Weekend Update on Sidney Powell being sued by Dominion updates 'SNL' on the 2020 election and its aftermath for Throwback Thursday

Happy Throwback Thursday! Yesterday, I told my readers "stay tuned for a Throwback Thursday retrospective [about] the top posts from the tenth year of the blog featuring Saturday Night Live on the 2020 election and its aftermath. The late night talk show hosts didn't have all the fun."

I'll get to those popular posts from the blogging year just ended over the jump, but first I'm sharing Weekend Update: Sidney Powell on Being Sued by Dominion from the last SNL of March as the most recent clip from the show about the 2020 election and its aftermath.

Sidney Powell stops by Weekend Update to discuss being sued for defamation by Dominion for making false voter fraud claims during the 2020 Election.

The good news for Powell and bad news for Dominion (and democracy) is that her defense might actually work. I saw a similar defense work for Courtney Love in 2014, when I quoted KPBS.

Context matters in defamation law. And if reasonable minds conclude Love's tweet was never meant to be taken seriously, charges should be dismissed.
...
"Her history of saying incredibly loopy things means that perhaps no one should take her seriously," [University of San Diego Law School Professor Junichi] Semitsu said.

I agree that no reasonable person should have taken Powell's claims seriously. The problem is that there were so many unreasonable people who did.

Follow over the jump for the most popular posts featuring SNL commenting about the 2020 election and its aftermath.

Dow falls 1,200+ points as bond yields rise

Last month, I wrote Ten years ago, we were partying like it was 1929. Are we about to do it again?  The answer was not this year, at least in terms of a recession starting.  However, I did not alter my stock market predictions that I made in The tax bill and the U.S. economy in 2018 and beyond and repeated in John Oliver helps update 'The tax bill and the U.S. economy in 2018 and beyond,' a top post of the seventh year of Crazy Eddie's Motie News.

You asked on Twitter "about the latest stock market woes, is there anything worth noting?"  Time to check my predictions about stocks: "I expect the Dow Jones Industrials to get above 25,000, struggle to break 26,000, then sink down to between 20,000 and 22,500 over the next couple of years."  The Dow broke 25,000 early in January, had no trouble getting above 26,000 but then struggled to stay there, and fell about halfway from 26,000 to 22,500, so my predictions look pretty good so far.  At worst, I'm one and one-half out of three and that score will stand no matter what else happens.  As for the future, watch what happens with interest rates.  Janet Yellen's successor and the rest of the Federal Reserve Board may not raise rates as aggressively as they would have before the worst one-day point drop in the Dow.  That may allow stocks to recover to 25,000 before falling below 24,000.

The prediction in the last sentence also happened, as stocks rallied above 25,000 before falling below 24,000.  Also, the Dow Jones fell to 22,533.20 [actually 23,533.20] in March, a little more than 1,000 points above the upper target of 22,500, so reality came even closer to my prediction.

Since then, the stock market took eight months to finally rally enough to set four more record closes on September 20 and 21 and October 2 and 3 ranging from 26,656.98 to 26,828.39.  Then this week happened.

First, CNN reported Thursday Dow plunges 1,000+ points in two days.

The stock market sell-off isn't letting up. After flirting with gains early in the day, the Dow lost as many as 699 points on Thursday afternoon. The Dow cut about half its losses following reports that President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping have agreed to meet next month at the G-20 summit. The market slide tacks onto Wednesday's scary sell-off that wiped 832 points off the index.

Despite the spectacular drop, which wiped out nearly all of this year's gains, this is less than halfway to the 22,500 mark I called for.   I still have plenty of time, as I gave the market until the end of 2019 to get there.  Besides, a drop of 1776.17 points is nothing to sneeze at, even if it doesn't yet qualify as "partying like it was 1929."

Yesterday, CBS This Morning had a calmer analysis of the situation on Friday morning in What's behind the stock market sell-off?.

The markets are coming off the biggest two days of losses since February. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost nearly 546 points Thursday, a 2.1 percent drop, on top of an 831-point plunge on Wednesday. The S&P 500 was also down 2.1 percent. CBS News business analyst Jill Schlesinger joins "CBS This Morning" to discuss what's behind the sell-off.

