NC Media Watch

Road trip

Russ Steele

This blog is going on a road trip across the nation, from coast to coast starting today. A trip that will take three months. Plus viewing all the great sites along our route, we will be paying special attention to local economies and how other communities are coping with higher food and fuel prices and declining home values. We will also be doing some surface station surveys for Anthony Watts. We will be joined by friends from both coasts who will travel part way with us.

Blogging will depend on access to WiFi, Verizon Mobile Broadband, and time to write. We will be posting comments and pictures as we go, so please stay tuned. 

TechTest2008 on Saturday

Russ Steele

Encouraging our best and brightest to go on to college and earn a technical degree is a noble cause worth supporting. Here is a press release from the Sierra Environmental Studies Foundation promoting TestTech2008. 

This Saturday the county’s leading science and math high school seniors will be competing for big cash scholarships by taking a grueling four-hour exam.  TechTest2008 will be given in the NUHS Daggett Theater starting at 9am.  Sponsored by the Sierra Environmental Studies Foundation, this is the second annual merit scholarship competition for high school seniors who are planning to go on to technology careers.  The scholarships this year will total $15,000 with $6, $4, and $2 thousand dollars awarded to 1st, 2nd, and 3rd high scores.  There will also be awards of $300 each for the next ten runners up – not a bad take for four hours of work.  The exam will be administered and graded by the TechTest Academic Committee chaired by Mr. John McDaniel, NUHS award-winning physics teacher.  For more information on TechTest2008 students should talk to their math/science teachers and visit www.sesfoundation.org.

Look for the TechTest link on the left navigation bar.

Conservatives are on top

Russ Steele

I was reading though the Executive Summary of the Project for Excellence in Journalism report on
The State of the News Media 2008.  The whole report is rather interesting, starting with this:

The state of the American news media in 2008 is more troubled than a year ago.

You can download a copy here and see the kind of troubles they are encountering is seeking eyeballs and profits.  As a conservative I found this chart interesting, the most successful talk radio shows are conservative.

Over time conservative blogs will become the top dogs on the Internet also, they have a much more positive message.  However we need a shake out first, too many blogs for too few readers. From the report:

The number of blogs in spring 2007 was doubling every 320 days, according to data from Technorati, a blogging search engine. The research found 70 million blogs worldwide at that time.

Dilbert on the future of Newspapers

Russ Steele

From Scott Adams's Dilbert.blog

"I predict that the end of printed newspapers will happen in the time it takes for most people to upgrade their cell phones two more times. The iPhone, and its inevitable copycats, (let’s call them iClones) are newspaper killers. When you have a web browser in your pocket, a printed newspaper is redundant. Eventually, all cell phones will have Internet browsing built in. You might not have a web browser on your next cell phone, but the one after that will have it as a standard feature."

I will add to that list the latest iPod with it's built in WiFi, Safari browser and incredibility sharp screen. It is a pocket Internet reader. Mine arrived yesterday.

Update to yesterday's post, are we next

Russ Steele

Here is five day future look at the cold emerging from the Arctic. It looks like California is going to escape this big outbreak. However, our friends and relative in the Mid West are going to get real cold.

Joining the Bastiat Triangle Alliance

Russ Steele

Concerned about the direction our political leaders are taking the county, and to help frame vital local issues, several local bloggers have formed the Bastiat Triangle Alliance. All participants in the Alliance will display the emblem in the banner above. You can click on the link to the right to download a pdf describing the Bastiat Triangle Alliance and the philosophy that will guide current and future participants.

To celebrate joining the Alliance, I have upgraded the blog's image.  Your comments are most welcome on the new design and the Bastiat Triangle Alliance.   

Useful information update: Speed Traps

Russ Steele

On my old blog we tried to share useful information that we came across when surfing the Net. Thanks to some friends in Georgia, here is a list of California Speed Traps. Find Nevada City, Grass Valley, Auburn and Penn Valley in the table. Click on the city and you will get a list of places to watch your speed as there may be a traffic cop in the bushes.

Sacramento nanny government run's amuck

Russ Steele

Do you want the power company in control of your homes heating and cooling? New changes to Title 24 which sets building standards in California will allow the power company to control how hot, or how cold, your house gets. Details in this American Thinker Article.

What should be controversial in the proposed revisions to Title 24 is the requirement for what is called a "programmable communicating thermostat" or PCT. Every new home and every change to existing homes' central heating and air conditioning systems will required to be fitted with a PCT beginning next year following the issuance of the revision.  Each PCT will be fitted with a "non-removable " FM receiver that will allow the power authorities to increase your air conditioning temperature setpoint or decrease your heater temperature setpoint to any value they chose.  During "price events" those changes are limited to +/- four degrees F and you would be able to manually override the changes.  During "emergency events" the new setpoints can be whatever the power authority desires and you would not be able to alter them.

In other words, the temperature of your home will no longer be yours to control.  Your desires and needs can and will be overridden by the state of California through its public and private utility organizations.  All this is for the common good, of course. [Emphasis added]

Predictions for 2008

Russ Steele

Happy New Year

My predictions for the the New Year -- 2008

1) More global warming skeptics will come forward as the weather turns colder, due to a shift in the Pacific Ocean to a cool phase.  The satellite global temperatures will continue to decline, while the surface temperatures continue to increase due to urban heat island effects. These contaminated temperature records will continue to support claims of global warming, all the while  the arctic sea ice will increase in 2008 and mountain glaciers will slowly start growing again.

UPDATE: From the Investors Business Daily, via ICECAP Global Warming 'Consensus' Fades.

2) The official start of Sunspot Cycle 24 will be delayed another year, indicating cycle 24 will be minimum cycle. Historically minimum cycles have produced cooler temperatures on earth, all thought the specific mechanism is not clear.

3)  Yearly average prices of gas and diesel will continue to climb as the State levies new fuel taxes to control green house gases. These increases will slow local tourism which will add to the local economic decline. Increased fuel prices will promote more Internet shopping, which will be supported as a greenhouse gas reduction measure by the Air Resources Board, creating an ever steeper decline in the local economy.

4) Local economics and greenhouse gas regulations will become major issues in local city and County elections, yet few voters will see the real connection. Ballots will be cast on emotional issues, rather than vote the scientific evidence. There has been no significant warming trend in the Sierra, most of California's warming is in the liberal coastal counties.

5)  Nate Beason will be re-elected in the 1st District and Ted Owens in District 5, they are proven leaders regardless of contrary claims. I do not know enough about the 2nd District candidates to venture a prediction. Perhaps an update will be in order after the campaigning starts. 

6) The tribal warfare will continue in Nevada City over the Downtown Association strategy and fees. A tightening economy will increase the intensity of the warfare.

7) Grass Valley City Council actions will continue to reveal they cannot live up their vision of Grass Valley becoming Western Nevada County's center of commerce.  Their actions will speak louder than their words.

8) The Union will continue to struggle with the web software levied by the mother ship in Reno. Some days it works, some days it doesn't. Makes every new day an adventure.

9) The Union Editor will break his New Years resolution to not post comments on local conservative blogs.

10) Local blogs will become more powerful in shaping local public opinion, thus providing an alternative to the almost news. According to a resent Media Democracy survey, user-generated content is in tremendous demand across the generations, with 51 percent all consumers watching and/or reading content created by others, it jumps to 71 percent for younger readers.

Still Working on Predictions for 2008

Russ Steele

I will finish up my 2008 Predictions as Ellen and I watch the New Year approach on the TV, toasting in the new year with some adult beverages. I will post my predictions before we do too many toasts.