Oct 072023
 

Yesterday, now that we’re a week into October, Wonkette posted a link to the 20 Most Haunted Places in the World (not a Substack site.) Many of them, maybe most, are quite beautiful – if I were a ghost there, I’d likely stay too. Also, here’s a link about an incident from World War II which demonstrates just how dangerous classified informmation can be in the wrong hands (and mouths.) Finally, I received an email from Eric Swalwell advertising a closeout price on a Kevin McCarthy Catnip Toy: “While Kevin’s on his way to the litter box to try and salvage the mess he’s made of the GOP, our team’s throwing Kevin the celebration he deserves: A clearance sale. Our Kevin McCatnip toys are now marked down to just $15, so you can watch your cat bat Kevin around the living room the way you’d like to!”  Tomorrow, I’ll be seeing Virgil, and will post when I get home as always.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

Grist – How does climate change threaten your neighborhood? A new map has the details.
Quote – If you’ve been wondering what climate change means for your neighborhood, you’re in luck. The most detailed interactive map yet of the United States’ vulnerability to dangers such as fire, flooding, and pollution was released on Monday by the Environmental Defense Fund and Texas A&M University. The fine-grained analysis spans more than 70,000 census tracts, which roughly resemble neighborhoods, mapping out environmental risks alongside factors that make it harder for people to deal with hazards. Clicking on a report for a census tract yields details on heat, wildfire smoke, and drought, in addition to what drives vulnerability to extreme weather, such as income levels and access to health care and transportation.
Click through for article and map. I see the South is expecting below-freezing temperatures this weekend, except for Florida’s peninsula, whereas I’m expecting some warming. Go figure. I actually seem to have made a pretty good choice of where to live in view of climate change – not that anywhere is perfect, of course. Literally the entire world is endangered.

Wonkette – Jimmy Carter’s Solar Panels And The Mellow Allman Brothers Climate Paradise That Could’ve Been (OK, some of that headline may not be scrupulously fact-checked.)
Quote – Reagan reversed the clean energy initiatives Carter had put in place, a far more concrete rejection of renewable energy than the symbolic removal of the panels. Solar panels would return to the White House eventually. In 2002, the National Park Service installed solar electricity and water heating systems elsewhere on the White House grounds, although the George W. Bush administration chose not to publicize that. In 2014, Barack Obama installed a photovoltaic system on the White House roof. And in 2017, Jimmy Carter installed a solar farm on 10 acres of his peanut farm; it provides about half the electricity for Plains. Carter, who’s now in hospice care at home, celebrated his birthday quietly at home with Rosalyn, his wife of 77 years, and with his children and grandchildren. I’ll assume the party was lit by solar, too.
Click through for full article. In 1976 none of us who weren’t scientists were all that accurate on what the answers were – and what they weren’t – and the scientists weren’t telling – or at least, not the truth. Jimmy was trying. Ronny rejected it all. I’ll go to my grave beliebing that the 1980 Presidential election was a catastrophe and a creator of more catastrophes – and I think I”ll be correct. I’ll for sure be in good company.

Food For Thought

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