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Chapter 7: Air America demise leaves WVAX in lurch
Air America, launched by the likes of former funnyman Al Franken, was supposed to be a progressive counterpoint to conservative talkmeisters like Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck. Instead, the radio network abruptly pulled the plug January 21, leaving a lot of dead air including a big weekend hole at Charlottesville station 1450 WVAX.
"Our weekday line-up–- Monday through Friday 6am to 1am–- is not going to be affected at all," says WVAX boss Jim Principi, "with the exception of 9pm to 10pm, Hollywood Clout."
Principi, the general manager of the Charlottesville Radio Group, which also includes WINA, 106.1 The Corner, Z95.1, and 3WV, says the hole can be plugged with an additional hour of progressive talker Ed Schultz.
"What's primarily affected is our weekend line-up," concedes Principi. Charlottesville listeners are losing The Lionel Show, Montel Across America, and the program from a conservative president's none-too-conservative son, the Ron Reagan Show.
"We're looking at options," says Principi. "We've got a slew of things that we have at our disposal. We need to check clearance and technical capability." By Monday, he says, he'll have a better idea.
Air America launched in 2004 with Franken, now the U.S. senator from Minnesota, to carry liberal voices across the land. In a statement on its website, the company says it will pursue Chapter 7 bankruptcy and blames the economy, crushing debt, and "audience fragmentation as a result of new media technologies."
Yet those factors haven't slowed Limbaugh, Beck, or locally, conservative host Rob Schilling.
Could the election of Barack Obama have been a factor in Air America's demise? "In the talk radio game," says the New York Daily News' David Hinckley, "it's bad when your guy wins."
16 comments
Talk radio is an inherently repetitious medium. That's why sports talk and conservative pundits do well.
"Money talks and BS walks............." Even George Soros doesn't want to save this one- he is a businessman and would be in it for the money for sure- and he knows a losing business opportunity for sure.
That is change I can believe in.
I've never listened because the station is too weak, and AM is too prone to interference.
Liberals don't need talk radio to formulate cogent, intelligent arguments. Ditto-heads, on the other hand, are lost without the regurgitated talking points fed to them by their opinion-leaders - hence the success of conservative talk radio.
Sad thing is that Republicans just do talk radio better than Dem's and that's for a whole lot of different reasons- very little of those reasons having to do with politics.
Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha- GASP ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha--ha-ha-ha- Whew! Boy that was funny!
Wipes tear from eye...
If you're such a great thinker, how come you're slightly modifying arguments already made above?
Crap, meant "reasonably discuss this."
Although I generally agree with Oxi-Rush, I added additional insight.
I know. Reading comprehension is not your forte.
Thanks Chicago Boy! Your barb single-handedly disproves Tom's argument that liberals are the ones with "no ideas to talk about," and "no ability to actually discuss the many facets of an issue." Congratulations!
I suppose Tom was correct in one of his assessments - that liberals typically don't have a taste for "angry, hate-filled speech, without any real content." No argument here! Though the ditto-heads I know eat that stuff up!
By the way, we're still waiting for you to make your first "sentient point."
If Hinckley were right, talk radio would have died from 2000-2008! What a bunch of crap. Progressive ("Liberal") radio didn't work, because they have no ideas to talk about, no ability to actually discuss the many facets of an issue. It's even boring for liberals to hear nothing but angry, hate-filled speech, without any real content. No audience=no advertisers=no network; that's the beauty of capitalism. Don't know who Mike Stark will be able to listen to.
Typical progressive, don't make any sentient points, just say I'm too smart to listen to you and you're not smart because I say so.
Did Oxi-Rush lose his job at Air America or did he just lose his buzz in Massachusetts? Both? Too bad.
How about a sports station that actually PLAYS sports? We have two stations that TALK about sports; but don't carry actual games! WINA carries all of the UVA sports but no one carries NFL, baseball, etc. I know for a fact those games are available for barter (run the network spots for free and no fees - so don't say rights fees is the reason). The daytime station in Earlysville carries some daytime baseball games if you happen to be one of the 12 people who live in Earlysville. But wouldn't it be nice to have a local station carry baseball all through the spring and summer; even at night? No one's even carrying the SUPER BOWL for gosh sakes!
It's like a guy that brags about how good a lover he is, but doesn't actually know any girls.
Unless you're ready to take this off the internet and out to a bar (first one's on me, you like scotch?) I'm done. There simply isn't the space on the comment page of a news story to reasonably discuss you. We can even figure out whether my refusal to further engage you on the internet makes me the smartest internet commenter ever, or the most gigantous internet wuss ever lol.
Oh, on topic: 1450 probably can survive in this town without Air America. Air America probably wasn't going to survive in this country without many more Charlottesvilles.


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The rise and rise of unethical behaviour
The other unethical behaviour I came across was lying. In medicine, like anything else, mistakes are made. You should own up to your mistakes. I certainly own up to mine. I've had complications from procedures, but these complications are an accepted part of that procedure. I learn from those mistakes, I'm mortified by them, but I don't cover them up. Being honest in our profession, I believe is very important. It's when patients are LIED to, that's when they get angry. And when I get lied to, I get angry. If my junior training doctor lies to me about something (like they say they ordered a test but they didn't, or they did something dangerous then denied it) then they get a long tongue lashing from me about what is ethical behaviour.
But I am hoping this is not the norm. I think that there are just as many good and reasonable people out there as there are unscrupulous ones, and I hope that all you good people out there who need operations and things get the good, honest ones, not the money gouging ones who charge you just because they can.
I thought about that a bit. I am not envious. Because I could easily charge that much money as well and keep quiet about it and earn big $$. The reason I am talking about this is because this my World of Warcraft blog, and it is highly unlikely any other medical professionals I work with read it. Talking about money and prices is very hush hush and closed shop in medicine. I have often wished the public knew how much prices varied for operations, depending on which part of the city you live, and whether that would shock people.
I'll use this as an example. In the more affluent suburbs, an epidural, for labour pain can cost someone up to $2000. That's with top cover health insurance and you might be out of pocket about $500-$600. In the less affluent suburbs, the normal price is $500-$800. And people might think that the doctors out in the affluent suburbs are better... but I know for a fact that they are no better than many of us who work in the less affluent suburbs.
Another example, which I found a bit abhorrent - a well known, famous surgeon saw a patient for a tumour. His fee was $40k - which is a lot. Other surgeons I know, good and reliable ones, would do it for one third of that price. When the patient said they would think about it, and ask around the surgeon said "By all means, look around. But if you get it done by someone else and get a complication, that leaves you incapacitated, remember, you could have had it done by me."
Now what is someone supposed to say to that? Talk about twisting your arm. And complications can still occur, no matter how great a surgeon you are! I don't deny that person was a great surgeon - but I DO object to suggestions like that, the subtle hints to put fear into someone. I was so outraged, but I can't say anything about it. People can charge whatever they want. It's fair trade.
|Something like this happened. Ouchies.
One of my Frostwolves guildies fell and injured himself, and he was sent to one of the posh private hospitals with posh prices and I was worried that he would have to pay a ridiculous fee when he could have had the same operation done for a lot less in a different part of the city. I think that prompted the money concern with price gouging in different parts of the city. Fortunately his fee was reasonable - it was within the range of what I said was reasonable rather than $600 more.
|Maybe I should read Spazzer's Gold Guide!

