A New Hurricane Record?

Gary Padgett, writing to a tropical storm list-serv I am on, provides an interesting factoid, which I reproduce here with his permission (emphasis added):We’re now at the first of October, and there’ve been no Category 3 or higher hurricanes (IH) to make landfall in the U. S. so far this season. The chances of a U. S. landfalling IH decrease significantly after 1 October....

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Energy Access in Nigeria

Today's FT has a special report on Nigeria, and has a very interesting discussion of energy access:Despite average cash injections of $2bn annually over recent years and large untapped gas reserves, electricity capacity remains at about 40 watts per capita, roughly enough to run one vacuum cleaner for every 25 inhabitants.China manages 466 watts per person, Germany 1,468....

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Let the Misrepresentation Begin

It was only a matter of time before the blogcritics engaged The Climate Fix, which I welcome.  Unfortunately, they are off to a very bad start.  William Connolley, formerly of Real Climate fame, accuses me of spreading lies:Well, not quite direct lies, more in the nature of deliberately-misleading by omission.What is it that Connolley accuses me of omitting? ...

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No Stickers & a Great Act of Sportsmanship

...I had a great conversation with a coach I had not spoken with in months yesterday. He told me about a Running Back - Kick/Punt Returner on his team who is one of the best athletes in the state of KY. The young man's nickname is "Flea" - not too big but hard to see and hard to catch ...They hand out award stickers on Mondays from the previous game so the players can put them on their helmets ...Coach hands Flea 2 more for his performance and he begins to walk away. "Flea, where are you going?" "I'm going to give these to my offensive linemen...

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Daniel Greenberg on The Climate Fix in Nature

In the current issue of Nature, science policy polymath and well-known cynic Daniel Greenberg reviews The Climate Fix. Greenberg has some very positive things to say, upbraids me for my political naivete (showing his well earned role as dean of science policy cynics) and gets one big idea in the book very, very wrong.First, the positive:Pielke merits admiration for his staunch...

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Fog Lights

Have you ever cycled in a dense fog?For the past couple of days, we have been surrounded by this stunning, surreal landscape. There is no distinction between sky and ocean. The dunes, grasses and rosehip bushes are wrapped in a milky whiteness. There is a tornado warning in effect, but for now everything is eerily calm.To watch someone approaching through the fog from a distance...

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Why Energy Efficiency Does not Decrease Energy Consumption

[NOTE: This is a guest post by Harry Saunders, cross-posted from The Breakthrough blog.]Why Energy Efficiency Does not Decrease Energy ConsumptionBy Harry SaundersI recently co-authored an article for the Journal of Physics ("Solid-state lighting: an energy-economics perspective" by Jeff Tsao, Harry Saunders, Randy Creighton, Mike Coltrin, Jerry Simmon, August 19, 2010)...

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Empty Debate and Climate Attack Dogs

Earlier this week, Andrew Turnbull, who was Cabinet Secretary under Tony Blair, had an op-ed in the Financial Times stating his views on the need for the climate science community to rebuild trust.  Lord Turnbull's essay, written under his byline as a trustee of the Global Warming Policy Foundation, is fair and generally unremarkable.He writes:To restore trust, it was...

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You Are Invited to an Invitation-Only Event

On October 11 in Washington, DC I will participate in a conversation with Bryan Walsh, of Time magazine at the Consortium for Science, Policy and Outcomes.  Drinks and snacks will be served.  The event is "invitation only" but the organizers have said that it is OK for me to invite readers of this blog in the DC area to attend.  You need only RSVP to events@thebreakthrough.org...

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Texting and Virtue

Helping your players stay focused throughout the week can be challenging. One tradition that is working and bringing a lot of results is the idea of texting or emailing quotes to your players that center around the virtue theme of the week.For example, let's say you are focusing on on being "Self-Less" this week. In the morning you could text the quote and then in the afternoon...