The futures markets were right, as the Dow rebounded, which KPBS reported yesterday evening in Friday Business Report: Stock Market Tumbles.

STOCKS RECOVERED TODAY AFTER TWO CHALLENGING DAYS ON WALL STREET. THE DOW JONES ENDED UP NEARLY 300-POINTS... STILL SUFFERING ITS BIGGEST WEEKLY LOSS IN SIX MONTHS. EARLIER I SPOKE WITH MIRO COPIC WITH SDSU'S MARKETING DEPARTMENT AND THE CO FOUNDER OF BOTTOM LINE MARKETING----ABOUT WHAT MIGHT OF SPOOKED INVESTORS.

All three reports credited the selloff to the Fed raising interest rates.  That was the first of the signals for the next recession that I listed last December.

The most likely would be an inversion of the yield curve, which means that short-term interest rates would rise higher than long-term interest rates.  The Federal Reserve has been raising short-term rates for the past two years while long-term rates have been rising much more slowly.  If present trends continue, short-term rates will rise above long-term ones within a year or two, which always signals a recession within a year.

We're getting there, as CNBC told its readers and viewers Watch out for the yield curve late last month.

The spread between short- and long-term interest rates continues to shrink — the difference between 2- and 10-year Treasury bonds was just 21 basis points on Sept. 14 — but equity investors are shrugging off the bearish signal from the bond market.

When short-term bonds pay more than long-term ones, it's usually a signal that economic growth is peaking and that a recession is on the horizon. It does not, however, mean a downturn is necessarily around the corner or that stocks are headed for a crash.

"An inverted yield curve doesn't cause a recession," said Matt Toms, chief investment officer for Voya Financial. "People get confused about the causality on that front."

It does, however, provide a strong reminder that economic cycles and bull markets don't last forever. Toms, for one, thinks the Federal Reserve Bank will pause on its path back to "normal" monetary policy to avoid an inversion of the curve. "Chairman Powell is a markets person," said Toms. "We think the Fed will stop pushing and the curve should begin to steepen by year-end."

Bob Miller, head of the U.S. multisector fixed-income team at BlackRock, also thinks the Fed will try to avoid a curve inversion. "It's possible that the yield curve inverts, but I think it's unlikely," he said. "We think the Fed will be sensitive to that possibility, and if the 10-year Treasury yield fails to rally, the Fed will signal that quarterly rate hikes are too aggressive."

I hope that Miller is right about the Fed, but I'm not optimistic.  In fact, it may already be too late.  Seeking Alpha reported that the TIPS or Treasury Inflation Protected Securities yield curve has already inverted.  It also noted that "The TIPS yield curve inverted before the last recession and forecasts growth and inflation like the nominal Treasury yield curve does."  My call for a recession beginning during the second half of next year looks even better, which is not really good news.

KPBS on the zombie apocalypse

I concluded Dancing German witches for Halloween by telling my readers "Stay tuned for Entertainment Sunday.  Since "The Walking Dead" is on and it's Halloween weekend, expect zombies."  That turned out to be an easy promise to make, as I had just seen REI's Zombie Preparedness Class from KPBS pop up on my YouTube feed.

In the case of a zombie apocalypse you’ll need to know more than just aim for the head. KPBS arts reporter Beth Accomando says that’s where REI's Zombie Preparedness Class comes in.

This wasn't the first time KPBS explored the idea of using the zombie apocalypse to explore contemporary anxieties, an angle I've been pursuing since I posted Discovery News on World War Z three years ago.  Follow over the jump for three more videos from San Diego's PBS affiliate on the topic of zombies.

Sunday's blood moon won't be the end of the world

There's a lunar eclipse tomorrow night, which has received a lot of press.  The sane perspective on the event comes from KPBS's Total Lunar Eclipse and Supermoon This Weekend.

Peggy Pico talks with Jerry Hilburn of the San Diego Astronomy Association to discuss the lunar event this weekend.

There, just a spectacular sky phenomenon.  However, some people are making it out be more than that.  Follow over the jump.

Grown-ups go back to school, too

I go back to school today, as do my students.  Most of them, especially in the evening classes, are non-tradtional students.  KPBS describes their requirements along with interviewing one of them in What It Takes For Non-Traditional College Students To Succeed In San Diego.