subset: commoncrawl


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Bishops Will Review Catholic Hospital's Malpractice Defense
Colorado's three Catholic bishops Thursday evening said they will make a full review of a lawsuit in which a Catholic hospital defending against malpractice has argued that fetuses aren't persons.
Jeremy Stodghill filed a wrongful-death lawsuit in District Court in Fremont County after his 31-year-old wife, Lori, seven months pregnant with twin boys, died of a blockage of the main artery of the lung at St. Thomas More Hospital in Cañon City on New Year's Day 2006.
Stodghill's lawyer argued that her obstetrician, Pelham Staples, never made it to the hospital — even though on call for emergencies — and there was no attempt by any medical personnel to save the Stodghills' sons by cesarian section.The unborn children died in the womb.
The lead defendant is Englewood-based Catholic Health Initiatives, which runs St. Thomas More and hospitals in 14 states.
The Catholic Church has fought for decades to change federal and state laws to protect fetuses as persons. Yet, according to court documents, Catholic Health Initiatives argued in this case that the Colorado Wrongful Death Act requires the death of a person and the statute doesn't include the death of a fetus that wasn't born or delivered.
"The defendants argue that to be a 'person' one must at some point have been born alive," wrote District Judge David M. Thorson. "The plaintiffs, on the other hand, argue that a viable fetus who dies in utero should be considered a 'person' for purposes of the wrongful death statute."
In December 2010, the court found in favor of CHI and other defendants, as did the Court of Appeals. Stodghill's attorneys have appealed to the state Supreme Court.
Denver Archbishop Samuel Aquila, Colorado Springs Bishop Michael Sheridan and Pueblo Bishop Fernando Isern wrote in a joint statement that representatives of CHI assured them Thursday "of their intention to observe the moral and ethical obligations of the Catholic Church."
The bishops, who said they only recently learned of the case and the deaths of Stodghill and her unborn children, would not otherwise comment on the ongoing legal dispute , but said they will undertake a full review of the litigation and of the CHI policies and practices.
"From the moment of conception human beings are endowed with dignity and with fundamental rights, the most foundational of which is life," the bishops said. "No Catholic institution may legitimately work to undermine fundamental human dignity."
The bishops said they extend "solidarity and sympathy" to Jeremy Stodghill and his daughter Elizabeth,who is also a plaintiff in the suit.


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31 December 2016
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(Paula Patton in Idlewild).
When the visually-enchanting Moulin Rouge was released in 2001, it caused quite a stir, because it featured songs by The Beatles, Elton John, David Bowie, Madonna and other latter-day icons in a period piece that takes place in 1900, well before any of them were even born. Despite the glaring anachronisms, however, the picture went on to land eight Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, thereby opening the doors for others to take similar liberties with the costume drama genre.
The equally-blasphemous Idlewild represents the first such attempt to mimic Moulin Rouge's irreverent approach to moviemaking, here, mixing hip-hop into a historical flick set in the Thirties during Prohibition. The film represents the brash directorial debut of Bryan Barber, who makes quite a splash via an elaborate musical throwback replete with chorus lines reminiscent of an extravagant Busby Berkeley production like Cabin in the Sky (1943) or 42nd Street (1933).
To date, the MTV Award-winning Barber is best-known as the brains behind videos for OutKast, Missy Elliott, Ludacris, Destiny's Child, Christina Aguilera and Kelly Clarkson. In some respects, Idlewild wasn't much of a stretch in that he collaborates again with OutKast's Big Boi and Andre' 3000 who co-star in this bifurcated, bittersweet tale of love and ambition.
The action unfolds at a joint called Church, a free-for-all speakeasy located in Idlewild, Georgia. As the movie opens, we learn that lifelong friends Rooster (Boi) and Percival (3000) were raised on opposite side of the tracks of this sleepy Southern town. The former is the street-wise son of a moonshiner, while the latter comes from a well-to-do family which made its money legitimately, as undertakers.
As a result, flashy, wheeler-dealer Rooster developed the perfect personality to serve as the emcee/headliner at the mob-run nightclub. By contrast, the shy and soft-spoken Percival, a mortician by day, arrives at the club most evenings to play piano as an escape from working for his overbearing father (Ben Vereen).
The roving-eyed Rooster is married with five kids to the suspicious Zora (Malinda Williams), a shotgun-toting woman willing to go the extra yard to keep her man. Meanwhile, Percy is a lonely, melancholy soul whose spirits are picked up the day that Angel (Paula Patton) arrives in town from St. Louis to perform at Church.
Not surprisingly, Rooster's marriage disintegrates, just as Percival gradually becomes convinced that he's finally found that special someone he can build his life around. The only other early premise development worthy of note is the menacing presence of Trumpy (Terrence Howard), a hot-headed, ruthless gangster with little respect for his mentor (Ving Rhames) or anyone else standing in his way.
Idlewild is blessed with a talented cast which includes, along with all the aforementioned thespians, Patti LaBelle, Macy Gray, Cicely Tyson, Faizon Love, Paula Jai Parker, Bill Nunn and comedian Bruce Bruce. Yet, the film is ultimately somewhat of a frustrating headscratcher because it fails to commit to a specific demographic. Visually, the picture pleasantly harks back to the bygone era of the Thirties by way of its painstakingly-recreated sets, classic cars, zoot suits chorus lines and other appropriate accoutrement. Unfortunately, it simultaneously undercuts that sense of nostalgia it might be trying to generate by indulging in incessant profanity, the N-word, rap music and some thoroughly modern dance moves.
This unresolved dilemma might help explain why the release of this stimulating and engaging morality play was delayed for two years. A marketing manager's nightmare, Idlewild is, like Moulin Rouge, a rare combination flick which refuses to be pigeonholed. Regrettably, in spite of several inspired moments where it exhibits some genuine promise, this desperate attempt to be all things to all people ends up sabotaging any potential the overly-ambitious project had to make a memorable and lasting contribution to the annals of cinema.
Good (2 stars). R for profanity, ethnic slurs, nudity, sexuality and violence.
Running time: 121 minutes. Studio: Universal Pictures
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text: A special-effects laden medieval fantasy adventure, Dragonslayer centers on the attempts of a young sorcerer's apprentice to defeat a vicious dragon and save a lovely young maiden. Peter MacNicol stars as the young Galen, an aspiring magician under the tutelage of the aging Ulrich (Ralph Richardson). A nearby village turns to the pair for help when their leader begins proffering sacrifices of young virgins to satisfy a vicious dragon. The two immediately set out for battle, becoming even more determined when a courageous princess offers to sacrifice herself to the creature. Unfortunately, Ulrich's failing abilities force Galen into the center of the conflict, where the uncertain young boy must prove himself under fire. The suitably mythic if somewhat predictable story is told straightforwardly, culminating in a spectacular battle against the beast, featuring Academy Award-nominated visual effects. Despite its visual flair and relatively positive reviews, the film received mediocre response at the box office, as some criticized the film's violence as too intense for its intended younger audiences. Judd Blaise, Rovi


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Food For Fines
February 16, 2019
An event every day that begins at 12:00 am, repeating until February 17, 2019
Food For Fines
January 2019 – February 2019
Start the new year off with a clean slate and help your neighbors in need! Beginning in January, the Provincetown Public Library will continue one of its most well-received initiatives every year: the Food for Fines program. Food for Fines enables patrons facing overdue fines to get a fresh start and directly benefit members of our community by donating food or personal care items in place of Library late fees.
Please bring non perishable food items and/or personal care items to the main circulation desk to participate in this great program! Be sure to check the dates on each item to ensure that no food items are passed their expiration date. Each donated item will remove $5 worth of your fines. All goods will be given to the Provincetown United Methodist Church Food Pantry. The Food for Fines program will run until February 28.


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Many home chefs would like to maintain a more eco-friendly kitchen, but few have invested much time into figuring out how that's possible. Join our food chat this week as we discuss sustainability in the kitchen with Rinku Bhattacharya, author of Spices & Seasons: Simple Sustainable Indian Flavours. Not only does Rinku have some great recipes to share (she's been teaching recreational cooking classes for almost a decade), but she also has a lot of tips to help time-strapped families reduce their food footprint.
Joining Rinku on our regular panel: Liane Faulder writes about food for the Edmonton Journal and maintains an award-winning blog, Eat My Words, Peter Hum is the food editor of the Ottawa Citizen, Susan Schwartz is a feature writer and columnist who writes about food for the Montreal Gazette, Randy Shore is a former restaurant cook and avid food gardener who writes about food issues for the Vancouver Sun, Gwendolyn Richards is the food writer for the Calgary Herald and the blogger behind PatentandthePantry.com, and Laura Brehaut writes about food for canada.com and Postmedia Network. Be a part of the discussion, Thursday at 1 p.m. ET.


