Paint By (the) NumbersClimate Change & 1.1% Growth
April 28, 2023Climate
change is not an afterthought. Numerically small changes in global
temperatures and carbon dioxide and methane are having extreme
consequences to the fragile life on Earth.
What fragile life? You.
You with your acceptable temperature range and your assumptions of clean air and water.
In
the 1960s United States, 42% of the population smoked. There were
smoking sections on planes and trains. Taxi cabs were entirely smoking
sections, but then you couldn't take a flight in a non-smoking section
without arriving in a smoking jacket. Today, only 1 in 9 Americans
smoke.
Clean air is more available than it used to be, except
for the summer forest fires. There didn't used to be regular summer
forest fires.
Headlines yesterday said the United States growth was 1.1% for the first quarter of 2023.
Woo
hoo! Wintertime growth of 1.1%?!? Just wait until summer! The forests
will have double-digit... what?!? GDP? Gosh darned pollution?
Gross
domestic product is the economic synopsis of a country's industrial
health, which has an adverse relationship to climate change. So the
headlines indicated the 1.1% US GDP was bad for the economy, due to slower growth. But is it
good for life on Earth?
Some industries are making wind
turbines, solar panels, electric vehicles, and carbon sequestering
devices. Those are good for life on Earth, right?
Define good.
Not bad. Coal power plants are bad. Cement production is bad. Strip mining is bad.
Wind turbines and solar panels are good but have cement bases which are bad.
Using less power would be good.
What
if homes were wrapped in mineral wool batting to insulate attics and
exterior walls? Mineral wool batting is strong insulation. And unlike
flammable rigid or spray-in foam, mineral wool batting can withstand
temperatures up to 2150°F. Would that be good?
Yes, using less power due to better insulation would be good. That could be growth in a good direction.
Music Association: Steve Miller - Joker Smoker
Going For The RecordMore Snow
April 1, 2023The
Twin Cities received more snow overnight ranging from 6.5 to 10 inches or
more, with some of the snow allocated to the March records and some
starting off April.
This
winter was already the 8th snowiest on
record (81.2") as measured at the MSP airport. The National Weather
Service recorded the snow at 8.5 inches. That plows this winter's
snowfall total to 89.7 inches, making it the third snowiest season in the Twin Cities.
The winter of 1983-1984 has the record at 98.6 inches, followed by 95 inches in the 1981-1982 season.
The question is: are we digging out or digging in?
The new snow will hardly patch the potholes this winter has dug into the roads.
“Are they potholes or are they road caves?” a friend asked. “It's not driving; it's spelunking.”
I replied, “If you are on it, it's a pothole. If you are in it, it's a road cave.”
More snow is in the forecast for Tuesday and Wednesday.
Music Association: Eagles - Take It To The Limit
Another Train TankedEthanol & Corn Syrup
March 30, 2023
A BNSF
train with tankers of ethanol and corn syrup derailed in the small town
of Raymond, Minnesota at 1am. No injuries were reported. Some of the
800 residents were evacuated to a school and a church in the smaller
town of Prinsburg, Minnesota before being allowed back to Raymond.
Music Assocation: Men Without Hats - Safety Dance
OxymoronicallyKing Sized Mini Eggs
March 27, 2023Just before Valentine's Day, I spotted a small bag of “Cadbury Mini Eggs - King Size.”
I am easily confused, so I looked for a candy expert to ask. Not finding anyone, I called the candy hotline at 1-800-468-1774.
I asked about the small package of Cadbury Mini Eggs - King Size.
The
candy expert at Hershey's helpfully said what I was viewing as small is not
the smallest bag of Cadbury Mini Eggs. There are two sizes smaller than
the 2.2oz. Cadbury has 1.5oz and 0.7oz bags.
Cadbury also has 16oz and 28oz bags of Mini Eggs, which could be labeled Kingdom Sized and Continental Sized but are not.

Music Association: Ray Anthony - Bunny Hop
Russia - Ukraine War
March 25, 2023
Year TwoRussia - Ukraine War
February 23, 2023
Russia's war against Ukraine starts its second year today because it's tomorrow over there.
Ukraine, you have our continued support.
Russia has not run out of stockpiled weapons and is being resupplied by Iran and China.
That doesn't mean the war is going well for them or Ukraine. War is for tyrants.

