Ouch! Where I grew up it was coal-mining country. When the mines would go on strike, there would be incidents of coal-hauling trucks being shot at as they drove down the road. Be careful!
thankfully I arrived at work safely and although I was a bit shakey at having to drive through all those pickets I was fine ... they vanished after the last shift came in - and we were extremely busy making up for all those who weren't at work!
Group: Super Moderator
Posts: 11,253
Joined: 05-Jun-2005 Zodiac: Elder
Realm: Ganado, Navajo Nation, Arizona
Thinking about my kids today. I am so blessed to have the children I do! My wife is a terrific mother and she deserves the credit for how well they have been raised!
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Always vote for principle, though you may vote alone, and you may cherish the sweetest reflection that your vote is never lost. -- John Quincy Adams
Do your duty in all things. You cannot do more, you should never wish to do less - Robert E. Lee
For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved - Romans 10:13 (KJV)
The Lord is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble, and he knoweth them that trust in him - Nahum 1:7 (KJV)
Group: Super Moderator
Posts: 3,069
Joined: 09-Oct-2003 Zodiac: Holly
Realm: Kentucky
Finally got my 486 running again, but Ubuntu is way too bloated. I'll be so glad when I get it LFS'd. Ought to cut this 1 hour boot time down to 5 minutes.
Hey guys! Don't let the winter doldrums get you down. You all sound more down than me.
I'm actually looking forward to a non-running weekend. Kinda jumpstarted it today being more lazy that I should. Not caring a fig if my life has no purpose other than to do laundry and run children around and no one pays me for anything! As they used to say in the show Sisters - I may not be able to do great things but I can do small things with great love.
Smile everyone!!! Sing, dance and hug!!! Might as well enjoy life, the crap will be with us always. (this from someone who is avoiding filing and paying bills today.)
Of course I'm going to end up poor and eating dried dog food, so maybe you all shouldn't listen to me.
PS... dundee anytime you want to chat about things of substance, send me a PM, I'm always up for talking!
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Compassion is the sometimes fatal capacity for feeling what it is like inside somebody else's skin. It is the knowledge that there can never really be any peace and joy for me until there is peace and joy finally for you too. - Frederick Buechner
If society prospers at the expense of the intangibles, how can it be called progress?
Elspeth! You are so funny, but it really is true for most of us, isn't it?
You all in awful weather please be safe!
I am thinking about two things.
My hubby is home sick with the flu, so worried about him.
One of my dogs is getting old and is having some abnormal lab test results, not anything serious, but enough to let me know he is not going to be around for who knows how long, and I hate that!
I'm thinking how wonderful it is to do what I do (some of it anyway) -- as much as I hate the administrative hassle, I love teaching with all my heart, and I had a brand-new spring semester class in front of me this morning.
I'm frantically trying to pick up an art that I was taught when I was little, and it's been at least ten years since I've worked with it at all. But stupid me, I opened my mouth and said I knew how, so now I'm going to be expected to teach it. OY!
...meanwhile praying the supplies are where I remembered putting them...
11 of the last 12 years were the hottest on record. The latest IPCC report predicts temperature rises of about 370 F this century, but it also says that it cannot rule out a rise of 430 F or more, roughly the same difference between global average temperatures now and during the last ice age 12,000 years ago. The difference is that in evolutionary terms, this environmental change will be instantaneous, resulting in mass extinctions. Only the most adaptable species, like roaches and rodents, will be able to successfully adapt to the rapid changes in their environment.
Ice is now being lost from Greenland at a rate of 59 cubic miles a year. If all the ice on Greenland were to melt, scientists estimate that global sea levels would rise by 23 feet. The Antarctic ice sheet is losing as much as 36 cubic miles of ice a year. The continent holds 90% of the world's ice, and the disappearance of even its smaller West Antarctic ice sheet could raise worldwide sea levels by an estimated 20 feet.
Warming of the tropical Atlantic will make large hurricanes like Andrew and Katrina commonplace. This is not a problem confined solely to the Florida and Gulf coasts; in 1971, 1996, and 2003 hurricanes hit Nova Scotia (with tropical storms in 1991, 2001, and 2005). Hurricane Katrina produced a storm surge 30 feet high. The increased frequency and power of hurricanes, with their storm surges exacerbated by rising sea levels, puts the entire eastern seaboard at risk, and may eventually make many areas of it untenable. The exact same dynamic holds true for the tropical Pacific and Indian oceans.
