Sorry. I couldn’t take the other design any more. It was killing me.
Archive for April, 2008
A picture from the California branch of my family.
From left to right: My Great-great grandparents James Monroe Stafford* and Mary Elizabeth Vierling Stafford, and my Great granduncle Eugene “Poss” Stafford. As best as I know, James and Mary died in the 1919 flu.
*Note to genealogy researchers: This is not the James Monroe Stafford from Texas, but rather the Mississippi James Monroe.
$80 round trip is cheaper by far than driving, so I’m riding on the Amtrak Carolinian to Washington for my F5 Big IP training tomorrow. Training doesn’t take me off the on call list, however, so I’m testing out my Evdo card. Works like a charm so far.
…the hotter it subjectively appears.
The removal of weather-balloon data because poor nations don’t do a good job of minding their weather instruments deserves more investigation, which is precisely what University of Guelph economist Ross McKitrick and I did. Last year we published our results in the Journal of Geophysical Research, showing that “non-climatic” effects in land-surface temperatures – GDP per capita, among other things – exert a significant influence on the data. For example, weather stations are supposed to be a standard white color. If they darken from lack of maintenance, temperatures read higher than they actually are. After adjusting for such effects, as much as half of the warming in the U.N.’s land-based record vanishes. Because about 70% of earth’s surface is water, this could mean a reduction of as much as 15% in the global warming trend.
Another interesting thing happens to the U.N.’s data when it’s adjusted for the non-climatic factors. The frequency of very warm months is lowered, to the point at which it matches the satellite data, which show fewer very hot months. That’s a pretty good sign that there are fundamental problems with the surface temperature history. At any rate, our findings have not been incorporated into the IPCC’s history, and they probably never will be.
Penalty for crossing an Al Qaeda boss? A nasty memo
“I was very upset by what you did,” Atef wrote. “I obtained 75,000 rupees for you and your family’s trip to Egypt. I learned that you did not submit the voucher to the accountant, and that you made reservations for 40,000 rupees and kept the remainder claiming you have a right to do so. . . . Also with respect to the air-conditioning unit, . . . furniture used by brothers in Al Qaeda is not considered private property. . . . I would like to remind you and myself of the punishment for any violation.”
Your Affectionate Uncle,
Screwtape
I’m still pulling for him–there’s at least 2 female Hillary supporters on the Sainted Wife’s side of the family who will be voting Republican for the first time ever in November should Obama gain the Democratic nomination.
Ngnat sticks with Africa, choosing a lady from Togo for this month’s kiva loan; Adjo Adjovi.
Ms. Adzo Adjovi is a 34-year-old married woman with 2 children who are both enrolled in school. Adzo owns a shop located in the central market Adéta, a medium-sized town about 150 kilometers away from Lomé, the capital of Togo. Here, Adzo sells many sizes and varieties of plates, pots and pans. She has been in this business for several years and would like to diversify her inventory to include kitchen utensils. With her loan, Adzo would like to buy silverware, ladles, large spoons and other kitchen utensils to increase the size of her business and attract more customers. The profits that this growth will bring will enable Adzo to continue to send her children to school and to provide for her family.
I should get a world map and pins for Ngnat to show where her loans are going to.
The latest from LTC. Bob
Another day here, much the same as the last.
One of our COLs just returned from leave, and mentioned that it’s all “gloom and doom” again in the nation’s Forth Estate, and that according to them, things are going to heck in a hand basket once again in Iraq. Don’t believe it - it was actually refreshing to see the GoI make a stand in Basra, and in Sadr City. With a “little help from their friends” (us and the Brits) they have cleared out many of those that GEN Petraeus refers to as the ‘irreconcilables’ and sent them along to another time and dimension..
Anyway - back here on boring old Victory Base, yesterday I made a trip over to the Bird Lake on Camp Slayer on my bike. Most all of the Shovelers have headed north, there were probably 20-30 of them left; I counted a dozen Marbled Teal and about the same number of Ferruginous Ducks, lots of Coots still, one Greylag Goose, several Little Grebes, a pair of Widgeons, one White-faced Duck…all the Green-winged Teal seemed to be gone. I didn’t get any pictures, just watched for a bit.
The first two pics are from 23 March - we were watching airplanes landing on the civilian side at BIAP, Runway 33R for those keeping track. I saw the Graceful Prinias last time, but never managed to get a decent picture.
The book says “small, unmarked, pale grey-buff warbler with long graduated tail…skulks in vegetation.” No kidding. So much that you rarely get a chance for the auto-focus to focus.
The call is a give away, though, as far as identification. There are lots of them about.
The next two are one of my favorite birds here - the Pied Kingfishers - they are fairly common as well, either perching or hovering over water. I got pretty close in the Explorer and was able to get these clear shots.
A male, characterized by his two black throat bands
and a female, who has only one.
That’s it for today - hope all are fine, wherever you happen to be.