I think we need a calm quarterba...
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Why There are No Trends in Normalized Hurricane Losses
The graph above shows data on normalized US hurricane losses 1900 to 2009 and was presented in a talk I gave today. Why is there no trend in the data? The two graphs below explain why. You can do the math.There are no trends in normalized damage since 1900 because there are no trends in either hurricane landfall frequency (data from NOAA) or intensity (data...
What Our Hands Can Do
Looking over these photos from the Friday after Thanksgiving, I noticed something interesting: Almost everything pictured here is hand-made. The dress I am wearing was made by my mother. The hat and scarf were made by me. Even the bicycle was hand-made by an Italian frame builder for Bella Ciao. This combination was not intentional, but once I noticed it, I found it striking. My...
Stöt-jerks
Oa jerk 12,20kg: 5/5 eachJerk 2x20kg: 10Jerk 2x24kg: 5x 20reps (2 set 10rpm, 2set 8rpm, 1 set 6rpm)Det var jobbigt, orkar jag inte göra på ett tag igen :-). Känns som att stöt-träningen med 28or har hjälpt med återhämtning och reps per min...
A Life-Changing VICTORY in the midst of a "loss"
Below is the point of view from the team trainer on a difficult yet also inspiring night - the State Championship Semi-Final for Mt Angel Oregon Kennedy HS.A Life-Changing VICTORY in the midst of a "loss". This is the True Glory of sports....With our virtue being thankfulness last week, I wanted to share a story that significantly impacted my life as an...
Monday, November 29, 2010
Fabrications in Science
[UPDATE 12/6: Mickey Glantz has this to say on his Facebook page:kevin trenberth MAY know science but to ask him to review this interdisciplinary assessment is a joke played on readers by Science's editors. scientists are angry because they are losing control of the climate issues to other disciplines and NGOs. I think i will write a review of the climate models and i wonder...
New Peer-Reviewed Paper on Global Normalized Disaster Losses
The LSE Grantham Institute, funded by Munich Re (whose global loss data is shown above), has published a new peer-reviewed paper on normalized global disaster losses.Eric Neumayer and Fabian Barthel, Normalizing economic loss from natural disasters: A global analysis, Global Environmental Change, In Press, Corrected Proof, Available online 18 November 2010, ISSN 0959-3780,...
An Evaluation of the Targets and Timetables of Proposed Australian Emissions Reduction Policies
My paper on Australian emissions reduction proposals has now been published. Thanks to all those who provided comments on earlier versions. Here are the details:Pielke, Jr., R. A. (2010), An evaluation of the targets and timetables of proposed Australian emissions reduction policies. Environmental Science & Policy , doi: 10.1016/j.envsci.2010.10.008 This...
Coming up on the Radio Cardiff Sports Show 30th November 2010
We look back on Wales’ autumn international rugby campaign which ended with Saturday’s defeat to New Zealand.The 1st Ashes test ended in a draw after an incredible, record-breaking fight back from England’s batsmen. We’ll review the match and preview the Adelaide test which begins on Friday.We’ll also be talking boxing and looking back at Carl Froch’s unanimous points victory...
OYB Pannier: a Modified Swiss Army Bag for Your Bike
The OYB Pannier is a small Swiss army surplus bag, modified via the addition of rack attachments and other features by Jeff Potter - the owner and author of the project Out Your Backdoor ("indie outdoor lore and more"). I purchased this bag as a smaller alternative to the enormous shopper pannier I normally use. My criteria were durability, classic aesthetics, a...
Africa is Big
The Economist provides the maps above and a discussion of their origin from one Kai Krause, a graphics expert who is engaged in a battle against "immappancy." It is a worthy battle. In a standard Mercator projection, Africa is indeed deemphasized. Even maps have politi...
Aynsley Kellow's Science and Public Policy Deeply Discounted
Aynsley Kellow has written to notify me that his excellent book, Science and Public Policy: The Virtuous Corruption of Virtual Environmental Science (2007, Edward Elgar), is on sale for $40, which is a full $70 off of its list price.Here is a blurb from the book's website:‘Crusading environmentalists won’t like this book. Nor will George W. Bush. Its potential market lies...
