3.26.2009

Seven, Eight, Nine and Ten in the Afternoon

Because I was feeling a little guilty about not posting anything yesterday, here are four more news items to round out the second half of your day...

7. GEO-ENGINEERING SCHEME DEVOURED BY CRABS: Climate scientists trying to seed a section of ocean with dissolved iron so as to encourage the growth of CO2 devouring plankton succeeded! And then were quickly thwarted as millions (nay, billions!) of microscopic crab-like predators swept in to devour said plankton. Had the scheme paid off, it would have been a step forward for geo-engineering -- a newish, likely star-trek-inspired field that is attempting to find ways to change the planet's climate to cope with the effects of runaway global warming. Yeah... no way something like that could go awry. (AFP via GoogleNews)

8. ANOTHER REASON TO CHEER THE DEMISE OF THE NATIONAL POST: Over at DeSmog Blog, Mitchell Anderson looks at the ironies and hypocrisies in Lorne Gunter's calls for the dismantling of the CBC now that Gunter's own meal ticket is on the verge of financial collapse. I'd be able to wallow in the schadenfreude at the thought of Gunter lining up at soup kitchen or warming his hands over a flaming oil drum in a shantytown except that I know that CanWest is going to get that handout it's panhandling for. Like Anderson points out in his piece, Harper needs good little soldiers like Gunter and his crew at the Post, while he's happy to see the CBC go down the crapper because they generally won't roll over and be a good dog. (DeSmog Blog)

9. WHAT THE CBC IS CUTTING: To cope with its $171 million deficit, the CBC will be scaling back on sports coverage and on the number of episodes for some marquee shows. It's good to see that there are still no plans to add commercials to CBC radio. But, the most disturbing news is that 80 jobs will be cut from CBC News and jobs will also be lost at the Fifth Estate. (Globe and Mail)

10. ADA LOVELACE DAY: March 24 was the first Ada Lovelace Day, a day in which bloggers celebrated the achievments of women in technology. Ada Lovelace was a 19th century countess who, through her work with Charles Babbage, has been creditted as being the first computer programmer. (My daughter is named after her.) Suw Charman-Anderson, the organizer behind Ada Lovelace Day, hoped to get 1,000 bloggers to pledge to write about women who've done inspiring things in science and technology. 1,980 signed up. You can peruse some of the posts people wrote here. (FindingAda.com)

Sunshine, go away today ...

To paraphrase a song that seemed to be airing constantly for 30 years of CKCK radio ...

Don Morgan can't (CTV) even (CTV) run his own department (Murray Mandryk, L-P), I'll be damned if he thinks he should be running the CBC (Bill Stovin).

The issue whether the tape of the transmissions between RCMP officers on duty at the time of the Curtis Dagenais shooting spree should be played in public is a thorny one. Practically, I see no need to hear those reports. I'm not fascinated by the morbid side. But there's a legal question the CBC is bringing up: if the tape is played in open court, which is supposed to be public forum, then how can the judge turn down a request to have the audio played in public?

Don Morgan didn't think about those things when he opened his mouth. Don Morgan doesn't apparently, feel the need to think about a lot of things.

Six in the Morning

Yeah... I know... wasn't this supposed to be done yesterday? What can I say? I was fresh back from Ottawa and killed the day playing with my daughter.

1. AMERICAN CITIES DEAL WITH SHANTYTOWNS: The number of shantytowns in and around major US cities is on the rise. (NY Times)

2. GROUP CALLS FOR PHOSPHOROUS INQUIRY: Human Rights Watch is calling for an inquiry into Israel's alleged use of white phosphorous during its 22-day offensive against Gaza. (Al Jazeera)

3. RED RIVER ON RISE: Flooding of the Red River is much higher than anticipated. Things are very bad for folk in North Dakota, getting very bad for smaller communities in Manitoba, and Winnipeggers are bracing for the worst. (Globe and Mail and CBC)

4. MONTREAL PROTOCOL SAVED PLANET: Scientists have been saying for years now that the Montreal Protocol, by severely limiting CFC, likely saved our planet from death-by-UV. And this week, over at scienceblogs, geologist Chris Rowan lays out the evidence that global regulatory action is the reason we'll have an ozone layer in 2060. (Science Blogs)

5. INTERNET TO PUT TELESCOPE MANUFACTURERS OUT OF BUSINESS: Well... not really. But NASA has agreed to put 100 terabytes of space photos online through Microsoft's WorldWide Telescope project. (TG Daily)

6. MATH MAKES BUSES RUN BETTER: Mathematicians at the University of Burgos, Spain, have come up with a way to use a math strategy called the taboo search to improve bus wait times and travel times by 13%. (Science Daily)