Tag Archives: Real

Police are finally catching cars that veer too close to bicyclists

by MalissaHitchcoc Posted on August 22, 2016

space invaders

Police are finally catching cars that veer too close to bicyclists

By on Aug 22, 2016Share

There’s nothing quite as alarming as an SUV veering into your personal space as you bike down a busy street. Enter a handy device called C3FT: a sonar gadget that measures the distance between a bike’s handlebars and the car that’s driving too close for comfort.

Police departments are using C3FT, short for “see three feet,” to warn off and even ticket drivers who fail to give bikers enough space. Since its launch last year in Chattanooga, Tennessee, 11 cities have adopted the device, from Las Vegas to Ottawa.

Youtube

Though 28 states have laws requiring a three-foot gap between bikers and vehicles, such laws can be tough to enforce. In Florida, for example, 500 tickets were handed out in 2014 to drivers who veered too close to cyclists, but only eight were found guilty. It’s a suspiciously low number considering the nearly 50,000 cyclists injured in bicycle-vehicle crashes each year.

To truly pedal our way out of this mess, we need more than a handy gadget: Improved road design, like adding bike lanes, would add a bigger buffer between bikes and semis. 

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Police are finally catching cars that veer too close to bicyclists

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Louisiana’s flood couldn’t have been stopped, but it didn’t have to be so devastating

by JosephWesley Posted on August 22, 2016

Louisiana’s flood couldn’t have been stopped, but it didn’t have to be so devastating

By on Aug 22, 2016Share

Louisiana’s Amite river basin, which flooded and destroyed 60,000 homes earlier this month, is surrounded by deserted flood control projects that were begun after a massive flood in 1983. All that proposed infrastructure could have saved thousands of homes — but the Amite River Basin Commission left them either half-baked, or never started them in the first place.

As The Advocate reports, a proposed Comite River Diversion Canal may have saved “up to a quarter of homes damaged in the basin,” according to a government official. That’s just one of several pieces of infrastructure — including a reservoir and additional levees — that had been deemed unfeasible or simply “impractical.”

Worse, nothing was done to stop new housing from being built in the path of the old flood. Between 1980 and 2015, the number of people living in Livingston and Ascension, two parishes on the floodplain, went from 109,000 in 1980 to more than a quarter-million in 2015.

Climate change made this flood much worse than it would have been, but poor infrastructure and city planning are as much to blame for the devastation it caused.

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Louisiana’s flood couldn’t have been stopped, but it didn’t have to be so devastating

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They Hate Us, They Really Hate Us

by petemcvey8 Posted on August 20, 2016

Mother Jones

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So I’m reading a Jay Nordlinger piece over at The Corner, and he’s pretty unhappy with both Donald Trump and his new campaign guru, Steve Bannon. I’m nodding along as Nordlinger refers to some of the crude hatred that Bannon spews, when I come to this:

It occurred to me that the two phrases already mentioned — “turn on the hate” and “burn this bitch down” — are perfect mottos for the new GOP: the Trump GOP.

I thought of what Roger Scruton said to Mona Charen and me, in a podcast last year:

“I think that, in the end, there is something that unites all conservatives, which is that they are pursuing something they love. My view is that the Left is united by hatred, but we are united by love: love of our country, love of institutions, love of the law, love of family, and so on. And what makes us conservatives is the desire to protect those things, and we’re up against people who want to destroy them, and it’s very simple.”

Seriously? You think lefties are motivated by hatred of our country, hatred of our institutions, hatred of the law, hatred of the family, “and so on”? I know that liberals and conservatives don’t see eye to eye on this stuff, but you’ve at least talked to a few liberals now and then, haven’t you? The ones I know don’t feel anything close to this way. It’s true that there are some aspects of country/institutions/law/family that we’d like to change, but then again, that’s true of conservatives too. Right?

Anyway, if this is truly what you believe, then it’s a little hard for me to see much daylight between you and Trump. What’s your real beef with him, Jay?

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They Hate Us, They Really Hate Us

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We’ve only explored 0.0001 percent of the ocean, but that’s about to change.

by JulienneScarbrou Posted on August 18, 2016

drop in the bucket

We’ve only explored 0.0001 percent of the ocean, but that’s about to change.

By on Aug 18, 2016Share

Off the coast of Bermuda, tiny vessels are diving 1,000 feet to research something we know surprisingly little about: the ocean itself. Though the ocean makes up 95 percent of the planet’s habitable area, we’ve explored 0.0001 percent of it.

Nekton, a U.K.-based NGO, launched its first mission in mid-July to finally give us an understanding of the deep sea, using tiny research pods that are reminiscent of goldfish bowls — bowls with robot arms that grab samples from corals and sponges. The Guardian reports that the mission has uncovered new species, large black coral forests, and fossilized beaches.