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QUINCY, Wash. — Set in the dry hills and irrigated farmland of Central Washington, Grant County is known for its robust harvest of apples, potatoes, cherries and beans. But for Microsoft, a prime lure was the region's other valuable resource: cheap electrical power.
The technology giant created a stir here in 2006 when it bought about 75 acres of bean fields to build a giant data center, a digital warehouse to support various Internet services. Its voracious appetite for electricity would be fed by hydroelectric generators that work off the flow of the nearby Columbia River, and Microsoft officials pledged to operate their new enterprise with a focus on energy efficiency and environmental sensitivity.
"You're talking about one of the largest corporations," said Tim Culbertson, who was the general manager of the local utility at the time. "You're talking Microsoft and Bill Gates. Wow!"
But for some in Quincy, the gee-whiz factor of such a prominent high-tech neighbor wore off quickly. First, a citizens group initiated a legal challenge over pollution from some of nearly 40 giant diesel generators that Microsoft's facility — near an elementary school — is allowed to use for backup power.
Then came a showdown late last year between the utility and Microsoft, whose hardball tactics shocked some local officials.
In an attempt to erase a $210,000 penalty the utility said the company owed for overestimating its power use, Microsoft proceeded to simply waste millions of watts of electricity, records show. Then it threatened to continue burning power in what it acknowledged was an "unnecessarily wasteful" way until the fine was substantially cut, according to documents obtained by The New York Times.
"For a company of that size and that nature, and with all the 'green' things they advertised to me, that was an insult," said Randall Allred, a utility commissioner and local farmer.
A Microsoft spokeswoman said the episode was "a one-time event that was quickly resolved."
Internet-based industries have honed a reputation for sleek, clean convenience based on the magic they deliver to screens everywhere. At the heart of every Internet enterprise are data centers, which have become more sprawling and ubiquitous as the amount of stored information explodes, sprouting in community after community.
But the Microsoft experience in Quincy shows that when these Internet factories come to town, they can feel a bit more like old-time manufacturing than modern magic.
In Santa Clara, Calif., a hub of technology facilities in Silicon Valley, diesel emissions from generators at a Microsoft data center caught the attention of regulators for potentially threatening the health of workers at nearby businesses. Microsoft, which was notified by state regulators last year, says it has reduced its emissions.
Over the last few years, Quincy has become an unlikely technology outpost, with five data centers and a sixth under construction. Far from the software meccas of Northern California or Seattle, Quincy has barely 6,900 residents, two hardware stores, two supermarkets, no movie theater and a main drag, State Route 28, whose largest buildings are mostly food packers and processors. Its tallest building is a grain elevator.
"A farming community in the middle of a desert," said Warren Morgan, the president of Double Diamond Fruit.
The remarkable scale of the Quincy data centers, and their power demands, have made this town something of a test tube for studying the planet's exploding need to house and process digital information.
The data centers, which include Yahoo and Dell facilities, wound up in Quincy by way of the Columbia. The river flows 1,200 miles from the mountains of British Columbia to the spectacular gorge between Oregon and Washington, where the water crashes into the Pacific Ocean.
Along the way, about a dozen large hydroelectric dams tame the river, providing irrigation for farms and the cheap, plentiful power that has become a magnet for large agricultural operations and heavy industries like aluminum, steel, paper and chemical plants.
When Microsoft was searching the country for a location for its new installation, the Grant County Public Utility District, which owns two of the dams, says it offered the company rates that would range from 2.5 cents to 3.8 cents per kilowatt-hour in its first five years — far below the national industrial average of 6 cents to 7 cents, according to analysis based on federal figures by the Electric Power Research Institute. The power from dams is also highly reliable, a critical factor for data centers, which can crash with the slightest interruption.
Beyond power, Washington State has awarded the industry lucrative tax breaks, ostensibly to promote growth in rural areas. Although the initial expectations that private fortunes would be made on land sales and housing developments were quickly dashed, Quincy's revenue from property taxes, which data centers do pay, has risen from $815,250 in 2005 to a projected $3.6 million this year, paying for a library and repaved streets, among other benefits, according to Tim Snead, the city administrator.
A New Era Begins
The ribbon cutting on April 16, 2007, for Microsoft's "server farm," as the buildings containing thousands of modular computers or servers are often called, had all the trappings of a proud civic unveiling, with speeches by area dignitaries. Michael Manos, the company's general manager for data center services at the time, walked away with a small bag of beans from the field's final crop. It carried a message: "Preparing the Site for Another Farmer: Microsoft."
"We thought that Microsoft would bring a certain air of class to our town," said Danna Dal Porto, a retired teacher.
Just three days after the ribbon cutting, Microsoft began flexing its muscle. Mr. Manos wrote to the utility commissioners complaining that they were slow in building a substation to provide 48 million watts of electrical capacity to Microsoft. That would be enough to power about 29,000 American homes, according to an analysis based on federal figures conducted by the Electric Power Research Institute — about four homes for every person in Quincy.
Mr. Manos said the pace of construction "dramatically affects our agility as a business," adding that "our confidence is becoming quite shaky." If construction could not be accelerated, Mr. Manos asked, would Microsoft be eligible for $700,000 in reimbursements?
Some local officials were taken aback at what Mr. Culbertson, the former utility general manager, called "a level of arrogance."
"Microsoft had lot of expectations," he said. "Early on, I don't think it was as cooperative as it could have been."
The stakes for Microsoft were high. According to current and former company employees, its Quincy servers ran Bing — its challenge to Google's search engine — the Hotmail service and other so-called cloud functions.
While the term "cloud" is often used loosely to refer to remote memory or other computing services accessed by the Internet, it is hardly some vaporous formation.
"Quite simply, data centers are the cloud," Eric S. Laschever, a Microsoft lawyer, said during the legal challenge to its backup generators. "You've seen it on TV. The heart of the cloud are these data centers, and the data centers are really at the heart of Microsoft's business."
Microsoft's operation has now spread to four buildings and is the largest of Quincy's data centers. Taken together, Microsoft and Yahoo's operations overwhelm all nonindustrial electric usage, utility figures show. All residential and small commercial accounts in Quincy consumed an average of 9.5 million watts last year, while Microsoft and Yahoo used 41.8 million watts, the utility said.
The loads are growing so fast that some local residents and business owners — particularly irrigation farmers, who also depend on low-cost electricity — are concerned. With other industries also chasing low electricity prices, the increases could lead to higher prices or even a shortage of available power from the dams.
Sarah Morford, a spokeswoman for the utility, said that it did not expect the capacity of the dams to be exceeded "in the foreseeable future."
Even so, the growing data centers have given the City of Quincy's Web site a new motto: "Where Agriculture Meets Technology!"
A Diesel Dependence
Not long after Microsoft arrived in 2006, Robert Koster, an environmental engineer in the Spokane office of the Washington State Department of Ecology, was assigned to review the company's request for permits for 24 diesel generators.
Such huge backup generators, which can weigh thousands of pounds and stand over 10 feet tall, produce thousands of horsepower — enough to generate two million to three million watts each.
Back then, Mr. Koster said, he had little experience with data centers and no inkling of the avalanche of servers about to descend on Quincy. "Microsoft was our first indication that we were going to see this kind of project here," Mr. Koster said. "At the time, we were in scramble mode to permit our first one of these data centers."
Although emissions containing diesel particulates are an environmental threat, they were was not yet classified as toxic pollutants in Washington. The original permit did not impose stringent limits, allowing Microsoft to operate its generators for a combined total of more than 6,000 hours a year for "emergency backup electrical power" or unspecified "maintenance purposes."
In 2010, during an expansion of the data center, Microsoft repeatedly ran the center on generator power. The Microsoft spokeswoman, Andrea Platt, said the company was forced to rely on the generators "at certain times" that year because the utility needed to perform work on a substation.
The utility, however, said its documents indicated that Microsoft asked to be disconnected from the grid.
Several experts said in interviews that they found the episode confusing because data center designs typically anticipate expansions and allow construction to take place without disconnecting from the grid.
For example, Yahoo's Quincy data center, which expanded around the same time, ran its generators just 65 hours in 2010, state records show. Microsoft's generators operated for a combined total of 3,615 hours that year, the records show.
In Silicon Valley, Microsoft's heavy use of generators at its data center there drew the attention of the California authorities, who were already regulating diesel particulate emissions because of their carcinogenic properties.
In 2008 and 2009, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District listed Microsoft's Santa Clara data center as one of the largest stationary diesel polluters in the Bay Area, along with facilities including a major rock quarry and Alcatraz Island, which relied solely on diesel generators until it installed solar panels this year.
Microsoft had been granted emergency permission to run its generators more often in 2008 and 2009 while it made repairs to dangerously corroded electrical components.
Christian Belady, Microsoft's general manager for data center services, said the company substantially reduced its generator use after the overhaul. But in October, Microsoft was informed that the increased emissions had prompted a review under California's Air Toxics "Hot Spots" Program. The notice said the potential for diesel emissions to cause cancers among employees in more than a dozen nearby businesses was above the program's threshold.
In responding to the notification, Microsoft pointed out that its emissions had dropped since the emergency repairs and produced computer models of the diesel exhaust that appeared to show a carcinogenic potential below the threshold, said Jane Lundquist, the engineer who conducted the original review for the Bay Area district. The case is still under consideration, said Brian Bateman, the district's health and science officer.
In Quincy, Microsoft's reliance on generators did not draw the same response. But some people noticed.
"When they first start up, a big, huge cloud of black smoke comes up," said Ronald Carden, a forklift driver at a nearby fruit warehouse. "It just kind of makes you nauseous."
While others in town said they were hardly aware of the generators, Patty Martin, a former Quincy mayor and environmental activist, made them an issue. Ms. Martin and Ms. Dal Porto, the retired teacher, formed a group called Microsoft-Yes; Toxic Air Pollution-No. When the State Ecology Department granted Microsoft permits for new backup generators for the expanded center, they appealed the decision to the state's Pollution Control Hearings Board.
During two days of hearings in February, Ms. Martin squared off against a team of lawyers for Microsoft and an assistant attorney general representing the Ecology Department. In July, the board issued a ruling that confirmed the permits allowing Microsoft to increase the number of generators to 37 at its Columbia Data Center. The group has appealed that decision to a Superior Court.
One clause in the new permit, though, indicated that Ms. Martin's opposition had raised concerns. It ordered Microsoft to meet with administrators of the nearby Mountain View Elementary School and "provide the school administrators with a direct telephone contact to one of the Columbia Data Center managers" as well as a schedule of when it would test generators.
Burton Dickerson, the superintendent of the Quincy School District, said that because the school was close to both Microsoft's data center and one run by Dell, he was concerned enough to install particulate monitors. He said that there were no dangerous levels "the nearest we could tell," but that the district did not have the technical expertise to separate out the diesel emissions in the readings.
Mr. Dickerson said that in the end, the district was placing "quite a lot of confidence" in the state "to assure that we're not in any great danger." He added that Microsoft and the other data centers had abided by the permit provisions requiring communication with the school.
Mr. Belady of Microsoft said that generator use at Quincy had dropped in each of the last two years. "From both an operational cost and a system reliability perspective, we seek to minimize the amount of time we operate our backup generators," he said, referring both to Quincy and to Santa Clara.
Even so, as Quincy's data centers grow, so do its diesel generators. The State Ecology Department says enough permits for generating power have been issued in Quincy to eventually pump out 337 million watts — roughly a third of the output of a major nuclear power plant. Ms. Martin and her group are now challenging generators for an expansion of Yahoo's data center as well as for facilities run by Dell and Sabey.
Those cases are pending, according to the state attorney general's office.
Meanwhile, some Ecology Department officials involved in approving the backup generators now express doubts about the soaring number of them in Quincy.
"I find it hard to believe that this is the best way to store data," Mr. Koster said. "Something's flawed in that thought process."
Burning Off a Fine
In the midst of the tussle over its generators, Microsoft received notice last December that it was likely to face a penalty from the Grant County Public Utility District. Surprisingly, it was for using too little power.
Microsoft was in violation of an obscure provision called Rate Schedule 99.
Utilities perform a constant balancing act, matching the demand from its customers with its supply of power. The Grant County utility must carefully plan for how much its big customers need or risk losing money it could earn by selling the excess power elsewhere — a cost all of its customers would have to absorb.
After several years of poor forecasts based on input from the large industrial users, the utility instituted the provision. It requires large industrial customers to file load forecasts each fall for the next calendar year and face a penalty if they are off by a significant margin in either direction.
At the end of last year, said Ms. Morford, the utility spokeswoman, just two customers were in line for penalties for using less energy than they had asked the utility to set aside for them: data centers operated by Yahoo and Microsoft.
Yahoo paid its $94,608 penalty, Ms. Morford said. Microsoft took a different tack.
That is when Microsoft threatened to waste tremendous amounts of power by simply running giant heaters for no purpose, according to utility officials who said they were briefed on the matter by Microsoft, unless the penalty was largely forgiven. The idea was to burn the power fast enough to move closer to the forecast before year's end.
Documents related to the case and interviews with utility officials show that Microsoft started burning roughly an additional five million to seven million watts — well over half of the consumption of the entire town of Quincy — in mid-December.
On Dec. 16, Microsoft delivered its ultimatum to the utility in a letter from Darrell Amundson, the facility's manager.
The letter stated bluntly that Microsoft "has the alternative available to it of increasing power utilization" in a "commercially unproductive" manner.
"By staff estimate," the letter said, "Microsoft could incur approximately $70,000 in power costs to avoid the $210,000 penalty, resulting in real savings of $140,000. Microsoft must make the decision on continuing to burn $70,000 worth of power in the next three days."
Ms. Morford said Microsoft's power use jumped from 28.5 million watts on Dec. 16 to 34 million watts on Dec. 19.
"It was very well recognized by the board as well as management that this was a very unusual situation," said Kevin Nordt, the utility's chief financial officer. The utility board, he said, focused on avoiding wasted energy without shifting costs to the utility's other customers. In a special weekend session, the board voted 4 to 1 to waive all but $60,000 of the penalty.
Mr. Belady, the Microsoft official, said the board's resolution "eliminated the illogical financial incentive for Microsoft to consume unnecessary power in order to avoid a larger fine."
Mr. Manos, the former Microsoft data center chief who had pledged to operate in an environmentally sensitive way, said he was surprised by the company's response to the penalty. "Those types of decisions would not have been part of the program's initial inception," he said.
The Microsoft spokeswoman, Ms. Platt, said the company remained committed to the environment. "Microsoft's focus on efficiency and resource utilization has not changed," she said.
Aside from a few brief notices in local newspapers, the episode barely registered in the state or in the wider digital world. And among local leaders, Microsoft has mostly retained its support, in part because the data centers are increasing tax revenues.
But Mr. Morgan, the president of Double Diamond Fruit, said the positive impact over all had been far less than many people imagined. As for all the digital services that data centers power around the country, Mr. Morgan said, "I understand that it's a necessary situation for us as a society and the way we want to live."
"But I don't think it's benefiting Quincy," he said. "I think we're taking one for the team, to tell you the truth."