Russia must return all Ukrainian territory seized in 2015 and 2022.
Russians, do not support the war. Do not support Putin. Rise up.
Music Association: Beyoncé - Rise Up
KissimmeePlastic Pots Pollution
February 18, 2023On February 16, 2023 at 2am eastern time, a fire started by the back fence of a nursery supply company, 13 miles south of Disney World.
The fire burned nearly five acres of two-gallon plastic pots in Kissimmee, Florida.
Florida public health officials with straight faces told Fox35Orlando that
plastic pots burning do not create toxic smoke or ash. "These pots are
burning into soot, just carbon, and carbon monoxide, a small amount
that dissipates in the air, carbon dioxide and water. Nothing exotic.
No cyanide, like you can get in some fires. No exotic chemicals like
you can get in some fires," said Dr. Todd Husty, a public health
official.
Florida is saying it is just as messed up as Ohio.
Music Association: Anna Nalick - 2am Breathe
Oh East PalestineNorfolk Southern Railroad Derailment Pollution
February 18, 2023On February 3, 2023 at 8:54pm eastern time, 38 train cars of a nearly two-mile long Norfolk Southern 32N train derailed and caught fire at the east end of East Palestine on the east side of Ohio. The 153-car* freight train burned tanks of vinyl chloride (a known carcinogen), butyl acrylate**, ethylhexyl acrylate,
ethylene glycol monobutyl ether, isobutylene, combustible liquids, and
benzene residue. The mangled and charred mass of tankers, boxcars, and 100 foot tall
fires were still burning February 5th with winds blowing the dark
blue-gray smoke plumes east into nearby Pennsylvania as well as West
Virginia, New York, and beyond.
All 14 freight cars of vinyl chloride derailed and were exposed to the fire. Vinyl chloride
is used to make plastic and is shipped as a chilled liquid but quickly
turns into an explosive gas at normal outdoor temperatures.
On
February 5th, the decision was made to purposefully vent liquid vinyl
chloride and set it ablaze. The newly set fire produced a towering,
pewter-colored column of smoke.
Residents reported sudden headaches and nausea. They reported dead fish in streams and dead chickens in backyard coops. A resident said the air smelled like nail polish remover and burning tires.
A
chemical plume of butyl acrylate flowed into the Ohio River and was
flowing downstream toward Cincinnati. The Ohio River flows through
seven states until it flows into the Mississippi River which flows
through five more states before emptying into the Gulf of Mexico. The
East Palestine discolored drinking water was still safe, according to EPA officials.
On February 8th, a reporter was arrested and held for five hours for trying to cover the East Palestine derailment, trespassing at a two-hour-delayed press conference.
Between
2008 and 2019 train lengths increased by 25 percent. There are now
freight trains stretching more than three miles, often driven by just
two people. Writing an opinion piece for the Washington Post, Eugene Robinson said, “Basic
principles of physics would indicate that the sheer mass of such a
long, heavy train would make any derailment more violent than that of a
shorter, lighter train. A Norfolk Southern spokesperson, speaking to
CBS, defended the 'uniform' weight distribution of the train and the
fact that it included a mid-train locomotive, 'which helps manage the
dynamic forces.' No amount of word salad can repeal Isaac
Newton’s second law of motion, F=ma. Force equals mass times
acceleration.”
Federal officials found 36 percent more hazardous material violations on trains over the past five years compared to the five years prior.
Consolidation
has left the nation with only seven major freight railroad companies,
and six of them — including Norfolk Southern — have adopted
a profit-boosting, cost-cutting strategy called
“precision-scheduled railroading,” or PSR. According to a Government Accountability Office report (pdf)
issued in December 2022, PSR involves reductions in staff, longer
trains and reductions in some key assets such as locomotives. According
to the report, “the overall number of staff among the seven
largest freight railroads … decreased by about 28 percent from
2011 through 2021” and “all seven railroads said they have
increased the length of trains in recent years.”
Better brakes are an important safety measure. Electronically controlled pneumatic
(ECP) brakes create braking redundancy and allow trains to apply brakes
to all of their cars simultaneously. When a conductor slams the brakes,
the cars don’t all run into each other. In a report last year, the FRA
said that these brakes “improve both safety and braking
performance of trains” but that train companies have been
reluctant to invest in them due to cost.
The Obama administration created a requirement for ECP brakes at least on trains hauling flammable materials, but Trump revoked the requirement in 2018.
Music Associations: The Hollies - The Air That I Breathe
& Britney Spears - Toxic
*
The 18,000 ton Norfolk Southern freight train had 141 loaded freight
cars, 9 empty cars, and 3 locomotives to pull the chemicals from
Madison, Illinois to Conway, Pennsylvania by way of Toledo, Ohio.
** The freight train had 20 tankers of butyl acrylate and 11 of them derailed.
. Paint By (the) NumbersPlein Air Pollution
February 1, 2023Impressionist painter Claude Monet was in London to capture the essence of the city at the end of the 19th century. “I
am working very hard,” he wrote to his wife, Camille Doncieux, on
March 4, 1900, “although this morning I really thought the
weather had changed completely. When I got up, I was terrified to see
that there was no fog, not even a wisp of mist. I was prostrate and
could just see all my paintings done for, but gradually the fires were
lit and the smoke and haze came back.” Studying
the angles of Monet's paintings across the Thames River from the Savoy
Hotel, art historians determined Monet painted from rooms 510, 511, 610, and 611.
(Technically, Monet was painting from the balconies of those rooms. The
balconies were later removed.) Art historians have also studied the sun's positions
in the 19 known paintings of the Houses of Parliament by Monet to
determine dates and times of day that the suns were painted.

