But don't worry. Oriental's member of Pamlico County's Board of Commissioners reported at the last Board meeting that she and others have successfully blocked an effort by NC planners to push restrictions on construction based on predicted sea rise. The objection: the plan was based on computer modeling. Presumably, we are supposed to wait until the water actually rises. That would be scientific.
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
On Outgrowing Earth
But don't worry. Oriental's member of Pamlico County's Board of Commissioners reported at the last Board meeting that she and others have successfully blocked an effort by NC planners to push restrictions on construction based on predicted sea rise. The objection: the plan was based on computer modeling. Presumably, we are supposed to wait until the water actually rises. That would be scientific.
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Religious Exception to Zoning
I was pleased to learn this evening that the Oriental Town Board had decided to postpone the public hearing on the five amendments to the Growth Management Ordinance proposed by the town's planning board. There was a recognition that maybe the public notice hadn't been as clear as it might have been.
The board decided this evening to schedule public hearings on all five proposed amendments at the July meeting. I would have been happier if they had decided to act first on the proposed amendment on how to amend the ordinance, but that's ok.
In the meantime, we should all be thinking about the proposal to exempt "religious institutions," including buildings owned by such institutions, even if they otherwise resemble ordinary houses, from some of the dimensional regulations affecting other structures in the zone.
A point to remember is that, just because a religious institution owns a building today doesn't mean it will own that building tomorrow, next year or ten years from now. In the meantime, an allowed deviation from dimensional restrictions could have significantly changed the look of the neighborhood and affected the housing value of neighbors.
The board decided this evening to schedule public hearings on all five proposed amendments at the July meeting. I would have been happier if they had decided to act first on the proposed amendment on how to amend the ordinance, but that's ok.
In the meantime, we should all be thinking about the proposal to exempt "religious institutions," including buildings owned by such institutions, even if they otherwise resemble ordinary houses, from some of the dimensional regulations affecting other structures in the zone.
A point to remember is that, just because a religious institution owns a building today doesn't mean it will own that building tomorrow, next year or ten years from now. In the meantime, an allowed deviation from dimensional restrictions could have significantly changed the look of the neighborhood and affected the housing value of neighbors.
Nobel Laureate Not Good Enough for Republicans
Two days ago, Peter Diamond, a Nobel Laureate in economics, appointed by President Obama to a vacant seat on the Federal Reserve Board, withdrew his nomination. His statement explained why. In a nutshell, Republicans don't want someone on the FED who is expert in the economics of employment.
Why does the president want an expert in employment economics on the FED? Because one of the statutory responsibilities of the FED is to take measures promoting full employment. No economist is better qualified to figure out how best to do that than Peter Diamond.
Senator Shelby of Alabama has been Diamond's main obstacle. Senator Shelby is not unintelligent. He is, it seems, intelligent enough to know which side of his bread the butter is on and who is buttering it. And it isn't unemployed citizens of Alabama or anywhere else in America.
Time Magazine's Michael Grunwald has a pertinent observation here.
Why does the president want an expert in employment economics on the FED? Because one of the statutory responsibilities of the FED is to take measures promoting full employment. No economist is better qualified to figure out how best to do that than Peter Diamond.
Senator Shelby of Alabama has been Diamond's main obstacle. Senator Shelby is not unintelligent. He is, it seems, intelligent enough to know which side of his bread the butter is on and who is buttering it. And it isn't unemployed citizens of Alabama or anywhere else in America.
Time Magazine's Michael Grunwald has a pertinent observation here.
Monday, June 6, 2011
Goals of the Wealthy and Powerful
I've been trying to make rational sense of the adamant Republican opposition to any measures that might actually ameliorate the economic distress of ordinary people. I've been looking for an explanation other than their contempt for people who work for a living.
Even a political party whose central organizing principal seems to be the welfare of the top 1% of the economic strata might be expected to worry about the economy as a whole, but that doesn't seem to be the case. I have had a dark suspicion that it is all about partisan manipulation: wreck the economy and blame the democrats.
Maybe not.
Here is a much simpler explanation, and one with deep roots in history.
Check it out.
Even a political party whose central organizing principal seems to be the welfare of the top 1% of the economic strata might be expected to worry about the economy as a whole, but that doesn't seem to be the case. I have had a dark suspicion that it is all about partisan manipulation: wreck the economy and blame the democrats.
Maybe not.
Here is a much simpler explanation, and one with deep roots in history.
Check it out.
Interminable War
The war, it seems, went on forever.
