Month: April 2016

The Green and Gold Blog – by Chris

Chris is pursuing an MS degree in Environmental Studies.  He’s recently started a blog about Climate Science.  This article is a good summary of where he’s headed and what he intends to accomplish as a science blogger.  Enjoy!

A Discussion About THE Discussion

So today I wanted to talk about climate change, specifically the discussion behind climate change. Thanks to any number of things (politics mostly) any discussion about climate change always starts the same. Whether it is real or not… whether it is natural or man-made… or whatever ‘us vs. them’ argument of your choice (I’m partial to angry spirits vs. magic myself). Ask the average media personnel and they’ll reference an interview between a scientist and climate change denier. With media coverage framed like this obviously scientists are split down the middle as to whether climate change is a real thing or whether it’s just make believe right?Well….actually no. The debate is not 50-50. Now there are multiple documented sources; that indicate that a vast majority of people and organizations with qualified opinions believe in the components of climate change. Skeptical Science (the third link) were the ones who coined the 97% figure often thrown out. Is that a true and accurate number? Ummm…who knows? The point is a vast majority of qualified people do understand climate change and that’s the important part. So why does this 97 vs. 3 non-issue seem so contentious?

Read more here:

Source: The Green and Gold Blog – by Chris

Useful Stuff for the Indie Author Part 1 | C.S. Wilde

I ran across this blog article by C. S. Wilde in my wanderings today, and found it thought-provoking.  I’m still in revision mode with miles to go before I sleep.  I can hardly look out far enough to focus on the eventual task of finding beta readers.  Once in a while I think ahead to blurbs, book covers, etc., but it’s inscrutable.  I brush the thoughts away with an assurance to self:  “It surely will all make more sense when I get to that point”

This article and others like it shine a light on the path ahead.

As an indie author, I focus most of my budget on editing. One, because I want to get a FANTASTIC book out there, and two, indies in general have a bad reputation. And that bugs me. Some of us put r…

Source: Useful Stuff for the Indie Author Part 1 | C.S. Wilde

Sourdough Superstitions

While mixing my dough this morning, I thought about all of the ritualistic practices I’ve developed while studying sourdough bread baking, and while practicing the art myself. Some of the practices have a scientific basis, and some are simply handed down from baker to baker. In the Internet Age, much of that arcane collective wisdom actually makes its way into common lore via cooking blogs, recipe collection sites, YouTube channels, etc. And hence, the lore makes its way into hobbyist kitchens like mine.

So here is a run down of some of the lore-based superstitions and rituals I practice on baking day:

Continue reading “Sourdough Superstitions”

Textual Cultures, Material Cultures: Callousness among the Ruins by Michael

Source: Textual Cultures, Material Cultures: Callousness among the Ruins

 

This is a sobering article about the value placed on human lives versus antiquities and archaeological sites in Syria.  It will take me a while to process it.  The tendency to over-value(?) irreplaceable antiquities that could be appreciated for many generations to come, and to undervalue (no question mark here) the lives of people living on or near these sites, and people who lose their lives studying sites in war-torn regions of the world isn’t limited to archaeologists.