In high school swimming at a boy's school, I only remember one girl on an opponent's team—probably Sidwell Friends. She swam one race, then got out of the pool and ran to the locker room with her hand over her mouth. In college, men and women swam separate events, except for diving. In masters, men and women swim in the same heats all the time, and meet managers publish the results in separate lists by gender and age category. I've finished behind enough tiny but fast women that I don't even think about it anymore. [Read more]

My wife is staying with her mother, and I had thought about visiting Occupy DC this weekend, but I decided to work instead. On weekends the office is quiet enough that I can fully concentrate on my cad draughting chores. A fellow called Weasel used to deejay for WHFS, 102.3 FM in Bethesda, when it was a progressive rock station in the 1970s and 80s, and is now doing a Saturday show for WTMD, a public alt rock station broadcast from Towson University. So I grooved and got quite a bit done. 

Over lunch I checked out Occupy Baltimore's website. They were planning to support a SleepOut in front of City Hall, and planned a solidarity march to welcome fifty Occupy the Highway (OtH) marchers, shown in the video above, who had been interviewed en route by WBAL, as shown in this video.  [Read more]

The greenest car in America still runs on fossil fuel: Compressed Natural Gas (CNG).
 
Honda Civic Natural Gas Named 2012 Green Car of the Year [Read more]

The all-new 2012 Honda Civic Natural Gas – the only factory-built, CNG-powered car produced in America – was named 2012 Green Car of the Year® at the Los Angeles Auto Show today. The award was presented to Honda by the editors of Green Car Journal representing a diverse panel of environmental experts and automotive enthusiasts who annually select a single vehicle for its outstanding environmental performance.

In two days the top eight male tennis professionals will play in the Barclay's ATP World Tour Finals in London. The tournament is organized much like the WTA Championship in Istanbul. There are two groups of four players, who play each other. Whoever has the best record and second best record in each group are seeded into the single-elimination semifinals. Number and percentages of matches, sets and games won all count towards breaking ties - which is supposed to discourage less than stellar efforts by making no match entirely meaningless. [Read more]

 
I found a blog called Triple Pundit - People, Planet, Profit - which purports to discuss sustainable business practices. As a reflection of the difficulty of practicing both sustainability and profitability, some articles impress me and some depress me.
 
After attending a presentation by BMW’s Manuel Sattig at Opportunity Green 2011, a guest author rethinks some reservations TriplePundit has expressed about other EVs in The BMW i3: Advancing Automotive Sustainability:  [Read more]

When it rains, it pours. I attended and graduated from GP in the 1970s:

Former priest put on probation for fondling two Georgetown Prep students [Read more]

A former priest was sentenced to five years of supervised probation Thursday for fondling two students at Georgetown Preparatory School, where he taught from 1989 to 2003, as prosecutors compared the school’s initial response in the case to the scandal unfolding at Penn State University.

After one month or so of existence, Occupy Wall Street has finally added a layer of management.

Occupy Wall Street Debuts the New Spokes Council [Read more]

Occupy Wall Street premiered their new governing apparatus last night in a sweaty high school cafeteria in Lower Manhattan. The Spokes Council, which passed with a large majority at a General Assembly in late October, met for the first time last night with the purpose of setting up what the SC will look like in future and who will be a part of it.

In contrast with the General Assembly, the Spokes Council uses actual microphones, meets indoors and operates on a "spokes" system: working groups that take part sit together and groups are arranged in a circle, like spokes on a wheel. Each working group is represented by an individual, or "spoke," who rotates every meeting.

The Post Carbon Institute's Energy Bulletin has reposted an Oil Drum wrapup of ASPO Day One, my ASPO article and a reassuring article from PRNewsWire:

Ricardo Study Suggests Global Oil Demand May Peak Before 2020

Ricardo today announced the results of a landmark multi-client research study conducted by Ricardo Strategic Consulting in association with Kevin J. Lindemer LLC, and involved participation of some of the world's leading energy and technology companies and organizations. The research challenged the concept that "Peak Oil" will be a supply side phenomenon and predicts that the demand for oil may well peak before 2020 and then fall back to levels significantly below 2010 demand by 2035.

IOW, we needn't worry about fuel prices because we're going to need and want less and less of the nasty stuff anyway. If why that will be true isn't obvious to you, read on. [Read more]

I just attended the Saturday session of the 2011 ASPO USA conference. I had been hoping to take a few personal days and attend Thursday and Friday as well, but it is hard to predict the future. I had to get some drawings out on Thursday, and had to do a code study for a Monday meeting. At least commuting was easy on Saturday. I took Metro to Union Station, walked out past Bike Station and about three blocks to the Hyatt Regency.
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America in Primetime is structured around the most compelling shows on television today, unfolding over four hours and weaving between past and present. Each episode focuses on one character archetype that has remained a staple of primetime through the generations – the Independent Woman, the Man of the House, the Misfit, and the Crusader – capturing both the continuity of the character, and the evolution. The finest television today has as its foundation the best television of yesterday.

  [Read more]

Some of you smart people still mangle the apostrophe S business:

It's vs Its

Only use it's if you can also substitute it is in the same place:

It's Howdy Doody Time! = It is Howdy Doody Time!

I think it's clear that the economy stinks. = I think it is clear that the economy stinks.

The party is its own worst enemy. ≠ The party is it is worst enemy.

The kitteh purred whilst licking its fur. ≠ The kitteh purred whilst licking it is fur.

's is not a plural
 [Read more]

In, Harrisburg, Pa: a city at war with itself, Reuters offers the latest on the PA capital's money woes: [Read more]

For three days last summer, Mayor Linda Thompson joined religious leaders to pray for a "cooperative spirit" among city leaders, the business community and residents here in Pennsylvania's state capital.

The prayers have gone unanswered.

Occupy Baltimore Livestream picked up by 1100 Global Revolution viewers as OB general assembly discusses the group's responses to Parks and Recreation's deferment of issuing a permit. A banner on GR claims that Baltimore po-lice "promise to remove OB at midnight," but a Baltimore Sun editorial claims that it is all an over-reaction by OB. [Read more]

The Portland Press Herald reports on the bombing of Occupy Maine: [Read more]

"We are more motivated to keep doing what we're doing," said Stephanie Wilburn, of Portland, who was sitting near where the chemical mixture in a Gatorade bottle was tossed at 4 a.m. Sunday. "They have heard us and we're making a difference."

I do plan on moving my account, but instead of all standing in line, why don't we just make November: Bank Transfer Month?

 [Read more]

I went home with sniffles Wednesday afternoon. On the way home, I picked up Sesame Chicken and a NY Times. Why buy a paper? Partly because I'm already past their twenty article online limit, but also because, when I have the time, I do like reading the paper front to back and having the chance to glance at every article before deciding whether or not to read it. I suspect that a lot of articles that interest me would never make it to the most read or most emailed lists online. That seemed to be true yesterday.
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A lot of strangers are thrust together at the Occupy camps, and I had read that a woman complained about being hit on by three different men on her first visit to the Occupy Baltimore (OB) site. So it isn't a surprise that OB would take steps to deal with the problem of sexual harassment. But yesterday's Baltimore Sun carries this article, 'Occupy' memo could discourage victims from reporting assaults: [Read more]