A more recent study
concluded that the haze Monet was painting was industrial
pollution (obviously) and that over time his paintings revealed
increased air pollution.
In 1905, Dr. Henry Antoine Des Voeux
delivered a paper to the Public Health Congress in London, England.
Noting there was a health threat inherent in urban living, “something produced in great cities that was not found in the country,” according to a London newspaper, Des Voeux noted the pervasive presence of a “smokey fog, or what was known as 'smog.'”
That smog, the London
Fog, has decreased over the past 100 plus years. The coal soot and
other air pollution have improved in London but not other cities.
Here are World Air Quality Project 2022 air pollution charts from London, Dehli, Beijing, Los Angeles, and Minneapolis.

dark, dark red = dangerous?
dark red = hazardous
purple = very unhealthy
red = unhealthy
orange = unhealthy for sensitive groups
yellow = moderate
green = good
blue = great?
numbers = numbers of days in that category
The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency released a report showing the decline in Minnesota's greenhouse gas emissions from 2005 to 2020.

The
charts above show the Minnesota greenhouse gas emissions from two
sources. The chart on the left is from the Pollution Control Agency
(PCA), and the chart on the right is from the Minneapolis Star Tribune
newspaper, based on the PCA chart on the left. The chart on the right
looks better than the chart on the left because the scale of emissions
does not start at zero. It is misleading.
Music Associations: Bill Withers - Ain't No Sunshine
& Dire Straits - Industrial Disease
Time FliesTimeline File
January 20, 2023Hey, remember Trump?!?
I
hardly do. It's been... what... two years exactly since Trump left
office after starting an insurrection at the United States Capitol,
after having lost the popular vote, the electoral vote, the womens
vote, many other demographical votes, and every election lawsuit
imaginable.To commemorate the anniversary of the first refusal to pass the presidential torch, here is an updated Trump Timeline (pdf - pretty damn final).
There should be a presidential torch.
No
really. There wouldn't have to be an age limit on the presidency. Nope.
No presidential age limit except to be able to run and grab the moving,
flaming torch. The Olympics and the U.S. presidential
elections already take place the same year, why not join them
together? Finally there would be a second reason for building an
Olympic stadium. Someone call the IOC.
Music Association: Genesis - Follow You, Follow MeMinnesota Returns
Biggest Comeback Ever
December 18, 2022Back
from the longest, largest points deficit in American football history,
the Minnesota Vikings defeated the Indianapolis Colts by 39-36 in
overtime.
The Minnesota Vikings have what the NFL and the Super
Bowl often lacks: perseverance, determination, focus, forgiving others
mistakes, and the insight to know what people want for Christmas.
Those are rare gifts.
Music Association: The Babys - Back On My Feet Again Happy Holidays
Gift Ideas for Everyone
October 26, 2022Speedshopping recently, I noticed Halloween-Christmas items jumbled together in a
Nightmare Before Christmas sort of way.
A few aisles later, I nodded, understandingly.
Costumed Christmas. Gifts that keep on disguising.
You get a makeover. You get a makeover. Everyone gets a makeover.
The
problem with the world is climate change. Also famine, disease, the
Russia-Ukraine war, plastic, and wage theft. But the other major
problem is lack of diversity in closets.
Take a look: shirts, pants, jackets, shoes, but no costumes.
We all could use more costumes.
a park panda mopes
that's also a costume, isn't it
now that you mention it, the arm rests did feel funny
