Good News Round-Up- for Week 2 September 2017

by Nomad

This month's Good News focuses on the big picture. Confident in knowing that these dark days of Trump and weather-related disasters will soon pass, I decided that I ought to look at the quiet revolutions going on around us which are transforming the planet.

Even while the bad news makes the headlines, progress continues. So let's take a look at that for a moment.

New Reports See Bright Futures for Wind and Solar

According to two recent reports, we might be underestimating the influence that solar and wind energy will play in the near future. These optimistic forecasts suggest that the radical trends of the last decade are unstoppable and what we are looking at is something akin to an energy revolution.

Both of these reports offer forecasts that are wildly optimistic relative to the mainstream modeling community, but it’s not because they predict wind and solar are going to have some unprecedented explosion.

Sanity Sunday- Five by Steely Dan

by Nomad

I had actually not intended to post this today. However, NPR has just reported that the co-founder of Steely Dan, Walter Becker has died at the age of 67.

The news was later confirmed by his longtime bandmate Donald Fagen. In a statement, Fagen said "I intend to keep the music we created together alive as long as I can with the Steely Dan band."

In memory of Becker's passing, here are five Steely Dan songs. I have so many favorites that I had to limit it to five. Hope you enjoy them. Hard to believe this music came from the 1970s.

Black Cow

Four Worldly Quotes by Marjane Satrapi

by Nomad

Born in Rasht, Iran before the revolution, Marjane Satrapi is a graphic novelist, cartoonist, and an illustrator. She has also directed several prize-winning films including the very successful Persepolis. Satrapi has been listed by the Comics Alliance as one of twelve women cartoonists deserving of lifetime achievement recognition.
Satrapi is married to Mattias Ripa, a Swedish national and lives in Paris, France.

Houston: Scenes from a City Under Water

 by Nomad

Embed from Getty Images

Houston, the nation's fourth largest city and the most populous city in the state of Texas, is under water in the wake of the persistent Hurricane Harvey. The Category 4 storm with 130 mph winds made its first landfall on Friday, 25 August and raged throughout the weekend. By Monday, it was clear that Harvey was going nowhere. By Wednesday, Harvey was making its second landfall.

The Document that Rocked Washington: A Second Look at the Steele Dossier

 by Nomad

Since its release by Buzzfeed last January, the so-called Steele dossier has more than earned the descriptive adjectives "infamous" and "explosive." In light of subsequent revelations, it might be a good time to review the file again.

The Origins of the Document

Firstly, let's examine how the Steele Dossier came into existence.

Last June, 52-year-old Christopher Steele, ex-Cambridge Union president, ex-M.I.6 Moscow field agent and ex-head of M.I.6’s Russia desk, ex-adviser to British Special Forces on capture-or-kill ops in Afghanistan, was offered an assignment through his private British intelligence firm, Orbis Business Intelligence. Suffice to say, with a CV like that, his work should not be taken lightly. Or to put it another way, Steele was not a tabloid scribbler, hunter for celebrity scandals.