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"Mothers who work and those who stay home often end up judging one another," writes Maya Dollarhide Lucca in a CNN article about working moms. Shocker. But this issue will not go away, and the two sides are each adamant that they are right. Dr. Scott Haltzman, a clinical psychiatrist and an assistant professor at Brown says: "It's very clear to me, from what I've seen in my clients, that children who are put in day care, not raised by their mothers at home, feel a real loss. They feel the absence of those parents and it affects how they want to parent their own children." But author/psychologist Debra Condren counters: "Each time the media reports an interview with yet another professional woman who has seen the light and taken time out for motherhood, everyone breathes a collective sigh of relief. Finally, this woman has figured out what's really important. But keeping yourself from your own ambitions, dreams and career goals can be soul destroying."
Yeah, same old issues. But a new study by UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business found that MBAs were more likely to drop out of the workforce than doctors or lawyers. Why?
It's not because of education: All of the 1,000 participants in the survey went to Harvard. It's not age: All were 37 years old and had at least one child. The difference was in the workplace. A third of the women with MBAs became stay-at-home moms; compared to 6% of MDs. Could it be that doctors often work in private practice and can make their own hours? Could it be that a business environment is not family-friendly? Would it help if there were more women in business, thereby forcing companies to become flexible or lose valuable employees? But why would more women go into business when clearly women in business have a tough time? It's a catch-22. (Would some sort of Title IX help?) I'm reminded of something I read recently, in which the author suggested that the reason the comments on this site are so witty and funny is because women are underutilized at their jobs. Maybe it's not just businesses — maybe the entire concept of a "workforce" needs to be overhauled?
Working Moms Look Back With Mixed Emotions [CNN]
More Women With MBAs Take Mommy-Track Than Doctors: Study [Reuters]
Related: Government Officials: Should Title IX Apply To Science Departments?
On Jezebel's Fine Lines Series and Spunky Female Protagonists [South In The Winter]
Earlier: Many Women Prefer Stay At Home Motherhood To Soulless Cubicle Dwelling