"Well, it will just have to wait," Clark says while reading his phone.
Music Association: Rod Stewart - You Wear It WellPatients Before ProfitsNurses Strike in Minnesota
September 14,
2022Today
is the third day and final day of a strike by 15,000 MNA nurses
throughout Minnesota. The Unfair Labor Practice Strike is seeking
public support over wage increases, retention, staffing and safety
concerns, as well as addressing ongoing burnout, heightened by the
Covid-19 pandemic. Union nurses have been in negotiations since March,
and they have been working without a contract since June.
"The
most important thing for us is safe staffing. And we have proposals on
the table to have nurses have a say in how things go. We do the work
… we're the ones that take care of the patients. We need a say
in how things go," said Tricia Ryshkus, a nurse at Children's Minnesota
in Minneapolis and a member of the Minnesota Nurses Association negotiating team, told Minnesota Public Radio.
More about nursing issues.
Music Association: Lady Gaga - Heal Me
Bizarro FPOTUSTrump's Espionage
August 14,
2022
Donald Trump's Firsts:
1st candidate to invite Russian election interference
1st candidate to threaten to lock up his opposition
1st candidate to brag about sexual assault
1st president to be impeached twice
1st president to kowtow to Russia
1st president to withhold foreign aid for election interference
1st president to politicize a pandemic
1st president to lose the popular vote twice
1st president to try to get his VP killed
1st president to try to overthrow the government instead of conceding his loss
1st former president to steal top secret documents
On
August 8, 2022, the 48th anniversary of Richard Nixon leaving the White
House in disgrace, the FBI raided Trump's residence at Mar-a-Lago and
seized boxes of stolen top secret documents, reportedly including
nuclear weapons documents. This was after numerous National Archives
requests, including 15 boxes returned in January, plus a warrant
approved by the head of the FBI and U.S. Attorney General Merrick
Garland.
Only
Donald Trump would steal boxes of higher than classified, higher than
top secret (TS/SCI), nuclear weapons documents and take them to Florida, with
the potential of selling them to the Saudis or his Russian master
Putin. It is espionage. It is a violation of the Espionage Act and the Presidential Records Act.

Between
inciting the January 6, 2021 U.S. Capitol riot to overthrow the
peaceful transfer of power and the theft of some of the most protected
secrets of our country, Trump is a traitor to the United States.
The stealing of secret nuclear weapons documents is reminiscent of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, who were executed on June 19, 1953 after providing top secret nuclear weapon designs to the Soviet Union. A
key Justice Department prosecutor of the Rosenbergs was Roy Cohn, who
went on to be the henchman of Joe McCarthy's anti-communist witch
hunt (with homosexual insinuations). In 1973, Cohn met Trump at Le
Club, a New York disco. Roy Cohn became Trump's attorney and mentor.
Cohn fought the Justice Department for Trump and all five of New York's
organized crime families. In the mid-1980s Trump distanced himself from
his mentor when Cohn had AIDS.
Music Association: Badfinger - Come And Get It
Abortion
Russia
- Ukraine War
Covid-19
Trump
Timeline (PDF)

end
Israeli apartheid
China
in 1989

George
Floyd
Voter
Suppression
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Videos
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Part
3 Part
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Southdale
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Library
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