A small church has collapsed in northeast D.C. [Greg Laden's Blog]
Officials say no one was inside the Joshua Temple Firstborn Church on Sheriff Road this afternoon when a tree fell onto the roof of the church and the weight of the tree and snow made the roof collapse.
source
God is punishing these people for a reason. We just need to figure out why by reference to scripture and historical analysis. Like this.
When fiction merges with reality [Tomorrow's Table]
Hunkered down in an elegant hotel in Washington DC, watching the epic storm continue unabated, I cannot help but think of award winning author Kim Stanley Robinson's "Fifty Degrees Below", the second novel in his three-part trilogy.
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Text of Remarks from Harvard Kennedy School Panel on Climate Change, Skeptics, and the Media [Framing Science]
Below are text of the remarks that I opened with at the Harvard panel last week on "The Public Divide over Climate Change: Science, Skeptics and the Media." To listen to audio of the panel, find links to news coverage, and read a detailed discussion of the panel, go to this post.
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Audio and Highlights of the Harvard Kennedy School Panel w/ Andrew Revkin on Climate Change, Skeptics, and the Media [Framing Science]
On Thursday, at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard, I served as one of the panelists at the event "The Public Divide over Climate Change: Science, Skeptics and the Media." The two hour session drew roughly 100 attendees, was organized and moderated by Belfer Center fellow Cristine Russell, and featured Andrew Revkin of the New York Times' Dot Earth blog and Thomas Patterson, Bradlee Professor of Government and the Press at the Kennedy School.
Audio of the panel is available at the Kennedy School web site and the event was covered in detail by the Columbia Journalism Review and the Harvard Gazette. Separate press summaries are posted at the Web sites for the sponsoring Shorenstein and Belfer Centers at the Kennedy School. In the rest of this post, I highlight several key points made by the panelists and attending faculty from Harvard with the minute mark of the audio included, so that readers can listen in.
Highlights From the Prepared Remarks of Panelists
In Russell's introductory remarks as organizer and moderator (4 min mark of audio), the veteran journalist set the tone for the panel, by emphasizing the tremendous acrimony from both the left and the right on climate change and the need to identify ways to improve overall public dialogue on the issue.
Andrew Revkin (13 min mark) noted that he was making his first public remarks since accepting a buy out from his position as chief environmental reporter at the New York Times. A master of using metaphor to convey a complex concept, Revkin compared public opinion on climate change to "waves in a shallow pan" that will tip to either side based on focusing events or news trends leading to "a lot of sloshing but not a lot of depth." Revkin also predicted that in coming years, information about climate change will come less and less from journalists and their news organizations, and instead from other parties, notably either scientists themselves (through their organizations, universities, or own social media strategies) or through advocates including climate skeptics and environmentalists.
In my remarks (25 min mark), I opened by suggesting several important themes for discussion before then moving to present findings from current research with Ed Maibach on how a diversity of Americans respond to information about the potential health impacts of climate change. My opening remarks focused specifically on understanding the apparent impact that "ClimateGate" has had both on the public but also on the political outlook of scientists, particularly the use of ClimateGate by skeptics to drive a new public accountability narrative about scientists. I have pasted the text of those remarks in a separate post. To view video and a version of the slides that I presented at Harvard, go to the 32 minute mark of a similar presentation I gave at a recent panel at the meetings of the American Geophysical Union.
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Tea Party welcomes conservative darling Palin (Reuters)
NASHVILLE, Feb. 6, 2010 (Reuters) -- Sarah Palin tried to rally conservatives on Saturday night at a national convention of the "Tea Party" movement, taking aim at President Barack Obama on everything from big government to teleprompters. ... > read full story
G7 wants banks to pay for rescue, details pending (Reuters)
IQALUIT, Canada, Feb. 6, 2010 (Reuters) -- The idea of a global tax on banks to recapture bailout costs gained ground on Saturday, boosted by the Obama administration's latest proposals, but there was no agreement on a specific design. ... > read full story
Mudslide kills 11 people in rain-sodden Mexico (Reuters)
VALLE DE BRAVO, Mexico, Feb. 6, 2010 (Reuters) -- A mudslide in central Mexico has killed at least 11 people after days of heavy rain that had already caused flooding and fatalities elsewhere in the country. ... > read full story
Euro zone seeks to calm Greek crisis fears at G7 (Reuters)
IQALUIT, Canada, Feb. 6, 2010 (Reuters) -- The euro zone's top finance officials sought on Saturday to ease concerns about a deep budget crisis that has roiled financial markets and raised questions about the future of the single currency group. ... > read full story
Shuttle set for Sunday launch amid space plan shift (Reuters)
CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida, Feb. 6, 2010 (Reuters) -- NASA's space shuttle Endeavour will blast off on Sunday on one of the last remaining shuttle missions, and the U.S. agency's chief said on Saturday the days of big American solo initiatives in space were over. ... > read full story
Southern California homes destroyed by mudslides (Reuters)
LOS ANGELES, Feb. 6, 2010 (Reuters) -- Mudslides destroyed at least two homes and badly damaged a number of others on Saturday in foothills surrounding Los Angeles as a fierce winter storm pounded Southern California. ... > read full story