Tuesday, September 19, 2017

The Political Page, Part 2, T+242 -- September 19, 2017 -- The Flat Earth Society Will Now Come To Order

Smart move: Valero won't bid for California crude oil terminal -- would have faced costly legal battle with the state.
The Valero Energy petroleum company says it is giving up plans to acquire the last independently owned petroleum terminal in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Valero said in a statement Monday that it is dropping its purchase of the Martinez petroleum terminal hub rather than wage a long court battle over it.
California Attorney General had sued to block the transaction ... said Valero's purchase of the Plains All American Pipeline facility would have put all three Northern California petroleum-shipping hubs in the hands of refineries.
He says that would have stifled competition and might have raised gas prices.
Making America great: from that alt-right site, food stamp usage has fallen every month of the Trump presidency.

A colder, earlier winter -- Farmer's Almanac. Montana/Wyoming weren't the only states to see early now. Now, pretty much unprecedented, Oregon got its first bit of snow on the last day of summer:
Timberline Lodge is getting a dose of winter weather – in September.
Several inches of snow have fallen at Timberline Lodge since Monday morning.
Meteorologists say this type of weather is unusual this time of year.
Usually the lodge sees sticking snows in October, not before the first day of fall.
The snow begins about halfway up Timberline Road and it quickly turns to thick, slippery conditions a couple miles from the lodge.
Massive Arctic ice gain over the past five years despite atmospheric CO2 rising. From the deplorables, Arctic sea ice extent is up 40% from this date five years ago. From the map at the site, it appears the "northwest passage" is blocked once again.


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The Flat Earth Society Meeting Is Now In Session

Based on a new study, it appears he DOES have time. What a doofus.

Agenda for the meeting: Climate change not as threatening to planet as previously thought, new research suggests -- The [London] Telegraph
Climate change poses less of an immediate threat to the planet than previously thought because scientists got their modelling wrong.
New research by British scientists reveals the world is being polluted and warming up less quickly than 10-year-old forecasts predicted, giving countries more time to get a grip on their carbon output.
An unexpected “revolution” in affordable renewable energy has also contributed to the more positive outlook. Experts now say there is a two-in-three chance of keeping global temperatures within 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels, the ultimate goal of the 2015 Paris Agreement.
A "thank you" to a reader for sending me the idea for this post. The premise is still wrong -- that climate change is man-made -- but at least we have been given more hope that all is not lost.

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The Literary Page
It looks like a great day for reading.

I started Dracula (again) last night -- I've never gotten more than just a few pages in. It's such an incredibly well-written book, I tend to linger and re-read passages.

I will also read a short monograph Twentieth Century Interpretation of Wuthering Heights, edited by Thomas A Vogler, c. 1968.

Arriving from Amazon today will be two books on Casanova and Venice, having ordered them after taking in the Casanova exhibit at the Kimbell Art Museum last week.

From Dracula, new words:
  • diligence: a stagecoach used in France and England during the 1700s and 1800s
  • St George's eve: from wiki, St George's Day was a major feast and national holiday in England on a par with Christmas from the early 15th century; April 23, May 6, a moveable feast; at the time considered the most dangerous night of the year; folks were terrified of vampires on this night; vampires most active on eves of St George's Day and St Andrews' Day
  • leiter-wagon: a peasant wagon
  • calèche: drawn by one horse; for two passengers, with driver on own seat on/above the splash board
Will be continued elsewhere.

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