Roughly 50 percent of San Diego community college students are 25 or older. What does it take for those so-called "non-traditional students" to succeed in college?

Here's to my doing my part to offering my non-traditional students, who are usually my best students, a supportive academic environment.

Yesterday was Bike to Work Day

Yesterday was National Bike to Work Day.  In fact, the entire week was Bike to Work (and School) Week.  I'll let The League of American Bicyclists explain.

National Bike Month includes an ever-expanding diversity of events in communities nationwide — but the biggest day of the month is Bike to Work Day. In 2015, Bike to Work Week will be May 11-15, with Bike to Work Day on May 15.

More than half of the U.S. population lives within five miles of their workplace, making bicycling a feasible and fun way to get to work. With increased interest in healthy, sustainable and economic transportation options, it’s not surprising that, from 2000 to 2013, the number of bicycle commuters in the U.S. grew by more than 62 percent.

Hundreds of American communities have been successful in increasing bicycle commuting by providing Bike to Work Week and Bike to Work Day events.

In fact, among the 51 largest U.S. cities, 43 hosted Bike to Work Day events in 2010. The City of Denver reported the highest rate of participation with one out of every 28 adults participating in its 2010 Bike to Work event. That effort makes a difference: Many people who participate in their Bike to Work Day promotion as first-time commuters become regular bike commuters.

But Bike Month is more than one day — or week! From fashion shows to group rides, local groups find unique ways to celebrate their diverse bike cultures and community pride.

I didn't find out about Bike to Work Day until I was already on the road yesterday, so I didn't participate, but it looks like it's a growing event.  Follow over the jump for how San Diego and Detroit have observed it, along with coverage of Detroit's own cycling event, Slow Roll.

Small Business Saturday 2014

Today is Small Business Saturday.  I skipped observing the day specifically last year, covering all the shopping days of the long weekend in KPBS on retail desperation.  This year, I return to KPBS with two videos.  First, Small Business Saturday Keeps Money In the Local Economy.


Next, San Diego Small Businesses Are Banking On Saturday Shoppers.

The Saturday after Thanksgiving is designated Small Business Saturday, a day created by American Express to encourage shoppers to buy local. In San Diego, many businesses are hoping shoppers will spend money at their stores.

That's what the day looks like in San Diego.  Follow over the jump for how it's playing out here in Detroit.

Mole people and meth chemicals: student sustainability video festival 26

I just finished submitting my grades for the semester, which means it's time for the last installment of the Student sustainability video festival until December.  Normally, I'd post the students' favorite video, like I did in Student sustainability video festival 21: Extreme weather in May.  It turns out that "Face Your Food" was the video from the favorite talk, so I already posted it.  Instead, I'll post videos from the two talks that vied for runner-up.  Both of them, coincidentally enough, are old segments from news shows.

First, NewsPoliticsInfo hosts this CBS News segment Homeless People Living Underneath Las Vegas.


The student used this segment in a talk about "Mole People."  On a fantastical note, she passed along an anecdote that a friend of hers thinks they would be the first to become zombies in case of the zombie apocalypse.  I think her friend should worry about disasters that actually will happen and not the metaphors for them.  Besides, these people might actually be better candidates for surviving the apocalypse, even if they are among the first surviving victims of collapse.

One of the Las Vegas tunnel dwellers was a meth addict.  That just happens to lead into the next video, in which KCRA News reported Meth Chemicals Wreak Havoc On Environment.

From corrosive acids to lighter fluid, the ingredients to make methamphetamine often end up in the ground or flushed down the drain.

Ugh, nasty.  While I'm on the subject, it so happens that I have a bunch of stories about Meth from KPBS from earlier this year.  Follow over the jump for them.

Poverty and austerity for the third year of Crazy Eddie's Motie News

The seventh most read entry posted during the third year of the blog was Austerity on the personal level from the AP, which earned 431 page views according to the secondary counter.  As I mentioned in Popular retrospectives for the second and third year of Crazy Eddie's Motie News, it was briefly in the top ten according to the primary counter.