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Facets of the Minimalist Movement

The minimalist movement is a voluntary simplicity response to the recession, and I think it is a relatively positive one. But like with all things, there is the good, and there is the bad. Despite being minimalist, there is a lot of diversity and overlap in this movement, so I toss out this diverse and overlapping taxonomy to describe these folks with some healthy criticism...

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Lätt träning och 32or från Tyskland

Lccj 2x20kg: 5Lccj 2x24kg: 5Lccj 2x28kg: 5Lccj 2x24kg: 10 (10rpm)Ett lätt kort pass bara för att hålla formen uppe inför Kuusamo.32or från TysklandÄntligen kom mina 32or. Det tog i och för sig bara en vecka, "äntligen" refererar mer till att det tagit så lång tid för mig att bestämma mig. Jag köpte dom från http://www.kettlebells.de/. Frakten låg på 70 euro för 64kg.http://www.hardstyletraining.deoch...

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The Radio Cardiff Sports Show - September 28th 2010

The Ryder Cup begins at Celtic Manor in Newport this Friday and the eyes of the golfing world will be fixed on Wales this weekend. Can Colin Montgomerie’s team regain the trophy for Europe after defeat in the US 2 years ago? Crucial for the American’s will be the form of world number one Tiger Woods who is overdue a return to form.Also coming up, we’ll have boxing news with...

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Lovely Dress Guards Give-Away

To brighten up your Fall, I am giving away these fantastic, colourful Dutch dress guards, which I reviewed here earlier.To receive the dress guards, please ask your bicycle - yes, your bicycle - to post a comment here explaining why he or she would like them. A link to pictures of the bicycle is a plus (but please no nudity). My Dutch bike, Linda, will then decide which...

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This Just In -- Upcoming Debate with Benny Peiser

 vs. This just in -- I will be debating Benny Peiser of the Global Warming Policy Foundation in London on November 16th.  The event will start at 5:30PM, so mark your calendars.  I'll ask if it can be streamed or otherwise made available.  I'll share further details as they are firmed ...

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Exchange Between CO2scorecard.org and IEA

[EDITOR'S NOTE: Early this month I mentioned a report by the group CO2scorecard.org on apparent discrepancies in emissions reporting across different national and international agencies. CO2scorecard.org argued that "the empirical discrepancies in the current annual CO2 emissions estimates far exceed the annual reduction targets generally proposed by policy instruments...

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Follow Up: Extension of Spanish Coal Subsidies to be Approved by EU

Last week I commented on a pending EU decision on Spain's desire to increase subsidies for domestic coal production.  According to news reports, the EU is going to rule in favor of coal:Spain will win EU approval this week to double aid to its coal industry until the end of 2014, despite criticism from environmentalists and the Spanish watchdog, three people with direct...

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2 Great Experiences

What a 18 hour span!  We left for East Lansing at 1:00 PM on Saturday afternoon from Cincinnati.  Myself, Bob Crable and two great guys from Winton Woods H.S., Donnie Gillespie and Adam Gergen (both BB coaches).  The Spartans were playing Notre Dame at 8:00PM and we had to move to get to East Lansing.  Bob Crable and I had coached Greg Jones at Moeller...

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At last some Spring weather!!!

I was beginning to think that the sun was never ever going to come back but the last couple of days have been lovely and I have begun to feel like we might actually be coming out the other side of what must be, the most disgusting winter ever!Brennan has not had a lot of work or attention with the weather being so tempestuous but yesterday I brought him in and saddled him...

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SOC

I don't know where to begin with this one. I'm trying to get back to consistent blogging by having regularly recurring features. I have a blogging schedule, and Monday is my SOC day. I've learned from the example of Ian Fleming and other writers to be workmanlike. You have to treat writing like a job or else you won't get any writing done. Waiting for inspiration is dumb because...

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The 4th Annual Tulane Law School National Baseball Arbitration Competition

I am pleased to announce that the 4th Annual Tulane Law School National Baseball Arbitration Competition will take place in New Orleans on February 10-11, 2011. The event is a great opportunity for students interested in sports law to compete in a simulated salary arbitration competition modeled closely on the salary arbitration procedures used by Major League Baseball.In...

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