Friday, October 9, 2020

“Certain little tiny fish”

A Trump believe it or not. Trump tweeted about California. Not, as one might feasibly hope, about cataclysmic fires and emergency funding for victims of the fire. No, he tweeted about, well, nutty stuff:
California is gonna have to ration water. You wanna know why? Because they send millions of gallons of water out to sea, out to the Pacific. Because they want to take care of certain little tiny fish, that aren't doing very well without water."
“Certain little tiny fish”? 
Hmmm, enquiring minds wanna know more….

News blues…

Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnel (left) – aka “Moscow Mitch”  –  appears shocked! shocked! that Americans intuitively grasp The Donald is not the guy we want to lead our democratic republic.  
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Three new lockdown changes for South Africa. In a series of gazettes recently published, the rules around grants, sports and events were updated to clarify existing regulations and allow for the further reopening of some sectors. 
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RVAT: Super-Spreader-In-Chief   (0:28 mins)
The Lincoln Project - fund raisers:

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Donald and Boris  (1:32 mins)

Healthy planet, anyone?

Cars, planes, trains: where do CO2 emissions from transport come from? 
Transport accounts for around one-fifth of global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions [24% if we only consider CO2 emissions from energy].
How do these emissions break down? Is it cars, trucks, planes or trains that dominate?
This chart shows  global transport emissions in 2018. (Data sourced from the International Energy Agency - IEA).
Road travel accounts for three-quarters of transport emissions. Most of this comes from passenger vehicles – cars and buses – which contribute 45.1%. The other 29.4% comes from trucks carrying freight.
Since the entire transport sector accounts for 21% of total emissions, and road transport accounts for three-quarters of transport emissions, road transport accounts for 15% of total CO2 emissions.
Aviation – while it often gets the most attention in discussions on action against climate change – accounts for only 11.6% of transport emissions. It emits just under one billion tonnes of CO2 each year – around 2.5% of total global emissions [we look at the role that air travel plays in climate change in more detail in an upcoming article]. International shipping contributes a similar amount, at 10.6%.
Rail travel and freight emits very little – only 1% of transport emissions. Other transport – which is mainly the movement of materials such as water, oil, and gas via pipelines – is responsible for 2.2%.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

Two days of sunshine – and an intense painting schedule – gave over to rain late last night. With the exterior of the house almost complete – some clean up remains – we turn to prep the interior.
Photos for marketing come next. After that, we simply wait for buyers to fall into our honey-trap!
My mother met with the realtors and signed necessary documents to proceed with the sale of the property. What a relief!
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Spring has arrived and settled in.
Chard seeds, started in the cold frame then transplanted into the garden, grow fast. As I pass their patch in the garden, I can reach out and snack on the fresh new leaves. Ditto with the flatleaf parsley that grows abundantly, too. (I substitute parsley for lettuce in salads. It’s more nutritious, has a stronger, more pleasing flavor, and grows faster.
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After nightfall, a chorus of frogs serenades spring, from the basso profundo croaking of guttural toads to tender tweets from, well, not sure what kind of frogs but many sopranos, interspersed with tenors. A lovely sound salad.


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