partisan, libertarian hysteria. When they make up their minds, your arguments will carry more weight than the shrill, vitriolic diatribes of the true fear-mongers in this "debate". So keep on trucking!
For myself, they get under my skin too easily. Best not to engage them directly at all.
Steve L replied on Permalink
the funny thing is
Oddly enough, I have somewhat anarchistic/libertarian leanings. Maybe that's why I wish the obstructionists would focus on policy. I think they could actually have something worthwhile to contribute. But I can't abide ignorant denial of scientific merit on the basis of partisan politics. It's a discredit to libertarianism to behave in that way. (But I don't think these contrarians are really libertarians – the libertarians I respect aren't all rah-rah about foreign military interventionism.)
Perhaps I used the word inadvisedly?
It's been given a bad name. Certainly micro-management of society is not the business of government. But when an urgent response is required to a threat on the scale of AGW, the structure of government is the system best equipped to initiate the necessary changes. We trust them to declare war for us (well, I'm not so sure now that I've said it. If Harper takes us tagging along after the States into war with Iran I'll be massively offended & vocal). But the point is that we elect governments to handle the big stuff, and I can't think of anything bigger than AGW.
As far as ZPG is concerned, I don't think any reasoning person would advocate government control over the number of children a family can have. It's a non-starter. But governments can and should allocate major resources to family planning and reproductive education of men as well as women.
VJ's right...
Ignore the troll…
PBrooks replied on Permalink
Yes, humanely.
Here's a quote from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., during an acceptance speech for the Margaret Sanger award, given to him by The Planned Parenthood Federation of America:
"There is no human circumstance more tragic than the persisting existence of a harmful condition for which a remedy is readily available. Family planning, to relate population to world resources, is possible, practical and necessary. Unlike plagues of the dark ages or contemporary diseases we do not yet understand, the modern plague of overpopulation is soluble by means we have discovered and with resources we possess.
What is lacking is not sufficient knowledge of the solution but universal consciousness of the gravity of the problem and education of the billions who are its victims."
On a more philosophical note, here's a quote from Isaac Asimov: "…democracy cannot survive overpopulation. Human dignity cannot survive it. Convenience and decency cannot survive it. As you put more and more people into the world, the value of life not only declines, it disappears. It doesn't matter if someone dies. The more people there are, the less one individual matters."
Was Malthus really wrong? His theory of famine in Europe may have been wrong, but his real contribution was his population-evolution theory. Taken from wikipedia:
"Eight major points regarding evolution appear in the 1798 Essay:
1. subsistence severely limits population-level
2. when the means of subsistence increases, population increases
3. population-pressures stimulate increases in productivity
4. increases in productivity stimulate further population-growth
5. since this productivity can not keep up with the potential of population growth for long, population requires strong checks to keep it in line with carrying-capacity
6. individual cost/benefit decisions regarding sex, work, and children determine the expansion or contraction of population and production
7. checks will come into operation as population exceeds subsistence-level
8. the nature of these checks will have significant effect on the rest of the sociocultural system — Malthus points specifically to misery, vice, and poverty."
It's important to note that increases in productivity are arithmetic, while increases in population are exponential. Considering 13 million children die each year in deaths associated to malnutrition, and 3 billion people in world are malnourished today (see: http://www.populationmedia.org/issues/Carrying%20Capacity.pdf), where do we stand now?
By the way, stop being a straw-troll, Rob.
That's a great quote from King
On a much more prosaic and visceral level, I recall hearing Farley Mowat say something like: As long as we continue to breed mindlessly like brewer's yeast in a vat of molasses, we are doomed to destroy the thing that sustains us. I love that image.
I don't think Malthus was wrong. It's more that he wasn't able to predict the kind of changes that would be effected by medicine, improvements in agriculture, the industrial revolution (at that point, just barely under way). But who could? I think he did pretty well, given the state of scientific knowledge at the time.
PBrooks replied on Permalink
Technological advances in
Technological advances in areas other than agriculture don't really seem relevant. Sure people live longer because of medical advances, but medicines can't feed you. Food is really the only thing that matters here. After all, we eat, shit, and die. Advances medicine may be seen as just putting more "tension on the spring".