Quantitative Methods of Policy Analysis
In the upcoming Spring, 2011 term, I am teaching a graduate seminar titled "Quantitative Methods of Policy Analysis." Here is a short course description:ENVS 5120Quantitative Methods of Policy AnalysisThis course will survey a range of quantitative methodologies commonly used in applied policy analysis. The course will cover the role of the analyst and analyses...
Should Bud Selig be Fired? *(by Marquette Law School)*
At the Adjunct Professor Blog, Mitchell Rubenstein (St. John's) rebukes the Marquette School of Law for retaining MLB Commissioner Selig as an Adjunct Professor. The Marquette press release is here. Prof. Rubenstein writes:I think this is a total disgrace to law professors and am disappointed in Marquette Law School. No doubt Mr. Selig is an accomplished professional and no...
SOC
I have no clue where to begin today. Spontaneous writing sucks when you don't have anything to write about. I actually do have things to write about, but they are already on my list.I recommend Skype for the home. I talk to my brother on it on a regular basis. It is free, and I don't have to worry about running out the charge on my cellphone.I'm reading The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest. It is the last book in the trilogy, and there won't be anymore though a rumored fourth volume exists. Larsson is dead. I find it ironic that his work has gained...
Witnessing Greatness
I was blessed to witness an extraordinary event last night. The Lloyd Memorial Basketball team father/son jersey night. I have been to numerous events like this but each one is unique.Last night I was able to watch a father tell his son that he loved him for the very first time. It was moving. The man could barely speak. He tried to express that he grew up in a family that...
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Winter Hibernators
With temperatures now falling below 40˚F, there is no denying that winter will soon be here. As I rode through a stretch of frozen mud this morning, it finally began to seem real: The snow, the black ice, the heavily salted roads - it's all coming. And once it does, I will be putting most of my bicycles away, keeping around only those equipped to take on winter's...
Quotable Quotes
Men are made stronger on realization that the helping hand they need is at the end of their own arm.SIDNEY J. PHILLIPSWhen I was young, I observed that nine out of ten things I did were failures. So I did ten times more work.GEORGE BERNARD SHAWHard work spotlights the character of people: some turn up their sleeves, some turn up their noses, and some don't turn up at all.SAM EWINGSome people dream of success... while others wake up and work hard at it.UNKNOWNPlough deep while sluggards sleep.BENJAMIN FRANK...
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Announcing Hat Recipient!
[original of altered image via Atlanta Street Fashion blog]Thank you to everyone for taking part in the "Thanking Your Bicycle" give-away. Your notes were so very nice; I found it extremely difficult to choose.Riddled with indecision, I finally left it up to my bicycles - and, upon voting, they chose... Kyle. Here is an excerpt from Kyle's note to his bicycle...
More on Cameron Newton
Isaac Newton’s Law of Gravitation holds that every massive particle of the universe attracts every other massive particle. To state it another way, or according to Cam Newton (no relation), “When God be blessin’, the devil be messin’.”For perhaps the most gifted quarterback to come out of the NFL farm system in a decade, both of these principles mean that success breeds a...
A Good Square or Ring Weight-lift
From the The Text Book of Weightlifting (1905) by Arthur Saxon. Available at sandowsplus.co.uk (LIN...
Pulls (and maybe leg press)
Snatch 12,20kg: 5/5 eachSnatch 24kg: 5/5, 30/30Dead lift 70kg: 5Dead lift: 110kg: 3, 5Clean 2x20kg: 10Clean 2x20kg with fleece gloves: 20 Snatch 12kg with fleece gloves & baby powder: 10 min (2/2/2/2/1/1)IDid some dead lift with bar. As the bar is quite short there's a bit of improvising to find room for the bells and to make them stay on the bar. I understand why the...
