Richardson Debates Rain Barrels

The Richardson City Council spent a loooonnnng time Monday evening deliberating one homeowner's desire to install a rain collection system. Or rather, how to hide the fancy rain barrel, whether a hedge or trellis or fence was needed to shield the purported eyesore from passersby.

Ironically, the assumption everyone made is that privacy fences are not themselves eyesores. Which, of course, they are. If it were as hard to get a permit to install a privacy fence in Richardson as it is to collect rainwater, the city just might present a more attractive face to the world. Those fences are really ugly. In many cases, uglier than whatever it is they are meant to hide, like a rain collection system.

After the jump, how the rain barrel debate represents a missed opportunity on something serious.

Learning Math: Extrapolation

The Dallas Morning News published a story about climate change titled "State climatologist predicts rising temperatures over coming decades in Texas." In it was this alarming prediction:

"Texas A&M University atmospheric sciences professor John Nielsen-Gammon said recently that models he's analyzed show temperatures rising as much as 1 degree each decade, meaning that by 2060, temperatures across the state would be 5 degrees hotter than now."

That prompted one reader to reply:

"Of course it's warming. It's been warming for the past 20,000 years. That's what happens when you come out of an ice age."

Let's do the math. One degree rise in temperature per decade for the last 20,000 years and the global temperatures today would be in the vicinity of 2000 degrees. Obviously, it hasn't been warming for the past 20,000 years, at least nowhere near the rate it's rising today. Something more than just natural ice age cyclical behavior is pushing temperatures higher at a much faster rate. The simple-minded rebuttal that the earth has been warming ever since the last ice age just doesn't hold up to basic math.

Berkner Enjoys Homecoming

From 2010 Football

The Berkner Rams put on a show for the big crowd that came out for the Homecoming football game played under clear skies and warm temperatures. The Rams easily handled W.T. White, winning 50-21. The win was especially welcome for Berkner, as it was their first in district play. The Rams improved their record to 1-2 (2-4 overall), while W.T. White slipped to 0-3 (2-4 overall).

For a look at all the action, including the game, cheerleaders, drill team, colorguard and marching band, look here. Remember, without the band, it's just a game.

OTBR: Moose Hunting in Finland

Latitude: 60.2029 N
Longitude: 22.9639 E

A child on a road trip with his family asks, "Where are we?" and the father answers, "Let's check the map. We're off the blue roads [the Interstate Highways marked in blue on the road atlas]. We're off the red roads [the US and state highways]. We're off the black roads [the county highways]. I think we're off the map altogether." It was always my dream to be off the map altogether.

After the jump, a few of the random places (and I mean random literally) that I visited vicariously last month that are "off the blue roads".

DMN Fail: Pete Sessions and Sam Johnson

This week, The Dallas Morning News made recommendations in the 32nd and 3rd Congressional District races for north Texas. In both cases, the editorials read as if the editorial board struggled to come up with plausible reasons to support what may have been a preordained outcome -- recommending the long-term incumbents Pete Sessions and Sam Johnson. The News simply dismisses the Democratic opponents ("out of sync", "too far left"), with condescension ("well-intentioned") and no serious analysis. Worse, the News didn't even bother interviewing the Libertarians on the ballot or analyze the Libertarian positions. The News just accepts without question the assumption that Sessions and Johnson are for fiscal responsibility, despite decades of history otherwise.

After the jump, two particularly bizarre examples from The Dallas Morning News editorials.