Malthus was around only 200 years ago. For humans, that's a few generations, sure. But its the blink of an ecological eye, and the blink of a geological eye, in the case of fossil fuels. Technological advances have increased productivity, but how long can they continue to do so? See the graph on hectares per person: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/629/629/7056601.stm.
So in 2005, we had 2.02 hectares to work with per person. In 2050 we will have 1.63 per person. There are 3 billion living with malnutrition today. The IPCC report projects many parts of the world will experience worsened crop yields, even crop failures in some parts. Fresh water may become scarce.
Furthermore, many key agriculture advances were directly caused by the fossil fuel age, such as nitrogen fertilizers and mechanization. Both depletion of fossil fuels and AGCC tell us we can't keep this up. Sure we may be able to do these things sustainably at some point, but for now our glorious productivity remains unsustainable.
Short of making an argument for a vegetarian diet, cause I don't wanna go preachy on ya, I would just pose the argument that increases in productivity are hardly notable if we can't even sustain them for a pathetic 250 years. That even ignores that fact that the industrial revolution, and the subsequent increases in productivity, have come at the cost of a huge rural to urban migration. Although this shift has been mostly resolved in developed countries, most of the world's poor and malnourished are these displaced people, living in the urban slums and rural countryside of the developing world. In Brazil and most of south america, they are called landless people.
My point is that with
My point is that with advances in medicine, fewer people die due to disease (tuberculosis, malaria, smallpox etc), so that whereas a family might have had only two of six children survive infancy, now they all do. They can't all inherit the family farm, so you get unemployment & poverty – or people moving away from agriculture for their livlihood. With the industrial revolution, people flocked to the cities for work and we ended up with massive concentrations of population not involved in the production of food. (Yes, I know I am being WILDLY simplistic here)
These may be secondary to the basic problem of feeding the masses, but it all connects and feeds the problem. Bottom line: we are running out of room.
Oh, and BTW, I am working on going vegetarian. I'm gotten as far as buying what little meat I eat from local small producers, so at least I know its not "factory produced". Go ahead – preach away! Even if people aren't willing to go vegetarian, we can at LEAST cut back on the amount of meat we consume. Nobody needs it with every meal.
PBrooks replied on Permalink
Here goes...
Honestly, I'm kind of at the same stage as you in going vegetarian. I'm lucky enough to go to a college where we get most of our meat from small, local producers, but I'm coming to terms with my own hypocrisy. There are lots of arguments for going vegetarian, but to me, the most compelling comes from biology, or physics if you will. If, for the sake of relative simplicity, we consider stars to be the sources of all energy, then plants are doing their best to fight the second law of thermodynamics, by taking the sun's energy and converting it right into potential energy stored in molecular bonds. As you go up the food chain, you see populations decrease. Ruminant herbivores (the animals who eat plants) have much larger populations and represent much more actual mass than the predators. This is because when you eat meat, you are consuming a very small fraction of the sum of the all the energy that animal ate. Over the course of that animal's life, it expelled a huge amount of energy as heat from metabolic processes.
In the early days of our species, we ate opportunistically, as a matter of survival. Today, at least in the developed world, we choose what we eat. As we are now dealing with throwing the climate out of whack, and destroying countless ecosystems in our desire to grow, expand, expand, we must now take energy management seriously. This problem manifests itself in various ways, with "what to eat?" not the least of which. So lemme throw a couple facts out there. There is about a 17:1 of soy protein input to cow-meat protein output. That's an astounding waste of energy. You'll find similar conversions for other animals. A huge contributor to global warming is tropical deforestation, which releases the sequestered biomass of the ecosystem into the air, because of slash and burn agriculture techniques. That's to say nothing for the huge direct loss in biodiversity. What's the biggest, by far, cause of deforestation in the Amazon Rainforest?
Cows. Cows are more important to feed than people, and cows are more important than the rain forest, apparently. We cut down the amazon to make cow pasture, and we cut down the amazon for massive soybean plantations. "Soy beans!" You say, "I can eat those!" No, instead, you will eat meat. Brazil exports just about all of it's soybeans, largely to the EU, for livestock feed! That is, to feed more cows!
If you want numbers, like 70% of all grains and cereals grown in the U.S. are fed to livestock, go to goveg.com. Or, I'm sure, various other places on the web. But GoVeg also has some great vegetarian recipes. Good luck!