Tuesday, August 29, 2017
Floods Happen Often, But Not Like This
An excerpt from the Atlantic -
Houston's Flood Is a Design Problem
It’s not because the water comes in. It’s because it is forced to leave again.
By IAN BOGOST
There are different kinds of floods. There’s the storm surge from hurricanes, the runoff from snowmelt, the inundation of riverbanks. But all these examples cast flooding as an occasional foe out to damage human civilization. In truth, flooding happens constantly, in small and large quantities, every time precipitation falls to earth. People just don’t tend to notice it until it reaches the proportions of disaster.
Under normal circumstances, rain or snowfall soaks back into the earth after falling. It gets absorbed by grasslands, by parks, by residential lawns, by anywhere the soil is exposed. Two factors can impede that absorption. One is large quantities of rain in a short period of time. The ground becomes inundated, and the water spreads out in accordance with the topography. The second is covering over the ground so it cannot soak up water in the first place. And that’s exactly what cities do—they transform the land into developed civilization.
Roads, parking lots, sidewalks, and other pavements, along with asphalt, concrete, brick, stone, and other building materials, combine to create impervious surfaces that resist the natural absorption of water. In most of the United States, about 75 percent of its land area, less than 1 percent of the land is hardscape. In cities, up to 40 percent is impervious.
The natural system is very good at accepting rainfall. But when water hits pavement, it creates runoff immediately. That water has to go somewhere. So it flows wherever the grade takes it. To account for that runoff, people engineer systems to move the water away from where it is originally deposited, or to house it in situ, or even to reuse it. This process—the policy, planning, engineering, implementation, and maintenance of urban water systems—is called stormwater management.
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2017/08/why-cities-flood/538251/?utm_source=nl-atlantic-daily-082817&silverid=MzEwMTkwMTQ4ODk4S0
Houston's Flood Is a Design Problem
It’s not because the water comes in. It’s because it is forced to leave again.
By IAN BOGOST
There are different kinds of floods. There’s the storm surge from hurricanes, the runoff from snowmelt, the inundation of riverbanks. But all these examples cast flooding as an occasional foe out to damage human civilization. In truth, flooding happens constantly, in small and large quantities, every time precipitation falls to earth. People just don’t tend to notice it until it reaches the proportions of disaster.
Under normal circumstances, rain or snowfall soaks back into the earth after falling. It gets absorbed by grasslands, by parks, by residential lawns, by anywhere the soil is exposed. Two factors can impede that absorption. One is large quantities of rain in a short period of time. The ground becomes inundated, and the water spreads out in accordance with the topography. The second is covering over the ground so it cannot soak up water in the first place. And that’s exactly what cities do—they transform the land into developed civilization.
Roads, parking lots, sidewalks, and other pavements, along with asphalt, concrete, brick, stone, and other building materials, combine to create impervious surfaces that resist the natural absorption of water. In most of the United States, about 75 percent of its land area, less than 1 percent of the land is hardscape. In cities, up to 40 percent is impervious.
The natural system is very good at accepting rainfall. But when water hits pavement, it creates runoff immediately. That water has to go somewhere. So it flows wherever the grade takes it. To account for that runoff, people engineer systems to move the water away from where it is originally deposited, or to house it in situ, or even to reuse it. This process—the policy, planning, engineering, implementation, and maintenance of urban water systems—is called stormwater management.
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2017/08/why-cities-flood/538251/?utm_source=nl-atlantic-daily-082817&silverid=MzEwMTkwMTQ4ODk4S0
Floating Fire Ants
An excerpt from Wired -
WHY THOSE FLOATING FIRE ANT COLONIES IN TEXAS ARE SUCH BAD NEWS
By Matt Simon
ANTS DIDN’T TAKE over the world by being stupid and cowardly. Case in point: Rafts of fire ants have been spotted floating around floodwaters in Houston, Texas, colonies banding together to weather super-storm Harvey.
https://www.wired.com/story/why-those-floating-fire-ant-colonies-in-texas-are-such-bad-news?mbid=nl_82817_p3&CNDID=
WHY THOSE FLOATING FIRE ANT COLONIES IN TEXAS ARE SUCH BAD NEWS
By Matt Simon
ANTS DIDN’T TAKE over the world by being stupid and cowardly. Case in point: Rafts of fire ants have been spotted floating around floodwaters in Houston, Texas, colonies banding together to weather super-storm Harvey.
Pro tip: Don't touch the floating fire ant colonies. They will ruin your day. #Harvey pic.twitter.com/uwJd0rA7qB— Mike Hixenbaugh (@Mike_Hixenbaugh) August 27, 2017
https://www.wired.com/story/why-those-floating-fire-ant-colonies-in-texas-are-such-bad-news?mbid=nl_82817_p3&CNDID=
Another Immigrant Success Story
Excerpts from the NY Times -
Uber’s C.E.O. Pick, Dara Khosrowshahi, Steps Into Brighter Spotlight
By DAVID STREITFELD and NELLIE BOWLES
SAN FRANCISCO — Dara Khosrowshahi’s family immigrated to the United States from Iran in 1978, when their country was convulsed by revolution. They were not particularly welcomed in America, and were broke.
“Every one of us cousins had a chip on our shoulders, having lost everything to the new Iranian government,” said Hadi Partovi, a cousin of Mr. Khosrowshahi’s. “We had a desire to build anew as entrepreneurs.”
~~~~~~~~~~
At the same time in June that Mr. Kalanick was noisily being ejected from his company, Mr. Khosrowshahi had a problem of his own — his parents. Glassdoor, a site where employees rank their companies, released its 2017 list of the top chief executives. Mr. Khosrowshahi’s score had dropped.