It lasted half my lifetime. At least it had when it finally ended. In 1945.
When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941, I was a little over four and a half years old. When the Japanese surrendered in Tokyo Bay, September 2, 1945, I was eight years and five months old.
War movies had already been going on for nearly four years. And they are still going on.
I even occasionally come across a war movie I don't remember having seen before.
It's no wonder that younger generations can't place the war in any particular half century. It was ancient, wasn't it? Nineteenth century? Just after the Spanish American War? Or was it before?
It's also no wonder the younger generations find it unsurprising that a war in a foreign land could have been going on for a decade. It's like seeing WWII movies. Especially if you don't have a father or an older brother in the fight. Life goes on as usual.
That isn't the way it was in 1942. Or 1943 or 44 or 45. We were all in it together, even if all we did was deliver carefully smashed tin cans and bundles of paper and magazines to the scrap drive. Or sweetened our tea with saccharine instead of sugar and our mothers saved up ration cards for months to be able to bake a birthday cake.
Is this trip necessary? The patriotic posters asked in the train station.
Good question.
It lasted half my lifetime. At least it had when it finally ended. In 1945.
When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941, I was a little over four and a half years old. When the Japanese surrendered in Tokyo Bay, September 2, 1945, I was eight years and five months old.
War movies had already been going on for nearly four years. And they are still going on.
I even occasionally come across a war movie I don't remember having seen before.
It's no wonder that younger generations can't place the war in any particular half century. It was ancient, wasn't it? Nineteenth century? Just after the Spanish American War? Or was it before?
It's also no wonder the younger generations find it unsurprising that a war in a foreign land could have been going on for a decade. It's like seeing WWII movies. Especially if you don't have a father or an older brother in the fight. Life goes on as usual.
That isn't the way it was in 1942. Or 1943 or 44 or 45. We were all in it together, even if all we did was deliver carefully smashed tin cans and bundles of paper and magazines to the scrap drive. Or sweetened our tea with saccharine instead of sugar and our mothers saved up ration cards for months to be able to bake a birthday cake.
Is this trip necessary? The patriotic posters asked in the train station.
Good question.
D-Day Conundrum
Sixty-seven years ago today, allied forces crossed the English Channel by air and sea, conducting the largest amphibious invasion in history.
The forces landed on the coast of Normandy, not far from Bayeux, from where the Norman forces under William the Conqueror had left in 1066 to defeat the forces of King Harold and conquer England.
By far the two best movies depicting the landings in Normandy are The Longest Day and Saving Private Ryan. Neither movie, however, depicts the most significant technical innovations of Operation Overlord - the Conundrum, Pluto, Bambi, Dumbo and the Mulberries.
As early as 1941, British military and naval planners recognized that the harbors in the pas de Calais would be heavily defended and that amphibious assault would probably not succeed. The solution: artificial harbors constructed using enormous concrete caissons towed across the channel and sunk to form artificial breakwaters. Inside the breakwaters, cargo was to be offloaded onto floating piers.
The greatest challenge, though, was how to provide enough fuel to the forces once they landed. The answer was to invent, manufacture and test an underwater pipeline system, known as PLUTO (Pipe Line Under The Ocean). The pipeline was to be laid by using enormous spools of line (called Conundrum). Once in place, the pipeline would be serviced by camouflaged pumping stations built in great secrecy under the code names Bambi and Dumbo.
Here is a good summary of PLUTO.
The forces landed on the coast of Normandy, not far from Bayeux, from where the Norman forces under William the Conqueror had left in 1066 to defeat the forces of King Harold and conquer England.
By far the two best movies depicting the landings in Normandy are The Longest Day and Saving Private Ryan. Neither movie, however, depicts the most significant technical innovations of Operation Overlord - the Conundrum, Pluto, Bambi, Dumbo and the Mulberries.
As early as 1941, British military and naval planners recognized that the harbors in the pas de Calais would be heavily defended and that amphibious assault would probably not succeed. The solution: artificial harbors constructed using enormous concrete caissons towed across the channel and sunk to form artificial breakwaters. Inside the breakwaters, cargo was to be offloaded onto floating piers.
The greatest challenge, though, was how to provide enough fuel to the forces once they landed. The answer was to invent, manufacture and test an underwater pipeline system, known as PLUTO (Pipe Line Under The Ocean). The pipeline was to be laid by using enormous spools of line (called Conundrum). Once in place, the pipeline would be serviced by camouflaged pumping stations built in great secrecy under the code names Bambi and Dumbo.
Here is a good summary of PLUTO.
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