The entry about Examiner.com that made a move last year was Examiner.com article on tax policy forum, posted September 17, 2012.  As of March 21, 2013, it had 211 views according to the secondary counter, enough for 18th place among all entries posted that year.  Since then, it began a steady rise into the top ten all-time, knocking off first Austerity on the personal level from the AP, which itself kicked out Old man yelling at chair accidentally reveals a deeper truth.

My stats didn't fall in October has more details on the entry's rise.

Austerity on the personal level from the AP surpassed Old man yelling at chair accidentally reveals a deeper truth with 406 page views to become the 10th most viewed entry in the blog's history.  That happened entirely by linking to it at Kunstler's blog.

The entry was Creepily Close, and I didn't even link to it in my first comment there, but my second, when lsjogren confronted me.

“You don’t get it, neon. The consumer binge cannot be sustained”

Oh, I get it. After all, I did write, “Just because the money might not be there doesn’t mean the desire won’t be.” There aren’t enough resources now for all seven billion humans on this planet to live like Americans have for the past 50 or 60 years, and there certainly won’t be enough for the nine billion of us who could be here in 2050 to do so when there will be less fossil fuel energy. That won’t stop Americans for wishing for the Moon for quite a while. Reality will have to swat them really hard for them to give up on their dreams.

Some people are getting the message, though, and are adjusting to their new, less wealthy circumstances, as the AP video at the link shows.

That was enough to pull about 400 page views, most of the 451 that came in from that entry of Kunstler's to my blog that week.

Follow over the jump to more entries about poverty and austerity that made the top 20 most read list from the third year of this blog, including the top entry about Detroit's bankruptcy.

Cancer research news to mark a year of being cancer free

Today is the anniversary of the prostate surgery that removed both that organ and the cancer it contained that I first mentioned here in Surgery as a fresh start.  A year after the surgery and ten months after I wrote that entry, what I said then--“that thing was killing me, both literally and figuratively and I'm much better off without it”--still holds true.  My perspective on the my treatment and its outcome has, if anything, become firmer.

To mark the occasion, I present all the cancer research from KPBS and campuses on the campaign trail I’ve included in Overnight News Digests since the last two times I’ve mentioned the topic of cancer, Quitting smoking in the New Year and Health research and outreach from KPBS and campuses on the campaign trail.

Following my policy of “if it moves, it leads,” here is the one video, which comes from KPBS: Task Force Recommends New Lung Cancer Screening Guidelines.

The U.S. Preventative Services Task Force said lung cancer screening for many chain-smokers and former smokers should be done with a CT scan instead of an X-ray.

I’ll have more to say about smoking in another entry.  For now, follow over the jump for the rest of the stories about cancer research.

Steampunk fans ejected from San Diego area mall

Just as it did before I wrote Fukushima radiation being monitored in U.S. kelp beds, the universe is sending me signals again.  Today, two news items appeared on my feed that tie into my series of conversations with John Michael Greer the Archdruid.  That reminded me that I had another tab open that also tied into that series as well as a link and excerpt that I had included in an Overnight News Digest on Daily Kos.  Since listening to what the universe is trying to tell me is often inspiring, I decided to go along.

As I mentioned in The importance of high-speed Internet for work and play, I’m in a “I can’t be all DOOM all the time” mood, I’ll start with one of the less serious items.  In this case, it’s KPBS, which reported a couple of days ago Steampunk Carousel Outing Cut Short By Security Guards by Kim Keeline.  This ties into I inspired The Archdruid to write about Steampunk.

When I chose my long floral skirt and the matching puff sleeved Victorian top, and put the green feather in my hair, I didn't realize I would be seen as a threatening figure. I just chose the outfit because I thought it was pretty. With my husband, in his brand new top hat, and the rest of my family, I was looking forward to a fun and slightly whimsical day, with a short ride on a carousel and what I hoped would be some flattering photos. It didn't have to turn into a run-in with police.

A group of people in Steampunk clothes gathered to ride the carousel at the Westfield Plaza Camino Real...

Before 1pm, as a few of the Steampunk fans were walking the mall to shop and eat lunch before the carousel ride, security stopped them and insisted that they leave because of their “costumes.” They also called the Oceanside Police, who sent two cars.

