by Maitri
on August 27, 2005
Current probability of Katrina striking right east of New Orleans = very high. Miles and miles from the worry I entertained yesterday of the Florida Panhandle getting hit again. Naturally, these are the odds when I have to be on a very important flight out of here on Wednesday evening.
Update: We are packing and evacuating as of now Saturday August 27 13:33
Update 2: Still in New Orleans, packing, sorting and waiting for the carpenter to arrive and board our windows. Evacuation now depends on the predictions of tonight and tomorrow morning as well as the toss of a lucky Irish pound. The city is dead but for a few perplexed tourists and conventioneers asking the locals if they should leave. Downtown New Orleans is closed until further notice while the universities do not plan to open until Thursday. Saturday August 27 16:37
Update 3: A gloomy prognosis still. Even Bob Breck isn’t feeling the hurricane mojo, and that bodes badly for staying in a 130-year-old house. New Orleanians, board your homes and leave. August 27 21:02
Update 4: Up surveying the house and all animated predictions of our impending local weather pattern. Landfall anon, i.e. tomorrow AM. Dinner in the Quarter last night (tomato, lettuce and Diet Coke with wine chasers – anything I could keep down) saw veteran residents discuss seriously the act, not just the thought, of getting out of here. Then again, there are the brave ones staying such as Mac and KFrye, who plans to “stand out on my balcony and shake my fists at the storm.” Good plan – is the webcam all set up? Time for push-ups before hauling stuff to car; hey, the CPUs have got to go. August 28 06:57
by Maitri
on August 11, 2005
Let’s face it, geology is my jackpot, a scientific windfall of sorts. Anything remotely linked to earth science wakes me from the deepest of slumbers and captures my full attention for hours. Also an avid pattern recognizer, I enjoy discovering similarities between geological concepts and other phenomena. As the streets of New Orleans buckle and bulge in the summertime, they are likened to orogeny. The crud that floats at the top of boiling milk is contrasted with lava cooling at the surface of Hawaii. Analogies abound, and I make sure to point them all out and very loudly to non-geologically-inclined D if he is with me. He, in turn, lovingly refers to this condition as my Geology Tourette’s.
This morning’s Eureka! moment came with a simple tub of cold cream. As I prepared to stick my finger in the chilly whiteness of the colloid, I noticed that a portion of it had cleaved and another, and another. The material was still creamy, but it appeared as if tiny, wafer-thin slivers of cream had been dislodged in the tub. In fact, it looked a lot like this:
It was a miniature rift system in cold cream! Excited, I ran to D and said, “Look! Faults!”
D’s eyes grew big and round as he exclaimed, “Release the pigeons!”
Such insensitivity to my geekitude.
by Maitri
on August 3, 2005
The American Library Association Council has put forth the following resolution with respect to disinformation, media manipulation and destruction of public information.
(CHICAGO) At the American Library Association (ALA) 2005 Annual Conference in Chicago, June 23-29, the ALA Council adopted a resolution opposing the use by government of disinformation, media manipulation, and the destruction and excision of public information. ALA CD#64 cites a list of documented instances of disinformation, including:
* the distribution to media outlets of government produced “video news releases” under the guise of independent journalism;
* the use of commentators paid by government agencies to express views favorable to government policies in clear violation of Federal Communications Commission regulations;
* the censorship of scientific studies warning of the true threat of global warming;
* the fabrication and deliberate distortion of information used to justify the U.S. invasion of Iraq;
* the removal of public information from U.S. depository libraries; and
* heightened assaults on constitutional rights under the guise of “national security.”
The ALA encourages its members to help raise public consciousness regarding the
many ways in which disinformation and media manipulation are being used to mislead public opinion in all spheres of life, and further encourages librarians to facilitate this awareness with collection development, library programming and public outreach that draws the public’s attention to those alternative sources of information dedicated to countering and revealing the disinformation often purveyed by the mainstream media.
The 182-member ALA governing body voted passed ALA CD#64 on June 29, 2005.
Read the entire document at the ALA Web site.
