Oh, c'mon. Now Accuweather is just getting silly: The last and strongest in the train of Pacific storms will unleash a new round of flooding rain, mudslides, feet of mountain snow, damaging winds and severe thunderstorms on California and the Southwest into Friday. Is is an all out weather war being waged by the atmosphereContinue reading “Accuweather: Storm is “war on the Southwest””
Author Archives: Kit Stolz
Rainy weather in SoCal: Overfeared?
Is it just my imagination, or are people — including authorities like the National Weather Service — overly frightened of rain? Take a look at the latest "storm warming," copied from the NWS via the Ventura County Star: …PERIODS OF HEAVY SNOW AND STRONG WINDS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE FOR THE MOUNTAINS THROUGH THURSDAY NIGHT… AContinue reading “Rainy weather in SoCal: Overfeared?”
Kate McGarrigle (talk to me of Mendocino)
Kate McGarrigle, of the McGarrigle sisters, writer and singer of many a great song, died yesterday of liver cancer. Linda Ronstadt, who recorded some of the sisters' songs (and had a monster hit with their "Heart Like a Wheel") had a very nice quote about them in the Los Angeles Times: "They had a vibeContinue reading “Kate McGarrigle (talk to me of Mendocino)”
Funny-but-wise poem about Paris and dogs
You don't come across too many funny-but-wise poems in the world today, for whatever reason. Sharp, cutting, intense, brilliant, shocking poems, sure, but funny? Not so much. So here — let's celebrate one such surprise winner, from Poetry Daily: Disgust There's a preponderance of dog shit in Paris but no one says so, attracted toContinue reading “Funny-but-wise poem about Paris and dogs”
Red sky at morning (on the coast, before today’s storm)
From the often-beautiful photoblog of Veronique du Turenne, taken early this morning along the coast: The supposedly "unrelenting" storms for SoCal this week, which were said to have the potential of as much as 15-20 inches of rain, have so far been quite moderate: two inches in our area today. But tomorrow we have flashContinue reading “Red sky at morning (on the coast, before today’s storm)”
The duty to nature (great enviro speech of l990)
Mr. Chairman, since the last World War, our world has faced many challenges, none more vital than that of defending our liberty and keeping the peace. But the threat to our world comes not only from tyrants…it can be more insidious though less visible. The danger of global warming is as yet unseen, but realContinue reading “The duty to nature (great enviro speech of l990)”
The Pantheism of Avatar: Good? Bad? A Simple Truth?
The reviews for Avatar have been overwhelmingly good, except from conservatives such as columnist Ross Douthut, who complains bitterly that: “Avatar” is Cameron’s long apologia for pantheism — a faith that equates God with Nature, and calls humanity into religious communion with the natural world… If this narrative arc sounds familiar, that’s because pantheism hasContinue reading “The Pantheism of Avatar: Good? Bad? A Simple Truth?”
A raindrop’s journey
The Los Angeles Times continues to be devastated by cutbacks, but nonetheless the book section under David Ulin continues to discover great works overlooked in the rush to the obvious bestsellers. Today, perfectly timed for our weather, comes word of a California poet, Don Thompson, who lives in Buttonwillow and writes so quietly that evenContinue reading “A raindrop’s journey”
El Nino 2010: Small, medium, large…or wanna-be?
The infamous El Niño, bringer of warm winters and rain to Southern California, is back, NOAA says, and thanks to a surprisingly wet November, we're still ahead of normal in our total rainfall for this water year. Wouldn't you like to know what that really means? The truth is, no one knows. But for theContinue reading “El Nino 2010: Small, medium, large…or wanna-be?”
Lindzen’s Holy Grail — a negative feedback — and Hansen’s translation
The first difficulty with climate science for the public — and this is true whether or not you believe that the climate is in trouble — is that it's so monstrously huge and long and difficult to understand. The second difficulty is that most scientists themselves aren't very good at explaining the difficulties. The thirdContinue reading “Lindzen’s Holy Grail — a negative feedback — and Hansen’s translation”
Kit Stolz 