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Faits Divers

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Some Nine Months in San Francisco

May 18, 2022 by sergneri Leave a Comment

I was surprised to see this in the PERSONAL MENTION column of the 24 October 1919 Santa Rosa Press Democrat. It seems that Miss Lewis has been publicly shamed by the newspaper. While they normally report casual comings and goings, business and vacation trips, this is the only time I’ve seen something like this: Miss … [Read more…]

Posted in: California History, California Newspaper Archive, Faits Divers Tagged: Henry Grohe, Miss Josephine Lewis, PERSONAL MENTION, Press Democrat, Santa Rosa, Santa Rosa Press Democrat

In a World on Fire, Stop Burning Things

March 28, 2022 by sergneri Leave a Comment

In the New Yorker, Bill McKibben wrote an essay titled “In a World on Fire, Stop Burning Things” Here, he references many new reports which fortify the case for moving to renewable energy now and reinforcing the need to stop burning. On the last day of February, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change issued its … [Read more…]

Posted in: Climate Change, Environment, Ethical and green living, Faits Divers, Finanace, Nuclear Industry, Pandemic, Politics, Racism, Science, the Anthropocene Tagged: climate change, fossil fuel, IPCC, World On Fire

2022 TMS Cards

March 9, 2022 by sergneri Leave a Comment

From my indomitable little sister in 2022:

Posted in: Faits Divers, Feminism, Future of Work, Thinking about Tagged: 2022, Theresa Marie, TMS, TMS Artwork

Drought 2022

March 9, 2022 by sergneri 1 Comment

March 9, 2022, Petaluma CA I just searched this blog for the word DROUGHT and found all the entries dated from 2020. I decided to start this journal due to the household conversations we’ve had on how we are going to ration our irrigation water this year. Water is due to become even more expensive … [Read more…]

Posted in: California History, Climate Change, Environment, Ethical and green living, Faits Divers, the Anthropocene, Thinking about Tagged: California, Drip Irrigation, drought, Eel River, irrigation, La Niña, Lake Sonoma, Petaluma, Rain, Russian River, Sierra Nevada, Sonoma County, toilet, Water, Water Rationing, water year

The Mystery of the ‘Russian Flu’

February 14, 2022 by sergneri Leave a Comment

An Undiscovered Coronavirus? The Mystery of the ‘Russian Flu’ Scientists are grasping for any example that could help anticipate the future of Covid, even a mysterious respiratory pandemic that spread in the late 19th century. New York Times – By Gina Kolata Feb. 14, 2022

Posted in: Faits Divers, Pandemic, Science, Thinking about, This Day in History Tagged: Coronavirus, COVID, COVID-19, flu, influenza, pandemic, Russian Flu

Abolish internet shopping in Belgium

February 13, 2022 by sergneri 1 Comment

In the Guardian: Abolish internet shopping in Belgium, says leader of party in coalition Paul Magnette, the Socialist party leader, describes e-commerce as ‘social and ecological degradation’ There are no options for commenting on this idea on the Guardian itself, so after you read it, come back here and let us know what you think.

Posted in: Climate Change, Environment, Ethical and green living, Faits Divers, Finanace, Future of Work, IT Failures, Pandemic, Politics, Thinking about Tagged: Belgium, COVID, e-commerce, pandemic, shopping, Socialist

Jason Epstein Is Dead at 93

February 4, 2022 by sergneri Leave a Comment

Jason Epstein, Editor and Publishing Innovator, Is Dead at 93 His literary and marketing instincts brought quality paperbacks to American readers and led to the creation of The New York Review of Books. New York Times Christopher Lehmann-Haupt Feb. 4, 2022

Posted in: Ethical and green living, Faits Divers, Feminism, Obituaries, Politics, Thinking about Tagged: Barbara Epstein, Barnes & Noble, Doubleday & Company, editor, Edmund Wilson, Elizabeth Hardwick, Jason Epstein, Random House, Robert Lowell, The New York Review of Books

Letter to the Editor: ‘Doing our part’

January 17, 2022 by sergneri Leave a Comment

01/16/2022 – Santa Rosa Press-Democrat ‘Doing our part’ EDITOR: Dave Stein reduced home-based solar generation to costs (“Solar power costs,” Letters, Wednesday). He misses one of the basic reasons many of us did invest in solar: to reduce greenhouse emissions. It is the same reason we invested in insulating the attic, installed energy-efficient windows and … [Read more…]

Posted in: Climate Change, Environment, Ethical and green living, Faits Divers, Politics, the Anthropocene Tagged: carbon emissions, cogenerate, emissions, energy star, energy-efficient, green energy, greenhouse gases, heat pump, PG&E, solar

Hospitals Are in Serious Trouble

January 7, 2022 by sergneri 3 Comments

In the Atlantic, Ed Yong writes about the impact of the current COVID variants and the state of the health care system. There is a lot to take in here and his summary is most telling: “Some experts are hopeful that Omicron will peak quickly, which would help alleviate the pressure on hospitals. But what … [Read more…]

Posted in: Faits Divers, IT Failures, Pandemic, Politics, Thinking about Tagged: burnout, COVID, exploitative working conditions, health care, hospitals, just-in-time supply chains, Long-COVID, Omicron, shortages, the health-care system, trauma

The Ethiopian entrepreneur Sara Menker founded Gro Intelligence

January 7, 2022 by sergneri Leave a Comment

In the NYT, an interview with Ms. Menker: The Ethiopian entrepreneur Sara Menker founded Gro Intelligence, which uses artificial intelligence to forecast global agricultural trends and battle food insecurity. When toilet paper shortages happened during Covid and everybody was running to stock up, I was like, “I don’t know why you’re stocking up. I have … [Read more…]

Posted in: Climate Change, Environment, Ethical and green living, Faits Divers, Finanace, Pandemic, Politics, Racism, Science, the Anthropocene, Thinking about Tagged: Africa, agriculture, entrepreneur, Ethiopian, famine, food, food systems, Gro Intelligence, inflation, markets, poverty, Sara Menker, toilet paper
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