Follow over the jump for more from this article, which is currently among the most shared and commented among at KPBS’s site.

The importance of high-speed Internet for work and play

The Internet is a necessity.

As my readers can probably guess by the light tone and subject matter in A Detroit funny from Wonkette and Deadline Detroit and Meteor fragments in Olympic medals, I’m in an “I can’t be all DOOM all the time” mood.  In part, that’s because being in the middle of a long series by The Archdruid on Fascism is burning me out and I need some relief.  It’s also because I’m on break this week and I’d be in a mood for something less serious anyway.  On that note, here is something from KPBS I first included in Overnight News Digest: Science Saturday (NASA and Super Bowl) on Daily Kos which looks at both the silly and serious sides of high-speed Internet: Tijuana's Need For Internet Speed.

By some measures, Mexico might have some of the fastest Internet in Latin America. But for Tijuana's ambitious tech entrepreneurs and aspiring professional gamers, it's still painfully slow.

The accompanying article by David Wagner has more.

By some measures, Mexico might have some of the fastest Internet speeds in Latin America. But for Tijuana's ambitious tech entrepreneurs and aspiring professional gamers, it's still painfully slow. They know much faster connections lie just across the border, and feel like Mexico's telecom giants are holding them back.

I spent some time with Gustavo Leyva to find out more about this digital divide. In the super popular online video game League of Legends, he's known as 'h4ckerv2.' And when I say he's known, I mean he's known. His Facebook page has close to 12,000 likes.

Playing as Tryndamere, the Barbarian King, Leyva has competed throughout Mexico, Chile and even Germany. And he's cleaned up nicely, too. He says he made around $7,000 playing League of Legends in the second half of 2013.

Even gaming can make money for the gamers.  What about the more serious side?

But Internet service isn't just an issue for hardcore gamers. It's also a thorn in the side of Tijuana's emerging tech economy. Many of the scrappy start-ups here are based inside the BIT Center. It's a modern-looking complex with huge, open spaces, concrete walls and sleek, colorful furniture.

Claudio Arriola is the director, and he has a start-up of his own. He recalls one of the times when shoddy Internet connections hurt his business.

"That was a Skype conference call between a partner in Merida, Yucatan, and one in Madrid," Arriola said. "There was no way that whole day that we could have a decent Skype call. If it wasn't my Internet, it was the one in Merida. And that was to try to make a proposal for a customer. Well that never happened."

Arriola's company can't even sell its products in Mexico, as they require higher speeds and more bandwidth than is available in the country.  That's serves as an example of how and why our current economy doesn’t run well without good connections.  Also a lot of innovation needed to survive the current crisis, to say nothing of providing a prosperous future, depends on fast connections as well.

Let Mexico’s issues be a lesson to us in the U.S., who pay more for slower connections than people in a lot of European countries.

Approaching zero waste in San Diego

KPBS has a video I should have shown my class last week, when I was lecturing about recycling and matter quality: San Diego Leaders, Environmentalists Gather For Zero Waste Symposium

Zero Waste San Diego is hosting its first symposium Tuesday in Kearny Mesa, bringing together business leaders, nonprofits and local governments for a discussion on reusing or recycling all materials.

The accompanying article by Dwane Brown and Susan Murphy, Originally published February 4, 2014 at 6:50 a.m. and updated February 4, 2014 at 5:05 p.m. has more fun facts.

The average person throws away 4.5 pounds of trash every day, including recyclable items like aluminum cans, newspaper, plastic cups and styrofoam food containers.
...
In San Diego last year, nearly 70 percent of the city's waste stream was diverted through recycling and other means. That figure has remained unchanged over the past three years, according to city documents.

California set a goal in 2011 of 75 percent recycling, composting or source reduction of solid waste by 2020.

According to the video, the goal state’s goal is 100% recycling by 2040.  Can it be done?  Yes, as the City of Oceanside has already achieved it.

"Actually what I've really found trying to work with the community going on the road to zero waste its always a process. Its about behavior change," said Colleen Foster, a solid waste and recycling management analyst with Oceanside.

Foster helped 1,000 city employees in Oceanside reduce their waste to zero by simply removing their plastic trash cans and replacing them with much smaller ones. That forced everyone to think twice about what to do with their trash.