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Your Cybermentor was a lot like you – a cool girl who liked math or science and wanted to make a difference. She has amazing stories to share and she will give you the inside scoop on what it's really like to be a scientist or an engineer.
Your Cybermentor cares about more than just your career – she cares about you! She is there to listen and have fun while also lending you support.
Your Cybermentor will be able to give you personalized advice, based on your questions and interests, to help you make the best choices for your own future.
Girls in grades 6 to 12 in Alberta are matched with successful women in science, technology, engineering and math, and they communicate with their mentor in a safe online community
Mentors help girls to explore career opportunities in the sciences and engineering while building self-confidence, positive attitudes towards school, social skills, feelings of self-worth, and relationships with parents.


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7 Quotes and Tweets You Can't Miss From Senate's All-Nighter on Climate Change
The U.S. senators who participated in the all-night session on climate change didn't get much sleep, but they may have made progress for a country that is seemingly still divided on the issue.
The event, which began Monday around 6:30 p.m., lasted 14 hours and 26 minutes, according to the Sierra Club. It featured about 30 senators who spoke at varying lengths about how the nation should address the issue.
None of the senators proposed legislation, but they were pleased to divert attention away from climate deniers. Groups that have long advocated for the recognition of climate change were pleased, too, hoping that the event will lead to serious, legislative work on the matter.
"The Environmental Protection Agency is currently working on common sense safeguards under current law to keep carbon pollution in check. However, last week, the House of Representatives voted against the steps that the Environmental Protection Agency is taking to cut carbon pollution," Earthjustice Senior Legislative Representative Sarah Saylor said.
"We are glad to see the Senate is poised to reject that backward-looking approach and instead work toward meeting our shared obligation to future generations to cut carbon pollution and protect our planet."
Here's a collection of tweets from the legislators themselves and a couple advocates for addressing climate change:
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid
"Climate Change is real. It's here. It's time to stop acting like those who ignore this crisis. For example, the oil baron Koch brothers and their allies in Congress have a valid point of view. They don't."
God bless the senators who did #Up4Climate. They are a sunburst of hope and strength.
— Alexis Rudd (@SoundingTheSea) March 11, 2014
#NJ areas rank 9th & 10th as worst ozone-depleted metro regions. #ClimateChange aggravates this & leads 2 health complications #Up4Climate
— Cory Booker (@CoryBooker) March 11, 2014
Sen. Brian Schatz, D-HI
"We have a simple message for all Americans: We're not going to rest until Congress acts on the most pressing issue of our time," said Sen. Brian Schatz, a freshman Democrat from Hawaii, who organized the all-nighter on the Senate floor.
We don't own the planet, we have it on loan, and we have an obligation to pass it on in as good a shape or better as we received #Up4Climate
— Senator Angus King (@SenAngusKing) March 11, 2014
We can leave our children & grandchildren with a brighter future. That's what this is about that's why we have to #ActOnClimate#Up4Climate
Senator Ben Cardin (@SenatorCardin) March 11, 2014
Sen. Bill Nelson, D-FL (session's final speaker)
"We are in severe jeopardy. It is time for us to get out of our lethargy and recognize the problem that is happening in front of our very eyes."
Visit EcoWatch's CLIMATE CHANGE page for more related news on this topic.
EcoWatch Daily Newsletter
The Bundestag and Bundesrat — Germany's lower and upper houses of parliament — passed legislation on Friday that would phase out coal use in the country in less than two decades as part of a road map to reduce carbon emissions.
Preparing for the Future
Coal-producing regions in the German states of North Rhine-Westphalia, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Brandenburg will have access to €40 billion ($45 billion) to help absorb the impact. Those funds are also expected to go towards restructuring regional economies, re-skilling workers and expanding local infrastructure.

Financial compensation is also be available to coal plant operators who face losses as a result of the early phaseout. However, compensation is contingent on operators announcing plans by 2026 to shutter plants and cease other emissions-intensive activity.

Michael Vassiliadis, who heads the IG BCE trade union, called the measures a "historic landmark." He said the package has provided a safety net for workers affected by the phase out and would provide them with the necessary support to transition to future sectors.

'Historic Error'
However, not everyone agrees that the measures are enough to mitigate climate change.

Environmentalist activists say the legislation falls short of its ultimate aim, with Greenpeace managing director Martin Kaiser describing it as a "historic error."

German Green party chief Annalena Baerbock said the legislation was "oblivious to the future" and instead called on the government to complete Germany's coal phase out by 2030 the latest.

Earlier this year, a DeutschlandTrend survey found that 27 percent of Germans believe climate change is the most pressing issue facing the country, just slightly behind refugees and immigration policy.

Germany is seeking to establish a carbon-neutral economy by 2050. The European Commission has also pushed forward with similar plans for the EU.

- Germany Converts Coal Mine Into Giant Battery Storage for Surplus ... ›
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By Tara Lohan
Would you like to take a crack at solving climate change? Or at least creating a road map of how we could do it?
When you build a tool like En-ROADS, who are you hoping uses it?
The tools that we build are used by quite a range of people, which is one of the exciting things about them.

Before En-ROADS we had a tool called C-ROADS, which was used in the context of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. During the negotiations in Copenhagen it allowed people to add up what each country was offering to do in terms of emissions cuts and calculate what that would mean for the global temperature at the end of the century. That was of interest to the U.S. State Department under President Obama and negotiating parties from other countries.

As a young bunch of scientists, it was fairly thrilling to hand our results to a colleague who took them to [science advisor] John Holdren, who took them to the president.

Today we find En-ROADS having quite a lot of traction in the upper levels of companies and governments, but one thing we've learned over the years is that those high-level leaders really can't move further or faster than the civil society is ready to.

So we invest quite a lot in supporting teachers — university and high school — and advocates. We're in the middle of a second round of webinars training around 1,000 people to use En-ROADS so they can teach others.

These are people all around the world. One is interested in going to her members of Congress with her laptop and using the simulation to advocate for a better future for her kids.

What does En-ROADS do differently from other computer simulations?
One thing we talk about is the democratization of this information. En-ROADS isn't breaking new scientific ground that other computer simulations of climate change don't do. In fact, often we're relying on that cutting-edge research of other groups.

But we have paid attention to making it run fast and making it freely available online, where most of these other tools aren't designed for those purposes. They're doing scientific research for other scientists. Top leaders can often get the input of those academics if they have a question or a scenario, but it's unlikely that a politically active mom who's trying to influence her member of Congress would have access to those kinds of tools. Whereas if she puts in the time to learn, she can use En-ROADS.

I think more and more, and especially in the last few years, we come across people who have the impression that [the climate crisis is] pretty much hopeless. "It's too late. We've left it too long." And En-ROADS, for those people, is motivating because it shows that the goal of the Paris Climate Agreement to keep temperature increase well below 2 degrees [Celsius] is still physically possible. There's a huge amount of social and political will needed to do it, but it's within reach.

Your organization is guided by a practice you call "multisolving." What is that?
In the early years of working with models like C-ROADS and En-ROADS, we were really focused on tons of greenhouse gases and how to limit those. And clearly that's the core of the problem. But what we found in Copenhagen was that, despite our group and a few others who were doing this analysis actually being heard, and being on the front page of top newspapers, it didn't lead to more ambitious pledges from countries.

There was a soul-searching moment for me and for Climate Interactive in realizing that just being good scientists within this narrow bound of counting tons of carbon isn't getting us onto the path we need to be on.

