Science and (culture, politics, policy, media)
Kevin Vranes has a phud in Physical Ocean- ography and Cli- matology. He now studies sci- ence policy and politics at the CSTPR. (More in the about.)
email: kevin {/at/} nosenada.org
Comments policy
(listed in semi-random order)
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April 27, 2006
Category: Energy
In case you only drive a Segway and don't read, watch TV or listen to the radio, gasoline is now really expensive and the AA (avg. American) is really angry (according to the media -- I'm not sure they care...
Posted by Kevin Vranes at 7:06 PM • 2 Comments
Category: Totally random
This is what is going on outside my office window right now:
Posted by Kevin Vranes at 6:33 PM • 12 Comments
Category: Natural hazards/disasters
NPR has been tripping over itself this morning to talk about the pseudo-bombshell that Senators Collins and Lieberman (chair and ranking member on the Senate Homeland Security Committee) dropped today on FEMA. The linked NPR page also gives links to...
Posted by Kevin Vranes at 3:13 PM • 1 Comments
April 24, 2006
Category: Climate change
The circulation of the Sunday NY Times is about 1,117,000 (source). You might think this number relevant if you paused, like I did, at Andy Revkin's Week in Review article yesterday. Revkin of course had full control over his words....
Posted by Kevin Vranes at 2:30 PM • 3 Comments
April 21, 2006
Category: Totally random
I don't know how people find this stuff, but I've got some dedicated readers who find gems like this. It follows on nicely from this Dr. Free-Ride post and comments. How do you think he'd spell the word in question?...
Posted by Kevin Vranes at 5:54 PM • 4 Comments
Category: Friday Politics
Two items today. First item, from the NIMBY side of life: In case you haven't heard, some folks are trying to install a wind farm in Nantucket Sound while others are trying to stop it. Opponents have no legit objections...
Posted by Kevin Vranes at 5:32 PM • 3 Comments
Category: Natural hazards/disasters
A lot of whimpering and moaning, actually. So I was looking forward to meeting a few of you at the Communicating with Policy Makers session I was helping to give this afternoon, but then I had to go and get...
Posted by Kevin Vranes at 12:48 PM • 0 Comments
April 19, 2006
Category: Natural hazards/disasters
The San Francisco Chronicle dedicated its Sunday Magazine to the 1906 quake. It's very good and you can get the articles here. The cream of the issue is Matthew Stannard's scenario-building exercise on repeating the 1906 quake exactly 100 years...
Posted by Kevin Vranes at 7:08 PM • 1 Comments
Category: Natural hazards/disasters
(With a hand chop to emphasize each word.) I'd been merrily blogging away about FEMA and its agency status (that it was independent, then got sucked into Dept. of Homeland Security after the WTC disaster) and how I thought that...
Posted by Kevin Vranes at 11:53 AM • 0 Comments
Category: Natural hazards/disasters
1: Both Mayor Newsom and Governor Schwarzenegger spoke in the morning plenary session. My Blink politician observation thin-slice: Newsom: ready for the big time Governator: deer in headlights Newsom gave an enthusiastic speech that addressed real issues and real problems,...
Posted by Kevin Vranes at 11:42 AM • 0 Comments
April 18, 2006
Category: Natural hazards/disasters
Quickly, before my laptop battery dies, in the plenary session this morning, historian Kevin Starr gave a great history on the quake and its political context. Some great tidbits came out that I had never heard:...
Posted by Kevin Vranes at 5:45 PM • 3 Comments
Category: Natural hazards/disasters
In anticipation of the conference that I'm blogging from all week, the three convening societies commissioned a study predicting losses from a repeat of the 1906 quake. These are the numbers that I pulled off a screen during this session...
Posted by Kevin Vranes at 5:24 PM • 3 Comments
Category: Friday Politics
Another late Friday Politics as I was traveling last week. Prez Rush 2008 is already ramping up and now a former gov of Alaska is the first to officially throw his hat in the ring. Mike Gravel was Alaska's gov...
Posted by Kevin Vranes at 11:46 AM • 3 Comments
Category: Natural hazards/disasters
Four thirty-four a.m. - first train into the city. The BART platform isn't filled, but it isn't abandoned either. It's hard to know if the other riders are coming into San Francisco for the same reason as I, or because...
Posted by Kevin Vranes at 8:12 AM • 3 Comments
April 12, 2006
Category: Natural hazards/disasters
My opinion is that if the executive branch really wants FEMA to be able to do what it is supposed to do, FEMA needs to come out of DHS and go back to Independent Agency status. (Previous posts on this...
Posted by Kevin Vranes at 3:57 PM • 0 Comments
Category: Science at work
So M$ just launched a new journal search page that I assume is meant to rival Google Scholar (hey, now that there are two tools out there, maybe you journalist types can start actually reading articles in journals other than Science and Nature). I've never found Google Scholar all that useful...
Posted by Kevin Vranes at 3:30 PM • 7 Comments
YES! Send me a free issue of Seed.
If I like what I see, I'll receive 5 more issues (6 in all) for just $14.95. That's 50% off the cover price! If I'm not completely satisfied, I'll simply write "cancel" on the invoice and owe nothing. The free issue is mine to keep.
(Non-U.S. subscribers, click here.)
