The Last Mountain

[Click for a larger view.]

The mother of all environmental problems is the climate-change issue. It is very real; it is happening today; and at the core of the problem is coal.

Gus Speth, former dean, Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, quoted in The Last Mountain

*

The epicenter of the climate-change battle in the United States is Appalachian coal, and the epicenter of the battle around Appalachian coal is Coal River Mountain.

Allen Hershkowitz, Senior Scientist, Natural Resources Defense Council, also quoted in The Last Mountain

The documentary The Last Mountain (dir. Bill Haney, 2011) tells the story of West Virginians’ fight against mountaintop removal mining, a technology with catastrophic consequences for the environment and human health. In this film, the line between what’s wrong and what’s right is clear. Greed, corporate lobbying, and utter disregard for the well-being of West Virginia’s people are amply on display. (Meet Don Blankenship.) But there’s hope too, in the promise of wind power and in the efforts of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and a host of dedicated citizens and environmental activists. Among them: Susan Bird, Maria Gunnoe, Jennifer Hall-Massey, Lorelei Scarbro, David Aaron Smith, Bo Webb, and Ed Wiley. Their names are as important to note as those of the better-known figures. Watch Ed Wiley stand up to West Virginia’s then-governor Joe Manchin: we should all have such courage.

Read more
The Last Mountain (the film’s website)

[This film serves as a nice reminder that giving money to the candidate, not the party, can be a smarter choice. That a contribution to the Democratic National Committee might help the likes of Joe Manchin makes me cringe.]

Chrome and Flash

Chrome-and-Flash problems seem to be in the air. From Lockergnome: How To Fix Shockwave Flash Crashes in Google Chrome.

Serving suggestion

Gunther at Lexikaliker found an interesting Serviervorschlag [serving suggestion.] The picture is funny in any language.

Apple and China

From a New York Times article on why Apple products are made in China:

A foreman immediately roused 8,000 workers inside the company’s dormitories, according to the executive. Each employee was given a biscuit and a cup of tea, guided to a workstation and within half an hour started a 12-hour shift fitting glass screens into beveled frames. Within 96 hours, the plant was producing over 10,000 iPhones a day.

How the U.S. Lost Out on iPhone Work (New York Times)

Related listening
“Mr. Daisey and the Apple Factory” (This American Life)

National Handwriting Day

[“. . . Unit on Germs and one on Atoms or the Human Body. I think it was a very good idea to have Penmanship so that we can improve our handwritings. I also think that we should have . . . .”]

It’s National Handwriting Day. Because it’s the birthday of John Hancock.

Above, a sample of my 1967 handwriting, courtesy of my fifth-grade teacher Marcia Schorr. Thanks, Mrs. Schorr. And thank you for everything.

Related reading
All handwriting posts (via Pinboard)

[Yes, I always had trouble with the cursive capital I.]

Now more than ever

On December 4, 2011, in an idle moment of amateur prophecy, I wrote:

If Romney becomes the nominee, look for Bain to become a familiar name in political discourse. I think though that it’ll be Gingrich, and that Obama v. Gingrich will resemble Clinton v. Dole. Gingrich seems well suited to play a cranky old guy.

I still think it’ll be Gingrich. And indeed, he seems well suited to play a cranky old guy. More specifically, a cranky old white guy. The next nine months will, I think, come to feel like a slog through toxic sludge. But I have little doubt about how the election will go.

[If I were a Republican voter, I’d have voted for Jon Huntsman. I guess I wouldn’t have a great career as a Republican voter.]

Recently updated

Hi and Lois watch: Things are back to normal on the Hi-Lo production line.

An ism

What my friend Sara calls an “ism”:

Learning is the process of realizing you did not create the world.

It’s hers, and it’s one smart ism.

Hi and Lois watch

[Hi and Lois, January 10, 2012.]

[Hi and Lois, January 16, 2012.]

Though its characters haven’t aged in years, the Hi and Lois world is ever in flux. Furniture disappears and windows change shape in the interstices; a neighbor changes his hair color and no one says a thing. I like the contrast between the speech balloons above: first Hi’s risqué suggestion, then the twins’ cheerful cure for Lois’s seasonal affective disorder.¹ I notice too that the windows have again changed shape.

But there’s a more fundamental difference (as Professor Gingrich might say) between the above panels. Notice how the art has changed: as of January 15, every character, every object, every speech balloon is enclosed by a thick Sharpie-like line. I’ve read that eight people “animate” the strip: it looks as if they’re taking turns.

Update, January 22: Things are back to normal on the Hi-Lo production line. (But that shadow?)

[Hi and Lois, January 22, 2012.]

¹ Re: seasonal affective disorder: that’s what Lois thinks is wrong. I suspect though that it has something to do with Hi’s clumsy attempt to “turn up the heat.”

Related reading
All Hi and Lois posts (via Pinboard)

Time Inc. notebook

[“Notebook of Time Inc. co-founder Briton Hadden with suggestions and ideas for new magazines.” Photographer unknown. 1929. From the Life Photo Archive. Click for a larger view.]

I like the idea of a “letter mag” (right under “secy mag”) — I’d like to think that meant a magazine devoted to letters as in stamps and stationery, not letters as in literature.

[I’ve written two letters this year. How about you?]