While I missed my opportunity to show this video in lecture this semester, I haven’t missed it in lab.  Next month, the students will be working on a double assignment on recycling and the life cycles of consumer products.  That should be a perfect opportunity to watch this video.

San Onofre decommissioning from KPBS

This morning, I wrote about Fukushima radiation being monitored in U.S. kelp beds.  Tonight, I’m presenting the news from the past few months about a much less dangerous closed nuclear power plant, San Onofre.  I first mentioned the plant’s closing in Energy news from California, when I quoted a LiveScience story about the plant being permanently shut down last June after a leak was discovered last January.  Since then, I’ve been following the story through KPBS’s coverage that I’ve been quoting for Overnight News Digest on Daily Kos.

I begin with San Clemente Doesn’t Want San Onofre’s Nuclear Waste Sticking Around by David Wagner on Wednesday, December 18, 2013.

Without a national repository for nuclear waste, plants scattered throughout the country will have to keep waste on site for decades, possibly even centuries. Elected officials in San Clemente are expressing concern about how long waste will be stored in their own backyard.

With San Onofre Nuclear Generating System just a few miles down the coast, nuclear waste sits close to home. The San Clemente City Council voted Tuesday to take a stronger stance on waste storage at the plant, which was permanently shut down earlier this year.

As I point out to my students, the worst aspect of nuclear power isn’t the risk of meltdown, as in Fukushima.  Very few plants melt down.  All of them, however, produce radioactive waste, which is dangerous for thousands of years.  Dealing with that is the big issue.

The next article on the topic came this month: UCSD Professor To Lead Community Panel On Decommissioning San Onofre by Erik Anderson on Thursday, February 6, 2014.

SAN DIEGO — A UC San Diego professor will help keep the public informed about the decommissioning of the San Onofre Nuclear Power Plant. David Victor was picked for the job by Southern California Edison, the plant's majority owner.

Victor is an international relations professor and the director of the UCSD Laboratory on International Law and Regulation.

He is seen widely as an authority on energy markets.

Interesting choice.  Looks like he’s highly qualified both in understanding energy and regulatory issues and communicating them to the public.  I wish him luck; he’ll need it.

Finally, I concluded last June’s entry by hoping that San Onofre would be replaced by something cleaner.  It seems that is in the works, as mentioned in Carlsbad's Vote On New Peaker Plant Hinges On Removal Of Smokestack by Alison St John on Tuesday, January 14, 2014.

Carlsbad has fought for years to get a massive power plant off its coastline. The Encina power station will be put into mothballs in 2018 because its sea-water cooling system no longer meets state environmental regulations.

But under previous proposals, there was no guarantee the 400-foot smokestack would be removed. And until now SDG&E had not signed any contract to use power from a replacement plant, so any energy produced might have gone out of the region.

Now, because the San Onofre nuclear power plant has shut down, the energy landscape in San Diego has changed. SDG&E is interested in contracting with the owner of the Carlsbad power plant, NRG, for electricity to use at times of peak consumer demand. The new plant would be gas powered like the old one, but it would be air cooled, rather than using ocean water, to meet new state mandates.

It’s not as clean as I would like, as it’s still a fossil-fuel-powered plant, but of all the fossil fuel choices, it’s the cleanest.

Fukushima radiation being monitored in U.S. kelp beds

Once again, I’m getting a signal from the universe to talk about a topic, in this case, Fukushima.  First, Elaine Meinel Supkis is ranting about Fukushima again.  Then one of my students asked if she could talk about Fukushima for her presentation this semester.  Finally, I watched this video and read the accompanying articles for Overnight News Digest: Science Saturday (Science of Relationships) on Daily Kos.  The third anniversary of the tsunami may be next month, but it looks like the time to write about this ongoing story is now.

KPBS: Fukushima Fallout: San Diego State Researchers Monitoring Sea Kelp For Radiation Exposure

San Diego State University researchers will be joining in a new program to monitor one of the most vulnerable areas of the marine environment — kelp beds — for radioactive isotopes.

Also read the accompanying article and SDSU Professor Helps Test California Kelp For Radiation Exposure From Fukushima Disaster.  The following comes from the first link.

