ex nihilo nihil fit
ex nihilo nihil fit – from nothing comes nothing.
Author: sergneri
The Rocketdyne Facility
At The LA Daily News an article about the Woolsey Fire in Ventura county focuses on the Rocketdyne Facility, or the Santa Susana Field Laboratory. The Woolsey Fire, an out-of-control wildfire that started in Ventura County and moved into Malibu, where it is consuming homes along the coastal community, began as a brush fire near … [Read more…]
Carbon Fee plan rejected by Washington state voters
In the Guardian News 11/7/2018: Measure known as Initiative 1631 would have put a $15 fee on each ton of carbon dioxide emitted in the state However, voters rejected the initiative because “they understood it was a flawed initiative that would have raised consumer costs substantially while doing very little to meet carbon reduction … [Read more…]
AMPEX sign looking for a new home
In the San Mateo Daily there is an interesting story on the founding of AMPEX and that their sign has been taken down and is looking for a new home. Recording on discs was standard for the broadcast industry in the United States before Ampex changed the game. Discs were easily subject to shock, vibration … [Read more…]
The Suffocation of Democracy – Christopher R. Browning
From The Suffocation of Democracy – Christopher R. Browning If the US has someone whom historians will look back on as the gravedigger of American democracy, it is Mitch McConnell. He stoked the hyperpolarization of American politics to make the Obama presidency as dysfunctional and paralyzed as he possibly could. As with parliamentary gridlock in … [Read more…]
Patti Harris
I am saddened by the news of Patti Harris’ death this week and sympathize with her family. John Sergneri
Jackson Bell Swan – Old Radio 3
I’m not sure how I neglected mentioning one of our latest family members, a 1930 Jackson-Bell Swan AM radio. This one was purchased for $125 at an antique store in the county. It has been refinished as you can tell from the wood which is slightly different color on the top right side of the … [Read more…]
Old Radio 2
The addiction continues – today I added a RCA Victor 4X (the small one in the photo) and a General Electric E-72 All-Wave. The GE is an AM broadcast, Police, and SW receiver. The RCA is an AC/DC table top model and both date from the 1936 time frame. So, we can easily see this … [Read more…]
Old Radio
I haven’t posted in a while, why? The quick answer is Old Radio. When I was a kid in Eastern Washington, I spent many hours after sunset at the dial of our AM radio. From my basement bedroom, I ran a long wire antenna up to the eves of the house and clipped it to … [Read more…]
Raising a Child in a Doomed World
By Roy Scranton July 16, 2018 NYT Climate Change and Parenting … Take the widely cited 2017 research letter by the geographer Seth Wynes and the environmental scientist Kimberly Nicholas, which argues that the most effective steps any of us can take to decrease carbon emissions are to eat a plant-based diet, avoid flying, live … [Read more…]