His parents weighed in with that combination of celebration and criticism that many immigrant children know well. As Mr. Khosrowshahi reported on Twitter, his mother said, “Nice! You made the top 100!” But his father pointed out: “#39 is good but you were #11 in 2015.”
~~~~~~~~~~
“His mom raised him to be direct with people,” said Mr. Partovi, the cousin. “By far the biggest challenge he faced, which is what all of us faced, was having to come to a new country and assimilate. Being an Iranian in America in the 1980s was not pleasant. People were singing ‘Bomb bomb bomb Iran.’ ”
But the tense environment also pushed them to succeed.
Mr. Partovi and his twin brother Ali were early investors in Facebook, Dropbox, Airbnb and, as it happens, Uber; Dara’s brother, Kaveh Khosrowshahi, is a managing director at the investment firm Allen & Company; another cousin, Farzad “Fuzzy” Khosrowshahi, played a major role in the creation of Google Docs; yet another cousin, Amir Khosrowshahi, is an executive at Intel; and Avid Larizadeh Duggan, also a cousin, is a general partner at Google Ventures.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/28/technology/dara-khosrowshahi-uber-ceo.html?emc=edit_nn_20170829&nl=morning-briefing&nlid=38867499&te=1&_r=0
Uber’s C.E.O. Pick, Dara Khosrowshahi, Steps Into Brighter Spotlight
By DAVID STREITFELD and NELLIE BOWLES
SAN FRANCISCO — Dara Khosrowshahi’s family immigrated to the United States from Iran in 1978, when their country was convulsed by revolution. They were not particularly welcomed in America, and were broke.
“Every one of us cousins had a chip on our shoulders, having lost everything to the new Iranian government,” said Hadi Partovi, a cousin of Mr. Khosrowshahi’s. “We had a desire to build anew as entrepreneurs.”
~~~~~~~~~~
At the same time in June that Mr. Kalanick was noisily being ejected from his company, Mr. Khosrowshahi had a problem of his own — his parents. Glassdoor, a site where employees rank their companies, released its 2017 list of the top chief executives. Mr. Khosrowshahi’s score had dropped.
His parents weighed in with that combination of celebration and criticism that many immigrant children know well. As Mr. Khosrowshahi reported on Twitter, his mother said, “Nice! You made the top 100!” But his father pointed out: “#39 is good but you were #11 in 2015.”
~~~~~~~~~~
“His mom raised him to be direct with people,” said Mr. Partovi, the cousin. “By far the biggest challenge he faced, which is what all of us faced, was having to come to a new country and assimilate. Being an Iranian in America in the 1980s was not pleasant. People were singing ‘Bomb bomb bomb Iran.’ ”
But the tense environment also pushed them to succeed.
Mr. Partovi and his twin brother Ali were early investors in Facebook, Dropbox, Airbnb and, as it happens, Uber; Dara’s brother, Kaveh Khosrowshahi, is a managing director at the investment firm Allen & Company; another cousin, Farzad “Fuzzy” Khosrowshahi, played a major role in the creation of Google Docs; yet another cousin, Amir Khosrowshahi, is an executive at Intel; and Avid Larizadeh Duggan, also a cousin, is a general partner at Google Ventures.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/28/technology/dara-khosrowshahi-uber-ceo.html?emc=edit_nn_20170829&nl=morning-briefing&nlid=38867499&te=1&_r=0
Monday, August 28, 2017
Jimi Hendrix - His First Client
From the LA Times -
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/94433187-132.html
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/94433187-132.html
Somerville teen makes a balletic leap
https://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/theater/dance/2017/08/27/somerville-teen-makes-balletic-leap/PJ8oFs5TL4foJxzstAqrTL/story.html
Awkward
An excerpt from the Washington Post -
Why is Trump so awkward in Washington? He’s a New Yorker.
By Henry Allen
Washington vs. New York — the resentful bewilderment continues on both sides.
Cats and dogs, Hatfields and McCoys, India and Pakistan, coyote and roadrunner, Cowboys and Redskins: We’re seeing it now in the White House, where New Yorker Donald Trump has taken up his awkward Washington residence.
President Trump gets it backward, to Washington ears. He boasts of his riches and calls the media “the enemy of the American people.” But as veteran columnist Walter Shapiro has said of Washington: “It’s a city where being rich counts for less than anywhere else, and being a journalist counts for more.”
The medium of exchange in New York is money brokered by Wall Street. In Washington, it’s power brokered by the media.
You can buy the Empire State Building, which has no particular power, but you can’t buy the Supreme Court, which does.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/why-is-trump-so-awkward-in-washington-hes-a-new-yorker/2017/08/27/0906652e-88e6-11e7-961d-2f373b3977ee_story.html?utm_term=.04dbcf42d318
Why is Trump so awkward in Washington? He’s a New Yorker.
By Henry Allen
Washington vs. New York — the resentful bewilderment continues on both sides.
Cats and dogs, Hatfields and McCoys, India and Pakistan, coyote and roadrunner, Cowboys and Redskins: We’re seeing it now in the White House, where New Yorker Donald Trump has taken up his awkward Washington residence.
President Trump gets it backward, to Washington ears. He boasts of his riches and calls the media “the enemy of the American people.” But as veteran columnist Walter Shapiro has said of Washington: “It’s a city where being rich counts for less than anywhere else, and being a journalist counts for more.”
The medium of exchange in New York is money brokered by Wall Street. In Washington, it’s power brokered by the media.
You can buy the Empire State Building, which has no particular power, but you can’t buy the Supreme Court, which does.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/why-is-trump-so-awkward-in-washington-hes-a-new-yorker/2017/08/27/0906652e-88e6-11e7-961d-2f373b3977ee_story.html?utm_term=.04dbcf42d318
Sunday, August 27, 2017
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