Now San Diego State University researchers will be joining in a new program to monitor one of the most vulnerable areas of the marine environment —kelp beds — for radioactive isotopes.

"The root reason for this study is there's a nuclear disaster and the waters around Fukushima are heavily contaminated," said Matthew Edwards, professor of biology at SDSU, who is part of the research team, "...we know there's a major impact there (Japan)...the question becomes: Is it going to impact other ecosystems?"

From the second link, Edwards thinks that the answer for the kelp beds along the U.S. Pacific coast and the people on land near them will probably be no.

Q. My understanding is that you doubt if radiation is detected, it will pose a public health threat. Why is that?

A. It's not that I doubt it will be detected. Our levels of detection are quite good with the instruments we have. However, by the time the waters reach our coast they've traveled great distances and it's been some time. And as water travels across the ocean it dilutes greatly.

Q. There's some confusion over "detectable" amounts of radiation and "harmful" amounts. If they're not harmful, or of concern, would there still come a point where they could affect the food chain?

A. At the levels we're talking about right now, I don't believe so.

I’d post Professor Farnsworth, but I’m not that optimistic.  Just the same, this news is another good example of three things that I teach my students: Everything is connected to everything else; There is no away; and There is no free lunch.

Whale meat sushi chefs plead guilty

As much as I’ve written about “Blackfish,” there are far worse things that can happen to whales than being captive entertainers, things that are outright illegal, not just unethical.  KPBS reports on one of them in California Sushi Chefs Plead Guilty To Using Endangered Whale Meat.

Two chefs who worked at a now-closed Santa Monica sushi restaurant pleaded guilty Tuesday to serving meat from federally protected sei whales.

Kiyoshiro Yamamoto and Susumu Ueda, who worked at the The Hump at Santa Monica Airport, each admitted three misdemeanor charges -- conspiracy and offering to, and selling, a marine mammal product for an unauthorized purpose.

The chefs and Typhoon Restaurant Inc., parent company of The Hump, were initially charged in 2010, but the charges were dropped, later refiled and revised last month.

Yamamoto, 49, of Culver City, and 40-year-old Ueda of Lawndale each face up to three years in federal prison, plus fines and community service.

I doubt they’ll get the full prison sentences, but I’m not worried that they’ll pay for their crimes.  They will and they’ll serve as examples for anyone else in the U.S. that thinks they can get away with doing this.

The practicality and esthetics of LED streetlights

One technology that I’ve been telling my students is coming is LED, which will replace fluorescent bulbs, which have themselves been taking over from incandescent lights for most of this century.  The technology’s acceptance in one application shows my prediction is already becoming reality.  As KPBS reported on Tuesday, January 28, 2014 3,000 San Diego Streetlamps Getting LED Upgrade.

The city of San Diego and General Electric announced Tuesday that a program to replace 3,000 streetlamps around the downtown area with energy-efficient LED lighting is underway.

The new lights are expected to shine brighter while saving the city $254,000 annually in utility costs.

A digital system will provide status updates on the condition of the lights, and allow the Environmental Services Department to adjust the brightness of individual lamps.

In addition to saving money, the light cast by the LED streetlamps is more balanced.  That’s generally good, but it will have unintended consequences.  Geoff Manaugh explains in Gizmodo How LED Streetlights Will Change Cinema (And Make Cities Look Awesome).

The decision by the city of Los Angeles last year to replace its high-pressure sodium streetlights—known for their distinctive yellow hue—with new, blue-tinted LEDs might have a profound effect on at least one local industry. All of those LEDs, with their new urban color scheme, will dramatically change how the city appears on camera, thus giving Los Angeles a brand new look in the age of digital filmmaking. As Dave Kendricken writes for No Film School, "Hollywood will never look the same."

Here’s one of the images he used making his point.


His essay also makes two points of mine: Everything is connected to everything else and there is no free lunch.

Lady Gaga does a water conservation PSA and other drought news

I concluded The last election report from San Diego by noting that it would “not the last entry that will feature the station’s stories.  I have a whole bunch saved up, including the bulk of the next drought update.”  On that note, here are the stories from the L.A. Times and KPBS on the drought since NASA on California drought and other drought and water stories.  I’m going to violate the “if it moves it leads” policy by succumbing to celebrity first instead.