Nekton Mission

There’s one thing we do know about the deep sea: We’re already changing it. Higher temperatures and ocean acidification are starving the deep sea of oxygen and changing how food circulates. That’s worrisome, because the deep ocean performs important functions: absorbing heat, regulating carbon, and terrifying us with alien-like creatures (Exhibit A: the blobfish).

Once the Nekton mission is complete, the pods will turn their grabby little arms to the Mediterranean Sea.

Until then, the goings-on of the deep sea remains one of life’s greatest mysteries — like how life originated or where your socks disappeared to after that last load of laundry.

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We’ve only explored 0.0001 percent of the ocean, but that’s about to change.

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Scientists come to shocking conclusion that chemtrails aren’t real

by AdanPrimrose Posted on August 15, 2016

breaking

Scientists come to shocking conclusion that chemtrails aren’t real

By on Aug 15, 2016Share

Wake up, sheeple! Chemtrails, depending on who you ask, are evidence of government-sponsored mind control experiments, biological warfare, geoengineering, or mass population control.

Or, for those of us who don’t subscribe to globalskywatch.com, those white streaks from planes are just water vapor condensed at high altitude.

According to the first peer-reviewed study to address chemtrails, published in Environmental Research Letters, 76 out of 77 of the world’s top atmospheric chemists say there’s no evidence for chemtrails.

It turns out, no actual scientist (even the lone dissenter) agreed that “the government, the military, airlines and others are colluding in a widespread, nefarious program to poison the planet from the skies,” according to the study.

Chemtrails just ain’t a thing.

Despite absolutely no evidence supporting the conspiracies, a 2011 international survey found that nearly 17 percent of respondents believe or partly believe in chemtrails.

So why do so many of us believe?

“The chemtrails conspiracy theory maps pretty closely to the origin and growth of the internet,” said study co-author Steven Davis.

And, hey, is it really that much of a stretch that so many people think the feds are administering anthrax vaccines through the clouds? A U.S. presidential candidate tells us Obama founded ISIS and China manufactured global warming, after all.

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Scientists come to shocking conclusion that chemtrails aren’t real

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California smog is getting worse again, but because of climate change, not cars

by LenaRoof4575566 Posted on August 12, 2016

smog-eat-smog world

California smog is getting worse again, but because of climate change, not cars

By on Aug 12, 2016 2:58 pmShare

Hospitals have been reporting increased visits from patients seeking treatment for respiratory ailments this summer in Southern California. The culprit? Smog.

Southern California has experienced its worst smog in seven years. Ozone levels have exceeded federal standards on 91 days in 2016, nearly 30 percent more than this time last year, according to the Los Angeles Times. Every day of August has exceeded the federal standard of 70 parts per billion.

Cities like Los Angeles have never been known for making it easier to breathe. Yet as bad as the air currently is, it’s still far better than than it was in the ’70s and ’80s, when LA had 200 smog-filled days a year.  

While emissions from vehicles are usually the culprit behind smog, the reason for this season’s poor air quality has more to do with the particularly hot and dry weather, and an influx in wildfire activity. Ozone regulations and federal fuel efficiency standards for trucks and cars, meanwhile, have helped cities cut pollution.

But in the future, as climate change increases both wildfires and temperatures in the region, it’ll take even greater effort to make Southern California’s air clean again.

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California smog is getting worse again, but because of climate change, not cars

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Flint’s lead-poisoned water cost the city nearly 100 times as much as it was supposed to save

by LupeWhitelegge Posted on August 9, 2016

I’ve Made A Huge Mistake

Flint’s lead-poisoned water cost the city nearly 100 times as much as it was supposed to save

By on Aug 9, 2016Share

The Flint water crisis wasn’t just terrible for the thousands of its residents who were exposed to lead. It’s also been bad for the city’s coffers — really bad.

According to Peter Muennig from Columbia University’s School of Public Health, switching the water supply from Lake Huron to the Flint river — a move that was intended to save the city $5 million — will actually cost the city nearly $460 million.

That figure doesn’t just cover emergency water and medical care — it includes social costs, including “lower economic productivity, greater dependence on welfare programs, and greater costs to the criminal justice system,” as James Hamblin points out in The Atlantic.

Young people are particularly vulnerable to lead poisoning, which has serious consequences on developing brains and can result in intellectual disabilities and anti-social behavior. And state officials have advised that all children under six in Flint – an estimated 8,000 to 9,000 kids – should be treated as though they’ve been exposed.

Two years after the lead crisis started, the water in Flint is still unsafe to drink without a filter.

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Flint’s lead-poisoned water cost the city nearly 100 times as much as it was supposed to save

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‘Alarming’ coral reef bleaching wave descends on the Maldives

by ArdenCulbert Posted on August 8, 2016

Tide 2 Go

‘Alarming’ coral reef bleaching wave descends on the Maldives

By on Aug 8, 2016Share

We have a new competitor for the “worst place on Earth to be a coral!”