That got me interested in this question of what else would be different in a world that has gotten off of fossil fuels. This was around 2009-2010. I hired the best researcher I knew, and she went away and came back and handed me this report.

It said that the benefits of being off fossil fuels, when monetized — when you took all the lives saved, all the healthcare costs saved, all the jobs created — the savings were of the same order of magnitude as the cost.

I thought she had made a mistake. Because I had worked my whole career trying to convince people that it's going to be hard, it's going to be expensive, but we need to get off fossil fuels. And she was saying that if you just widened your scope and looked not just on the carbon side, but you looked at the lives and health and community well-being, we were going to reap all these benefits.

I felt like I had been spending my life on a problem that was framed in a way where we would never be able to solve it. But by expanding our view, the things we were missing — basically political will, political power and budgetary power — seemed like maybe they could be aligned.

After that, for a long time we talked about the "co-benefits," and that that was kind of the word at the time. And many people still use it. We ended up dissatisfied with that word because it sounds like climate change is the main benefit, and then there are these other nice co-benefits.

That's still putting CO2 at the center of the world.

To a parent who's been in the emergency room all night with a child with asthma, is protecting the climate 100 years from now the main benefit of closing the neighborhood coal-fired power plant? Or is ending asthma the main benefit and climate is a nice co-benefit?

So we made up the word "multisolving" to talk about how all these problems matter.

What does this look like in action?
We learned that by and large our systems are not set up to allow people to take advantage of these synergies. And just to give you one example, if a country is going to go on a low-carbon transportation plan, those are going to be costs that are felt by the ministry of transportation. But the savings are largely going to be felt by the ministry of health. There'll be less hospitalization, fewer premature deaths, less cardiovascular and respiratory illness, less premature birth. But the way current governments are set up, no transportation minister is going to get much political appreciation or an incentive by saving money for the health ministry.

So for the last few years we've been working more and more on how to bring people together, to build the relationships that are needed to take advantage of these synergies because — until people can shift their systems around in a way where they can act together across these different silos and boundaries and jurisdictions — this will all just stay theoretical.

One place we have been doing this is in Atlanta with a group called Partnership for Southern Equity. We're creating a community network, the Just Growth Circle, that can be mobilized to have influence, decision-by-decision, on the kind of pattern of growth and development that will eventually change a whole city.

That kind of deep-relationship building isn't something that can be done quickly. How do you balance that kind of work to establish these interconnections with the urgency of the climate crisis?
Wendell Berry said, "To be patient in an emergency is a terrible trial." But we're in the kind of emergency that calls for patience. Time is very short and yet to make the kind of changes we need to make requires trust and relationships that can't be rushed and can only be cultivated. All you can do is create the conditions for them.

If you have urgency — if you need to bring things to scale, if you're looking for transformation and not incremental change — then actually this very slow and patient work of building trust and relationships is the way that you get to a very fast and transformative change.

Has anything shifted in your thinking in the last few months during this global pandemic?
There's been a lot of talk about opportunities for transformation within the pandemic, especially about the need for low-carbon solutions. The other side is the social safety net. A lot of what we need to do to help people through the pandemic is also what the smart people behind the Green New Deal have said from the beginning needs to be part of the plan.

When they talked about universal healthcare, childcare, gender equity programs and the job training side of it, lots of people responded that they were way outside their lane. "What does this have to do with carbon?" But the pandemic is showing us that if you want a society to be able to pivot rapidly, you need a social safety net to support people.

If you want to pivot to green infrastructure, if you want low carbon infrastructure, you're changing a whole workforce in a generation. The social safety net is the lubrication that allows that to happen with less friction.

The social safety net we need to build to get through the pandemic could be built to also carry us through the transition to a climate-safe economy. It's not the technical side of this transition, but it is the taking care of each other through the transition. That may sound selfless, but it's also highly practical because the transition isn't going to happen if we can't move a whole society very quickly.

By Elana Sulakshana
Rainforest Action Network recently uncovered a document that lists the 11 companies that are currently insuring the controversial Trans Mountain tar sands pipeline in Canada. These global insurance giants are providing more than USD$500 million in coverage for the massive risks of the existing Trans Mountain pipeline, and they're also lined up to cover the expansion project.
Who's insuring the pipeline? (2019-2020)
Here's the list of insurance companies that are providing coverage from August 2019 through August 2020:

Zurich (Switzerland)

Lloyd's (UK)

Liberty Mutual (US)

Chubb (US)

AIG (US)

WR Berkley (US)

Starr (US)

Stewart Specialty Risk Underwriting (Canada)

Energy Insurance Mutual (US)

Temple Insurance (Germany), a Canadian member of the Munich Re group

HDI (Germany), which is owned by Talanx / Hannover Re

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By Leah Campbell
After several months of stay-at-home orders due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many households are beginning to experience family burnout from spending so much time together.
What is Family Burnout?
How do you know if you're experiencing family burnout resulting from COVID-19 togetherness?

Dr. Pavan Madan is a board certified child and adolescent psychiatrist with Community Psychiatry, the largest outpatient mental health organization in California. He explained there are three main symptoms to look out for. They are:

feeling physically or emotionally exhausted

not being able to handle usual tasks

feeling annoyed easily

These are symptoms a large number of people may be feeling right now, with exhaustion being reported across the internet. Also, despite the fact that people are home and seemingly have all the time in the world on their hands, this inexplicable fatigue is becoming a common phenomenon.

In fact, Madan said, "Although no clear data is available, a 2018 survey found that half of all parents experience burnout — and this was prior to the pandemic."

Given the heightened rates of family togetherness now, it stands to reason those numbers are much higher, especially for single parents.

The Additional Toll Faced by Single Parents
For single parents still working, now depleted of their normal childcare assistance, the pandemic may mean more to do and fewer opportunities for self-care than ever before.

Prairie Conlon is a licensed mental health professional and clinical director of the telehealth company CertaPet.

She explained, "In a two-parent household, division of tasks allows each parent to have some relief, but single-parent households typically take on all of these tasks themselves, which can absolutely lead to burnout quicker."

For single parents in a pandemic, there's no partner to help share responsibilities and there are few, if any, opportunities to get away and breathe by oneself. The result can easily lead to family burnout.

"One of the earliest signs of burnout is having less patience," Conlon said, "whether it's snapping at your kids or making a microwave dinner."

There are other factors that can contribute to family burnout in the time of COVID-19 as well.

"How demanding your job is or how the rest of your family is handling quarantine can further exacerbate burnout," Conlon said.

Family Burnout Can Affect Romantic Relationships Too
Months together in quarantine can also be a strain on romantic relationships.

A recent Forbes article reported on a survey that found only 18 percent of respondents were happy with the communication within their relationships since the pandemic began. And in China, an unprecedented number of divorce requests were filed as soon as marriage offices began reopening.

Will we see similar numbers as our states continue reopening here in the United States?

"When one person in a relationship is experiencing burnout, the other can typically pick up the slack, but when both are, it can be a struggle to connect and feel your best," Conlon said.

The impact on marriages and romantic relationships is considered part of the collateral damage of COVID-19. In times of high stress, it may not always be the best thing to be locked at home together, incapable of getting the space and clear head that's often needed to work through marital discord.

It's Not Just Parents and Adults — Kids Can Experience Family Burnout As Well
It's important to remember that amidst all this, adults aren't the only ones experiencing burnout.

"Burnout in children often presents as anxiety, being irritable, poor academic performance, or staying isolated from peers and not expressing interest in playing," Madan said.

A recent survey in Italy found that children are experiencing psychological impacts as a result of lockdown. They're more irritable, having trouble sleeping, and many are regressing developmentally.

"Compared to younger children, teenagers may be more likely to experience burnout due to higher academic workload, greater need for peer interaction, and more frequent conflicts with parents," Madan said.

How to Reduce the Impact of Burnout in Your Household
But just because so many are experiencing burnout doesn't mean it can't be helped.

"Burnout can be prevented by having a better balance between family time versus me time," Madan said.

When dealing with kids who may be acting out as a result of lockdown stress, he suggests parents try using encouragement and positive reinforcement over punishment techniques.