Increased sea temperatures and acidity has resulted in a massive global die-off of coral. Worldwide, 27% of coral reefs had been effectively destroyed by 2000, with another 24% at imminent risk of destruction and a further 26% under a longer-term threat within the next twenty years. In 1997-98 in large areas of the Indian Ocean, more than 90% of the corals died. Across the Caribbean basin, the average hard coral cover on reefs has been reduced by 80% in just three decades. Coral reefs contribute at least $400 billion a year to the world economy, forming an essential part of the livelihoods of around 500 million people. Most ecologists consider coral reefs a "keystone" ecosystem, the loss of which would mean the extinction of thousands of other dependent species. Some ecologists consider Homo sapiens to be one of those dependent species.
In 2003, 29% of open sea fisheries were in a state of collapse. Despite bigger vessels, better nets, and new technology for spotting fish the global catch fell by 13% between 1994 and 2003. Freshwater fish stocks have declined by up to 90% in many of the world's largest rivers. The rate of population collapses has accelerated in recent years. As of 1980, just 13.5% of fished species had collapsed, even though fishing vessels were pursuing 1,736 fewer species then. Today, the fishing industry harvests 7,784 species commercially. At the current rate of decline global fishing stocks will completely and irreversibly collapse by 2048. Today, 1billion people rely upon seafood as their only source of protein. The world's population grows at an estimated 1.14% annually; the number of humans increases by 203,800 every day. The imperative to feed this population will result in the oceans being swept clean of virtually every edible organism within the next 50 years.
If the environmental change caused by global warming will be virtually instantaneous in terms of evolutionary or geological history, the following is about to occur in less than a nanosecond; Hubbert's peak. The best estimates of when this will actually occur are somewhere between now and 2010. The discovery of new reserves peaked in the 1962 and has declined to virtually nothing in the past few years. Every year we consume 6 barrels of oil for every single barrel we find. The global supply of oil will peak, and then steadily decline, but global demand will not. By some estimates, there will be an average of two-percent annual growth in global oil demand over the years ahead. In 2003 we burned 76 million barrels; by 2020 we will be using 112 million barrels a day, after which projected demand accelerates. Current world demand for oil is about 84 million barrels per day, and current world production capacity is about....well, 84 million barrels per day. We’re maxed out; there is essentially no reserve capacity in the system. Even a small drop in production can be devastating. For instance, during the 1973 OPEC oil embargo, shortfalls in production as small as 5% caused the price of oil to nearly quadruple. The same thing happened in California a few years ago with natural gas: a production drop of less than 5% caused prices to skyrocket by 400%. Once the decline gets under way, production will drop (conservatively) by 3% per year, every year. An accurate average decline rate is hard to estimate, but an overall figure of 8% is not an unreasonable assumption. An 8% yearly decline would cut global oil production by a whopping 50% in less than nine years. If a 5% cut in production caused prices to triple in the 1970s, what do you think a 50% cut is going to do?
Between 1950 and 1984 world grain production increased by 250%, essentially due to fossil fuels in the form of fertilizers (natural gas), pesticides (oil), and hydrocarbon fueled irrigation. In the United States in 1994, 400 gallons of oil equivalents are expended annually to feed each American. Agricultural energy consumption is broken down as follows: 31% for the manufacture of inorganic fertilizer 19% for the operation of field machinery 16% for transportation 13% for irrigation 08% for raising livestock (not including livestock feed) 05% for crop drying 05% for pesticide production 08% miscellaneous Energy costs for packaging, refrigeration, transportation to retail outlets, and household cooking are not considered in these figures. In the US, the average piece of food is transported almost 1,500 miles before it gets to your plate. In Canada, the average piece of food is transported 5,000 miles from where it is produced to where it is consumed. Some climactic models show that reductions in crop yields could be as high as 50% as global temperatures increase. Just think what crop yields will be without irrigation, fertilizer, pesticides, gasoline for the tractors and combines, or diesel fuel for the trucks to bring it to market. Meanwhile, the world's population continues to grow at an estimated 1.14% annually; the number of humans on this planet increases by 203,800 every day.
Been thinking on how I am gonna get out of my driveway with all this snow. The snow plows trapped me in I gotta take the kids to school in an hour, looks like I am shoveling away