Good evening, 919 Gang. Check out the link Bob Hawkins
sends. Lots of familiar faces.
ROBERT HAWKINS writes:
Sometimes I'm grateful for Facebook Memories. Mostly they
are harmless. Today offered a poignant trip back to 2008 and a remembrance that
was held in Mission Valley for military writer Jim Crawley, taken from us by
cancer at only 51 years old.
Here's the collection
of photos from that gathering that Facebook coughed up today: https://goo.gl/JfPgp8
. I hope it stirs memories in others as well.
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Jack, it's time to position all those 919 correspondents across the U.S. who can give us coverage of Monday's eclipse unlike what we'll see on TV and in the papers. So, are you ready to file your stories Preston Turegano (in Oregon), Chuck Boyd (S.C., with photos?) and Steve Prosinski (a Montanan whose heart is in Wyoming, where the Cheyenne paper reports the event is "a celestial phenomenon ...expected to draw thousands...in an event unlike anything seen in the state's history.") Get your notebooks and cameras out, my friends. Be safe: Eyes wide shut, they say.
REBER: A great idea, Carl. I look forward to reading our members’ experiences.
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REX SALMON writes:
Ken
Stone, you’re a nice guy. Very ambitious, plus you do a great feat in twirling
the verbs, nouns, and adjectives into prose worthy of admiration. Also, I like
the way you toss in some well-seasoned gerunds and infinities to make the sun
shine brighter.
I’ve
never felt one of your stories fell short. I even like your fast smile. You’re
a fun guy! (Enough praise Friend?)
But
your attitude -- or opinion -- about the weathered weatherman John Coleman is
stoned.
Who
says Coleman, founder of the national weather channel, is wrong to say
high-level CO2 won’t cause another ice age? And who says the former Democratic
presidential candidate is right?
Our
food crops and trees need as much CO2 as they can swallow.
In
today’s wire news, Science Daily reports on Antarctica ice data presented by a
Princeton U grad student Yuzhen Yan at the Paris Goldschmidt Conference.
A
core drilled into Antarctica brought up ice 2.7 million years old, which is 1.7
million years old than previous ice tested.
The
article says: Bubbles in the ice contain greenhouse gases from Earth’s
atmosphere at a time when the planet’s cycles of glacial advance and retreat
were just beginning, potentially offering clues to what triggered it. And what
caused those ice ages? Low carbon dioxide levels. The paper
revealed that carbon dioxide levels during the era in question “did not exceed
300 parts per million, well below today’s levels.” The low-level would be a
necessary precondition to cause a series of ice ages.
The carbon dioxide levels inside the block of ice shattered
previous science that gleaned carbon dioxide levels from the fossils of animals
living in shallow oceans. If the results are true on CO2 levels, “We have some
work to do,” said Texas A&M paleoclimatologist Yige Zhang.
At Birch Aquarium in La
Jolla there is a floor-to-ceiling chart showing Earth’s CO2 level is so high
it’s going to cause an upcoming ice age. Looks like it’s back to the guessing
board as the Texas A&M prof says.
Thanks Ken for the three articles well written. I’m sitting
here with my pinkies twiddled, waiting for real science to work its way out.
Meanwhile, spewing more CO2!
JIM OKERBLOM
writes:
Great stories on John Coleman, Ken Stone! The guy is a bit
loopy, but interesting nonetheless.
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DIANE ROCHA
writes:
Here's a little trivia for anyone interested. The dowser
that Jack wrote about is also known as a rhabdomancer. A rhabdomancer practices
rhabdomancy. And where did I learn this little tidbit? At the San Diego County
Spelling Bee - sponsored by The San
Diego Union Tribune.
During my 22-year career as a 7th grade Language Arts and
Social Studies teacher, I also ran the schoolwide spelling bee, earning me the
lofty title of Spelling Bee Queen. It was funny, and it stuck throughout my
career.
I accompanied the school winner to the County Bee, which I
found endlessly fascinating. I loved everything about it. I loved the ceremony
of it. I loved the kids. I was in awe of the Bee Master, Dr. David Hay. I spoke
with him each year, and I learned from him, making our own school bee better
each year. Coincidentally, Dr. Hay retired the same year I did.
In my first few years, in the mid-1990s, the word
rhabdomancer kept popping up. I was able to spell it correctly, but I had no
idea what it meant. I loved how it sounded, so I had to look it up. When I
found out its meaning, it became one of my favorite words. The picture in my
mind from old cowboy movies in my childhood of the "water witch" with
his divining rod, discovering water on someone's property juxtaposed with this
highfalutin' word struck my fancy and my funny bone.
I went back to my classroom and taught the word each year.
Several years later, when the school adopted a new vocabulary book, to my
surprise and delight, there was a picture to accompany a story about a dowser. Well,
of course, I wrote the word rhabdomancer on the board and told my students the
story.
I wonder how many of the more than 1500 students I taught
remember our old friend, the rhabdomancer. My former principal, Theresa Grace,
who is now an assistant superintendent in Ramona probably does. Jack, if you
ever meet her, ask her.
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REBER: Here are Happy Birthday wishes
(Aug. 19) for Chris Ross.
P.O. Box 2239
Ramona, CA 92065
U.S.A.