This gentler approach may be best for helping to redirect kids while also honoring the life struggles we're all facing right now.

"Having a routine for sleep, meals, and study time can help children feel prepared for the next activity and avoid some conflicts," Madan explained.

How can parents manage their own feelings of burnout?

"Parents must consider stress management techniques at work and aim towards a better work-life balance," Madan said.

Conlon agreed, adding that those in two-parent households can help each other by giving one another time off from household obligations and child-rearing duties every once in a while.

Conlon suggested telling your partner to go out for a walk, or ask for the chance to sit in the tub with a book uninterrupted for the next hour. He explained that mini-breaks such as these can do both parents a world of good.

"For the kids, try to switch up their activities — take them bike riding, to the pool, or to the park," she said.

Knowing When to Ask for Help
It's important to recognize there's a difference between having a slightly shorter fuse and feeling like you're actually on the edge of combusting.

"When burnout symptoms are moderate to severe, consider getting professional consultation with family therapy, individual therapist, or psychiatrist depending on the situation," Madan said.

While it may seem as though COVID-19 has made seeking mental health help more difficult, that's simply not the case. In fact, it may currently be easier to get that help than ever before, as many insurance companies have removed deductibles and copays for telehealth appointments.

"Parenting is not easy and burnout is fairly common," Madan explained. "I advise parents to take care of themselves not only for their own well-being, but also to model good behavior for their children to emulate now and for the years to come, even when we are back to 'normal.'"

Experts emphasize that it's OK to honor your own needs and recognize you may require additional help right now.

Most mental health practitioners are welcoming telehealth visits, and with antidepression and anti-anxiety prescriptions both on the rise, you're certainly not alone if you decide you need that additional assistance right now as well.

The most important thing is that you take care of yourself. After all, your family needs you to be healthy and whole.

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By Danielle Nierenberg and Alonso Diaz
With record high unemployment, a reeling global economy, and concerns of food shortages, the world as we know it is changing. But even as these shifts expose inequities in the health and food systems, many experts hope that the current moment offers an opportunity to build a new and more sustainable food system.
1. Be My Guest: Reflections on Food, Community, and the Meaning of Generosity by Priya Basil (forthcoming November 2020)
Priya Basil explores the meaning of hospitality within a variety of cultural, linguistic, and sociopolitical contexts in this short read. Basil uses her cross-cultural experience to illustrate how food amplifies discourse within families and touches on the hospitality and the lack thereof that migrants and refugees experience. Be My Guest is at once an enjoyable read and a hopeful meditation on how food and hospitality can make a positive difference in our world.

2. Biodiversity, Food and Nutrition: A New Agenda for Sustainable Food Systems by Danny Hunter, Teresa Borelli, and Eliot Gee
In Biodiversity, Food and Nutrition, leading professionals from Bioversity International examine the positive impacts of biodiversity on nutrition and sustainability. The book highlights agrobiodiversity initiatives in Brazil, Kenya, Sri Lanka, and Turkey, featuring research from the Biodiversity for Food and Nutrition Project (BFN) of the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT. Through this analysis, the authors propose that the localized activities in these countries are not only benefiting communities, but are transferable to other regions.

3. Black Food Geographies: Race, Self-Reliance, and Food Access in Washington, D.C. by Ashanté M. Reese
In Black Food Geographies, Ashanté Reese draws on her fieldwork to highlight community agency in response to unequal food access. Focusing on a majority-Black neighborhood in Washington, DC, Reese explores issues of racism, gentrification, and urban food access. Through her analysis, she argues that racism impacts and exacerbates issues of unequal food distribution systems.

4. Black Food Matters: Racial Justice in the Wake of Food Justice edited by Hanna Garth and Ashanté M. Reese (forthcoming October 2020)
Access, equity, justice, and privilege are the central themes in this forthcoming collection of essays. The food justice movement often ignores the voices of Black communities and white food norms shape the notions of healthy food. Named for Black Lives Matter, Black Food Matters highlights the history and impact of Black communities and their food cultures in the food justice movement.

5. Diners Dudes & Diets: How Gender and Power Collide in Food Media and Culture by Emily J.H. Contois (forthcoming November 2020)
In Diners, Dudes & Diets, Emily Contois looks at media's influence on eating habits and gendered perceptions of food. Focusing on the concept of dude foods, the book follows the evolution of food marketing for men. In doing so, Contois shows how industries used masculine stereotypes to sell diet and weight loss products to a new demographic. She argues that this has influenced both the way consumers think about food and their own identities.

6. Feeding the Crisis: Care and Abandonment in America's Food Safety Net by Maggie Dickinson
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is essential for individuals who face food insecurity on a daily basis. Still, the program fails to reach many, including those who are unemployed, underemployed, or undocumented. Feeding the Crisis provides a historical overview of SNAP's expansion and traces the lives of eight families who must navigate the changing landscape of welfare policy in the United States.

7. Feeding the Other: Whiteness, Privilege, and Neoliberal Stigma in Food Pantries by Rebecca T. de Souza
In Feeding the Other, Rebecca de Souza explores the relationship between food pantries and people dependent on their services. Throughout the work, de Souza underscores the structural failures that contribute to hunger and poverty, the racial dynamics within pantries, and the charged idea of a handout. She argues that while food pantries currently stigmatize clients, there is an opportunity to make them agents of food justice.

8. Feeding the People: The Politics of the Potato by Rebecca Earle
In Feeding the People, Rebecca Earle tells the story of the potato and its journey from a relatively unknown crop to a staple in modern diets around the world. Earle's work highlights the importance of the potato during famines, war, and explains the politics behind consumers' embrace of this food. Interspersed throughout are also potato recipes that any reader can try.

9. Food in Cuba: The Pursuit of a Decent Meal by Hanna Garth
In Food in Cuba, Dr. Hannah Garth looks at food security and food sovereignty in the context of Cuba's second largest city, Santiago de Cuba. Throughout the work, Garth defines a decent meal as one that is culturally appropriate and of high quality. And through stories about families' sociopolitical barriers to food access, Garth shows how ideas of food and moral character become intimately linked.

10. Franchise: The Golden Arches in Black America by Marcia Chatelain
Scholar, speaker, and strategist Marcia Chatelain provides readers insight into the ways fast food restaurants expanded throughout Black communities. Dr. Chatelain traces their growth during the 20th century and their intersection with Black capitalists and the civil rights movement. This book highlights the dichotomy between fast food's negative impacts on Black communities and the potential economic and political opportunities that the businesses offered them.

11. Honey And Venom: Confessions of an Urban Beekeeper by Andrew Coté
In Honey and Venom, Andrew Coté provides a history of beekeeping while taking the reader through his own trajectory in the industry. A manager of over one hundred beehives, Coté raises colonies across New York City, on the rooftops of churches, schools, and more. Coté's passion for beekeeping comes through clearly as he narrates the challenges and rewards of his career.

12. Life on the Other Border: Farmworkers and Food Justice in Vermont by Teresa M. Mares
Agriculture, immigration, and Central American and Mexican farm workers may conjure ideas of the Mexico-U.S. border, but in Life on the Other Border, Teresa Mares gives a voice to those laboring much farther north. Mares introduces the readers to the Latinx immigrants who work in Vermont's dairy industry while they advocate for themselves and navigate life as undocumented workers. This is an inspiring read that touches on the intersection of food justice, immigration, and labor policy.

13. Meals Matter: A Radical Economics Through Gastronomy by Michael Symons
In Meals Matter, Michael Symons argues that economics used to be, in its essence, about feeding the world but has since become fixated with the pursuit of money. Symons introduces readers to gastronomic liberalism and applies the ideas of philosophers like Epicurus and John Locke to the food system. Through this approach, he seeks to understand how large corporations gained control of the market and challenges readers to rethink their understanding of food economics.

14. No One is Too Small to Make a Difference by Greta Thunberg
Greta Thunberg addressed the United Nations at the 2019 UN Climate Action Summit and has since been a global symbol of environmental activism. Her community organizing and impassioned speeches are uncompromising as she argues that climate change is an existential crisis that needs to be confronted immediately. No One Is Too Small to Make a Difference includes Thunberg's speeches and includes her 2019 address to the United Nations.

