Credit Where Credit Is Due
Posted: November 30, 2011 Filed under: Transportation, Washington Leave a comment »The joys of infrastructure investment. Washington Post:
The new escalators at Foggy Bottom, along with a new staircase which will be installed early next year, are part of a $5.9 million project. The old units had become “unsustainable and unreliable” and the work to replace them started in late January, according to Metro officials. A new canopy will be installed over the escalator and staircase entrance in early 2012.
The new escalators at Foggy Bottom are a big deal to Metro because they are the first replacement escalators in the transit system in 15 years, according transit officials. The new escalators at Foggy Bottom are made by Switzerland-based Schindler Group, one of the largest manufacturers of escalators and elevators in the world.
Back in March 2010, I marveled these escalators and at how “constantly breaking down” could be the status quo for well over a decade. So I hereby salute Metro for addressing the situation.
Milestone
Posted: November 29, 2011 Filed under: Environment Leave a comment »Renewable energy surpassed fossil fuels for 1st time in new power-plant investments. $187bn in 2010, $157 bn for natural gas, oil and coal.—
Rupert Posner (@rupertposner) November 28, 2011
SolarCity
Posted: November 28, 2011 Filed under: Environment, Technology Leave a comment »I finally got around to filling out a Solar Assessment worksheet from SolarCity. No word back yet from the company. I’d love to get some panels on my roof, although I still have my doubts about how solar-friendly our house is.
Innovation Will Fuel Our Future
Posted: November 27, 2011 Filed under: Environment, Videos Leave a comment »
Toxic Time Bomb
Posted: November 26, 2011 Filed under: Environment Leave a comment »Ugly. The Guardian:
Climate change, she says, is a potential disaster for Johannesburg and South Africa, liable to trigger the toxic timebomb left by 120 years of mining. The city has been the centre of the giant South African mining industry since gold was found there in 1880, and it is surrounded by more than 400 sq m of waste dumps, tailing dams, toxic lakes, radiological hotspots, leaking pipelines, spillages, and gaping holes in the ground. More than 40,000 tonnes of gold has been mined from the Witwatersrand Basin in 120 years, as well as cadmium, uranium, cobalt, copper, zinc, manganese, titanium and other heavy metals.
Mariusz-Duda: Lunatic Soul – Impression V
Posted: November 25, 2011 Filed under: Listening Leave a comment »I was poking around SoundCloud today and came across this one:
Flight 666, the Gift That Keeps on Giving
Posted: November 23, 2011 Filed under: Videos Leave a comment »
The Only Plus to Palmdale Phone Spam
Posted: November 22, 2011 Filed under: Listening Leave a comment »The last week or so, I’ve been getting a mysterious robocaller of some sort on my cell phone. It hangs up when I answer and has yet to leave a voice message. The only redeeming bit of this irritating situation is that the calls are coming from area code 661, ID’d by my phone as the “Palmdale area.”
Happily, “Palmdale” conjures up for me Zappa’s “Village of the Sun,” as recorded for “Roxy & Elsewhere.“
Less Than 10 Percent
Posted: November 21, 2011 Filed under: Washington Leave a comment »US spends more on defense than next 17 nations combined. Cutting less than 10% of it will not cripple it.—
Markos Moulitsas (@markos) November 21, 2011