The Protestant Ethic
[In The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism] Weber argued that the presumed anti-capitalist Puritanical rhetoric of eschewing earthly acquisitiveness was actually an impetus for that very acquisitiveness. The thesis was novel and well-known. Catholicism, Weber argues, was tolerant towards the acquisition of earthly gain and winked at lavish expenditure, an idea engendered by hierarchical structure of the Church (which required struggling and jockeying for "position") as well as its own tradition of lavish expenditure (the church) and...
Random Thoughts on Various Subjects
1. NORTH KOREAThere are fireworks on the Korean peninsula, and people are mystified by the latest North Korean insanity. But not me. I know better. By showing their ass, North Korea brings the USA to the negotiating table. The result will be some sort of new agreement and--wait for it--economic aid. Yep, that's right. North Korea wants your tax dollars to keep their broken government running, keep their people in subjugation, and build a few more atom bombs to use for further negotiations that will result in economic aid. And guess what. It works....
Musings on MUSA Knickers
Musa is a Rivendell house brand that stands for "made in USA." Under this label, Rivendell produces a line of clothing and accessories, including the knickers and pants that are designed specifically for cycling, but are described as being wearable "anywhere when formal wear isn't called for." The Co-Habitant ordered both the knickers and the long pants over...
Friday, November 26, 2010
It's a Rugby-Fest on Radio Cardiff Sport!
Join me this Saturday from 1:15pm for the Radio Cardiff Sport Rugby-Fest!First up it's Cardiff Blues v Glasgow Warriors in the Magners League - LIVE and INTERACTIVE text commentary from the Cardiff City Stadium. (KO 1:30pm)After that, from 4:45pm we switch to the Millennium Stadium for Wales v New Zealand for more LIVE and INTERACTIVE text commentary. (KO 5:15pm)Set your email reminder in the windows under our Ashes Tick...
Sins Of The Father
The sports-law world may be about to undergo a debate of biblical proportions.Auburn, the number two team in the land and, Cameron Newton, its Heisman leading quarterback are, as most of you know, the subjects of investigations both within and outside the NCAA. Cameron Newton’s father, a pastor at Newton, Georgia’s The Holy Zion Center of Deliverance, is accused of possibly...
Push/stöt...2, 4, 6...
Oa jerk with 12,20,24,28: 5/5 eachJerk 2x20kg: 5Jerk 2x28kg: 4x 2,4,6 reps + 2,4 reps (sum 54 reps)Jerk 2x24kg: 20reps 5 st stegar med 2 4 6 sitter där inte än. Samtliga 4-set sitter ok. Det är 5-6 som ligger på gränsen de sista stegarna.Avslutade med ett 24kg-set. Skillnaden mot 28or är mycket stor och det känns som om att man kommer åt de muskelfibrer och artärer som fått vila under de kortare stegarna.Nästa utrikes tävling blir nog i lång cykel i Kilkenny (EGSA) i mars. Ska bli skoj att testa dessa stegar med lc när den träningen...
Cardiff Blues team to face Glasgow Warriors in the Magners League
Starting XV15 Dan Fish 14 Richard Mustoe 13 Casey Laulala 12 Dafydd Hewitt 11 Chris Czekaj 10 Ceri Sweeney 9 Tom Slater8 Xavier Rush 7 Maama Molitika 6 Andries Pretorius 5 Paul Tito (c) 4 Michael Paterson 3 Scott Andrews 2 T Rhys Thomas 1 Taufa’ao FiliseReplacements16 Gareth Williams 17 Tom Davies 18 Sam Hobbs 19 Bryn Griffiths 20 Ben White 21 Tom Rowlands 22 Owen Williams...
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Fade to Black
[image via National Library NZ]For as long as I can remember, the idea of Black Friday has sort of frightened me. The name sounds so dark and sinister - like a day of mourning rather than a day of shopping. And the reports in recent years of shoppers getting crushed to death in stampedes have only strengthened that association. The possibility of someone wanting...