15. Perilous Bounty: The Looming Collapse of American Farming and How We Can Prevent It by Tom Philpott (forthcoming August 2020)
In Perilous Bounty, journalist Tom Philpott critically analyzes the centralized food system in the U.S. and argues that it is headed for disaster unless it sees some much-needed changes. Philpot argues that actors within the U.S. food system are prioritizing themselves over the nation's wellbeing and provides well-researched data to back up his claims. Providing readers insight into the experiences of activists, farmers, and scientists, this is a great read for those starting to learn about the state of the country's food system and for those who are already deeply involved.

16. Plucked: Chicken, Antibiotics, And How Big Business Changed The Way The World Eats by Maryn McKenna
In this exposé on the chicken industry, acclaimed author Maryn McKenna explains the role antibiotics played in making chicken a global commodity. Plucked makes it clear that food choices matter and show how consumers' desire for meat, especially chicken, has impacted human health. McKenna also offers a way forward and outlines ways that stakeholders can make food safer again.

17. Stirrings: How Activist New Yorkers Ignited a Movement for Food Justice by Lana Dee Povitz
Between 1970 and 2000, food activists in New York City pushed to improve public school lunches, provide meals to those impacted by the AIDS epidemic, and established food co-ops. In Stirrings, Lana Dee Povitz draws on oral histories and archives to recount the stories of individuals who led these efforts. She highlights the successes of grassroots movements and reminds readers of the many women leaders in the New York food justice movement.

18. The New American Farmer: Immigration, Race, and the Struggle for Sustainability by Laura-Anne Minkoff-Zern
In The New American Farmer, Laura-Anne Minkoff-Zern offers a look at farm labor in the U.S. Although most farm owners are white Americans, farm workers are overwhelmingly immigrants and people of color. In this book, Minkoff-Zern details the experiences of farm laborers who are becoming farm owners themselves and outlines the many barriers that workers must overcome during this transition. Through interviews with farmers and organizers, Minkoff-Zern shows that these farmers bring sustainable agricultural practices that can benefit our food system.

19. The Story of More: How We Got to Climate Change and Where to Go from Here by Hope Jahren
Hope Jahren breaks down climate change for readers in an accessible and data-driven book. The Story of More explains how greenhouse gas emissions and consumption of natural resources in developed nations exacerbate climate change and outlines the consequences of these actions. Although she argues that the planet is in danger, she also provides a variety of everyday actions, like decreasing meat consumption, that consumers can take to make a difference.

20. Vegetable Kingdom: The Abundant World of Vegan Recipes by Bryant Terry
Author, chef, and food justice activist Bryant Terry provides readers with over a hundred recipes to create approachable and flavorful vegan dishes, without relying on meat alternatives. This book is a wonderfully practical recipe book that begins with a list of recommended tools, is organized by ingredients, and even includes a music playlist. Vegans and non-vegans alike will appreciate Chef Terry's Vegetable Kingdom.

COVID-19 Is Laying Waste to Many U.S. Recycling Programs
By Brian J. Love and Julie Rieland
The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the U.S. recycling industry. Waste sources, quantities and destinations are all in flux, and shutdowns have devastated an industry that was already struggling.
Goodwill's Canton, Mich. site looks overwhelmed on June 16, with an oversupply of donations and little immediate chance for resale. Brian Love / CC BY-ND
Recyclers Under Pressure
Since March 2020, when most shelter-in-place orders began, sanitation workers have noted massive increases in municipal garbage and recyclables. For example, in cities like Chicago, workers have seen up to 50% more waste.

According to the Solid Waste Association of North America, U.S. cities saw a 20% average increase in municipal solid waste and recycling collection from March into April 2020. Increased trash can be attributed partly to spring cleaning, but most of it is due to people spending greater time at home. Restaurants struggling to survive under COVID-19 restrictions are contributing to the rise in plastic and paper waste with takeout packaging.

Although higher volumes of recyclables are being set on the curb, budget deficits are squeezing recycling programs. Many municipalities are struggling with multimillion-dollar shortfalls. Some communities, such as Rock Springs, Wyoming, and East Peoria, Illinois, have cut recycling programs.

And these stresses are testing a business already faced uncertainty.

While bottle deposit stations remain closed, recyclables pile up in basements and garages. David Rieland / CC BY-ND
Turmoil in Scrap Markets
The global recycling economy has suffered since 2018 as first China and then other Asian nations banned imports of low-quality scrap — often meaning improperly cleaned food packaging and poorly sorted recyclable materials. As in any business, the value of raw recyclables is linked to supply and demand. Without demand from nations like China, which formerly took up to 700,000 tons of U.S. scrap annually, recyclers have scrambled to stay in business.

The pandemic has boosted prices for some materials. One industry leader told us that between February and May 2020, prices doubled for recycled paper and tripled for recycled cardboard. These shifts reflect higher demand for tissue products and shipping packaging under shelter-in-place orders.

However, he also reported that prices for the most-recycled categories of reclaimed plastics — PET (#1) and PE (#2 and #4) – were at 10-year lows. An influx of cheap oil has driven the raw material cost of oil-derived virgin plastics to their lowest levels in decades, outcompeting recycled feedstocks.

Difficult Economics
Ideally, revenues from recycling offset municipalities' costs for collecting and disposing of solid wastes. However, given worker safety concerns, low market prices for scrap materials, a slowed economy and cheaper alternatives for disposal, many communities and businesses across the U.S. have temporarily suspended collection of recyclables and bottle deposits.

Meanwhile, as the commercial sector slowed, the distribution of waste generation changed. As people have spent more time producing waste at home, waste collectors implemented new procedures to protect their employees from infection.

Recycling is a very hands-on process that requires workers to manually sort out items from the collection stream that are unsuitable for mechanical processing. Workers and waste collection companies have raised many safety questions about recycling during the pandemic.

Precautions like social distancing and use of personal protective equipment have become commonplace among waste collectors and sorters, though concerns remain. Sorters are increasingly relying on automation, but implementation can be costly and takes time.

Collections on Pause
Based on monitoring since 2017 by the trade publication Waste Dive, nearly 90 curbside recycling programs had experienced or continue to experience a prolonged suspension over the past several years. About 30 of these suspensions have occurred since January 2020.

Like many bottle deposit programs, Kroger's Ann Arbor, Mich. drop-off center shut down on March 23. Michigan bottle deposits across the state resumed on June 15, 2020 with new safety protocols. Brian Love / CC BY-ND
On a broader scale, it's not clear how much more waste Americans are currently producing during shutdowns. Commercial and residential waste aren't directly comparable. For example, a granola bar wrapper thrown away at the office is tallied differently than if discarded at home.

It is also challenging to quantify the effects of the pandemic while it is still unfolding. Historically, waste output from the commercial and industrial sectors has far outweighed the municipal stream. With many offices and business closed or operating at low levels, total U.S. waste production could actually be at a record low during this time. However, data on commercial and industrial wastes are not readily available.

At the California-based Peninsula Sanitary Service, which serves the Stanford University community, total tonnage was down 60% in March. The company attributes this drop to reduced commercial waste, particularly from construction. Similarly, the city of Vancouver, British Columbia, noted a 10% decrease year over year of waste collection levels for April.

Expected sectors of plastic waste increase due to COVID-19, based on 2018 plastic usage distribution data from PlasticsEurope and Klemes et al., 2020. Brian Love and Julie Rieland / CC BY-ND
More Plastic Trash
As cities and industries reopen in the coming months, new data will show the pandemic's effects on consumer habits and waste generation. But regardless of total volume, the mix of materials in household wastes has shifted given the new ubiquity of single-use plastic containers, online shopping packaging and disposable gloves, wipes and face masks. Many of these new staples of pandemic life are made from plastics that are simply not worth recycling if there are any other disposal options.

Today Americans are trying to balance their physical well-being against ever-mounting piles of plastic waste. At a time when reducing and reusing could be dangerous, and recycling economics are unfavorable, we see a need for better options, such as more compostable packaging that is both safer and more sustainable.

15 'Health Foods' That Are Really Junk Foods in Disguise
Unhealthy foods play a primary role in many people gaining weight and developing chronic health conditions, more now than ever before.


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