L.A. Times: Lady Gaga: California's new drought spokeswoman
By Anthony York
February 13, 2014, 3:38 p.m.

Lady Gaga has a new message for all of her “little monsters”: Save water.

The five-time Grammy Award winner will soon be on the air with a public service announcement urging Californians to do their part to help with the state’s drought.

So how did Lady Gaga become the new face of drought awareness? It started when the “Poker Face” singer wanted to use Hearst Castle for what the Hearst Castle Foundation is calling "a special creative project."

For her trouble, Lady Gaga got a thank you note from Governor Brown (reproduced at Buzzfeed).

As I’ve written before, Americans demand their entertainment.  At least Lady Gaga and the State of California figured out a way to deliver it to them sustainably.

Follow over the jump for the drought news from KPBS.

The last election report from San Diego

As I wrote in News for the last day of campaigning for San Diego Mayor, next week will be the post-mortem.  It’s next week and it’s time to examine the corpse of the election.  KPBS complies with Breaking Down Faulconer's Win In San Diego Mayor's Race.

Overnight, Republican Kevin Faulconer went from city councilman to mayor-elect. For insight into how he defeated Democrat David Alvarez, KPBS Morning Edition Anchor Deb Welsh spoke with San Diego Mesa College political science Professor Carl Luna.

More analysis in Faulconer Defeats Alvarez For Mayor; Vows To Unite San Diego By Sandhya Dirks, Mark Sauer, Claire Trageser, Originally published February 12, 2014 at 6 a.m., updated February 12, 2014 at 7:07 a.m.

San Diego Mayor-elect Kevin Faulconer, a Republican, defeated fellow Councilman David Alvarez by a wide margin on Tuesday. He vows to be an independent leader for all San Diegans.

Democrat Alvarez, 33, conceded the race via Twitter shortly before midnight. Faulconer said the two men had an amiable conversation and that he looks forward to working with his former opponent, who returns now to City Council.

San Diego Mesa College political science professor Carl Luna said Alvarez's inexperience contributed to his loss.

"I think...what you've got is something of a perfect storm for Democrats: the triple 'w,' " he said. "They had a weak candidate, a weak message and a weak turnout."

After watching this contest closely for the past few months, I’m disappointed but not surprised.

Follow over the jump for more from KPBS.

Twitter as a 21st Century Crime Scene

In SciFi is now: Revenge porn, a 21st Century crime, I mentioned that I was "a beneficiary of the third-party protections of the Communications Decency Act."  I didn't say in what kind of case.  It was one much like this, except that unlike Ms. Love, I didn't actually type the words that were the basis of the action, nor did I even repeat them, hence my benefiting from the Communications Decency Act.  That's not something Love could use in her defense.

KPBS: San Diego Attorney Loses Twitter Libel Case Against Courtney Love
By David Wagner
Friday, January 24, 2014

San Diego attorney Rhonda Holmes has lost her libel lawsuit against grunge icon Courtney Love. A Los Angeles judge ruled Friday that Holmes couldn't prove Love deliberately defamed her over Twitter and in later press interviews.

The case represented a social media milestone: the first time a public figure had to defend a tweet in court.

Holmes believed Love — a former client — defamed her in a 2010 tweet reading, "I was (expletive) devastated when Rhonda J Holmes Esq of san diego was bought off." Love also told reporters, "they got to her," in reference to Holmes. The prosecution argued these statements falsely claimed Holmes took bribes in return for severing ties with Love.

Even though Love was found not guilty, Prof. Junichi Semitsu of the University of San Diego School of Law says this case shows Twitter is fair game in libel suits. Anyone can be held accountable in court for what they tweet about others.

So if the CDA couldn't help Love, as she actually wrote the tweet, what did?

Context matters in defamation law. And if reasonable minds conclude Love's tweet was never meant to be taken seriously, charges should be dismissed.
...
"Her history of saying incredibly loopy things means that perhaps no one should take her seriously," Semitsu said.

Twitter and Ms. Love, welcome to the legal state of the rest of the Internet in the 21st Century.