More than half of the coral reefs in the Maldives have been hit by a wave of bleaching this year, according to a new survey conducted by a team of researchers. Signs of bleaching were found in around 60 percent of the study area’s total number of corals — in some segments of the reef, the percentage of corals affected was as high as 90 percent. The biodiversity-rich area is home to some 3 percent of the planet’s corals.

The Maldives bleaching disaster is the latest battle in a three-year war on the world’s coral reefs. The attacking force? A deadly combo of record-smashing high ocean temperatures and the effects of a strong El Niño year. Bleaching is a phenomenon that happens when stressed, hungry corals expel the algae that give them their characteristically vibrant colors — just like you when you’re too late for the happy hour app special at Chili’s. It’s most recently made headlines by turning the Great Barrier Reef, the world’s largest collection of corals, ghost-white.

Ameer Abdulla, the research team leader and a senior adviser to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), told the Guardian that the study’s results were “alarming,” adding that the bleaching is likely to only get worse.

Think the Maldivian corals have it bad? Consider the tiny nation’s 400,000 human citizens. The low-lying chain of islands has been hit so hard by climate change and rising sea levels already that it’s been making plans to relocate its own citizens — making Maldivians some of the world’s first climate refugees.

So … can our coral reefs survive climate change? Watch our video to learn more.

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‘Alarming’ coral reef bleaching wave descends on the Maldives

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Today Is World Cat Day

by KarlMebane Posted on August 8, 2016

Mother Jones

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Behold Wikipedia: “World Cat Day, August 8th, was created in 2002 by the International Fund for Animal Welfare. World Cat Day is celebrated on 17 February in much of Europe and on 1 March in Russia.”

Why is it celebrated on February 17th and March 1st in other countries if World Cat Day is August 8th? This is a mystery. But it does prompt the occasional email. Here’s one I got a few minutes ago from a disgruntled reader:

Why are newspapers even mentioning cats instead of hard news? I might blame Mondays but this blog is in every edition. Guess what, cats are not important. They should not be wasting space in a news organization. I understand that you are pandering to the ‘madding crowd’ but for heavens sake, stop it and replace it with ‘REAL’ news.

Cats are not important? Hmmph. I think we all know what I have to say about that:

Isn’t she adorable? Who’s not important now, huh? Not this incredibly cute calico kitten, that’s for sure. She is now officially named Cinnamon, by the way, and she’s either peering into a bathtub or else her tiny size is making a sink look ginormous.1

1It’s a bathtub.

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Today Is World Cat Day

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For the Love of God, Can We All Stop Whining About the Olympics Being Tape Delayed?

by SimonCreswick Posted on August 6, 2016

Mother Jones

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Here is Meredith Blake in the LA Times commenting on the Olympic opening ceremonies last night:

In yet the latest decision to fuel the #NBCfail hashag, the network broadcast the ceremony on a one-hour delay on the East Coast. The West Coast was delayed by an additional three hours. NBC claimed it was delaying the broadcast in order to provide additional “context” for viewers. The real reason, of course, was to draw as many eyeballs and run as many commercials (and women’s gymnastics promos) as possible.

Are we going to keep whining about this forever? The Olympics are tape-delayed so they can be broadcast in prime time. They’re stuffed with commercials because NBC paid a billion dollars for the broadcast rights and commercials are how they make up for that.

We’re not children. We all know this. Nevertheless, we’ve been complaining about it since 1992 and NBC has been resolutely tape-delaying the games anyway ever since. Why? Because that’s how most normal people like it. You know, the ones who have to work during the day and don’t get home until 6 or 7 o’clock.

The only question I have is why NBC allows itself to be bullied by a small squad of elitist reporters and sports purists into making up weird excuses about “context” or “plausibly live.” Why not just say, “Don’t be a child. We’re tape-delaying it so more people can watch.” Their viewing audience, which is much more sophisticated than the reporters and sports purists, will have no problem with this.

POSTSCRIPT: But other sports events aren’t tape delayed. Why the Olympics? Why why why?

Please. Events in the US aren’t tape delayed because they’re carefully scheduled to air when the networks want them to air. Overseas events are usually shown live and re-broadcast on tape delay. But you can’t do this with the Olympics because they run all day.

Also, not to make too fine a point of this, but most Americans don’t give a shit about most Olympic sports. They watch them once every four years, mostly to cheer Americans who win medals, and that’s about it. If it’s even slightly inconvenient to watch, they won’t bother. Despite their whinging, this is also true of the elitist reporters and sports purists, who for 47 months out of every 48 mostly couldn’t care less about rowing or archery or sumo wrestling.

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For the Love of God, Can We All Stop Whining About the Olympics Being Tape Delayed?

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