Are you struggling to attract the right candidates for your roles? Or have you ever found the perfect candidate for a vacancy, only to lose out at the last minute because they've chosen to accept a job with another employer?
If you feel that your candidate attraction and retention strategy is falling short, perhaps it is time to take a step back and re-evaluate the basics. Having an effective recruitment advertising strategy can aid this process and sometimes you can focus so much on the details, it's easy to forget the basics.
Here, we share with you 5 ways you could be repelling those all important candidates and, most importantly, the steps you could look at taking to rectify these issues.
The market has changed and things are becoming candidate-driven again. This means that you need to make a real effort to get candidates on board.
In Webrecruit Ireland's 2015 Candidate Survey, 74% of candidates cited that it was very important to receive regular communication from the hiring company regarding updates on their application.
So, if you receive a good application, don't just sit on it and leave it cold for a few weeks before getting in contact. Candidates will be applying for other roles and that time could be enough for them to secure an interview for another job.
Additionally, a lack of communication doesn't promote your company in the best light. Leaving it weeks to get in contact with a candidate suggests that you're not on top of things. Is this really the impression you want to give to potential employees?
An effective job advert doesn't just attract the highest quantity of applicants, it should also encourage a high quality of candidates.
But what distinguishes a 'good' job advert from a 'bad' advert? The biggest offenders include using jargon that doesn't mean anything to anyone, making adverts too lengthy and asking for a long list of essential skills that aren't really necessary.
It's important to tailor your adverts to the audience you're aiming them at. For example, if you're recruiting for a sales position, talk about your great commission scheme and any extra benefits. Whereas, for a graduate role, emphasise career progression and future opportunities.
Don't forget, attracting 100 mismatched candidates is not what you want – it's much better to have 10 who are well-suited to the job.
There are a multitude of areas that could be putting candidates off. It's important to review your adverts and think to yourself, 'would I apply for this?' – if not, candidates probably won't either.
When using platforms such as LinkedIn to source those all-important passive candidates, don't just send out a generic message – tailor your InMails to entice people. Don't be too pushy, take into account people's needs and explain how your company can benefit them.
Don't be rude to candidates who aren't interested. Remember, you're trying to convince them to work for your company so ensure that you portray a professional and friendly image at all times.
If you stumble upon a candidate who's not open to moving to a new role but possesses some niche skills and experience, it's worth keeping in contact with them. They might not be willing to move at the moment but they might in a year's time.
94% of candidates cited that knowing the name of the company is quite or very important in Webrecruit Ireland's 2015 Candidate Survey. Popular reasons for this were enabling them to research the company culture, and understanding if they'd be a good fit.
Talk to potential new hires with passion and enthusiasm for your brand, and make sure that you really emphasise your company's values – this way, you'll gauge whether candidates will be a good match or not.
Does your careers page or site have a 'Work For Us' or 'Company Culture' page? This is the perfect place to show candidates who you really are and what you have to offer them. Culture and benefits can be a brilliant selling point and will make candidates want to work for your business.
In this changing market, the candidate experience is key. And, most likely, the first contact they'll have with your company is the application form when they apply for a vacancy.
A poor application process can be frustrating and if it's overly long, guess what? Candidates probably won't bother to complete it.
This also applies to careers sites that aren't mobile optimised. With more and more jobseekers choosing to apply for jobs on a mobile device, a mobile optimised application process is vital.
Just think of all the fantastic talent you could be losing out on by not simplifying your application process.
Looking to develop your candidate attraction strategy? Find out more about Webrecruit Ireland's recruitment advertising solutions.


A residential DR method for smart grids with a high share of renewables is proposed.
Based on an innovative paradigm of electricity services and a dynamic-active DR.
Monte Carlo simulation is used to evaluate the method's performance.
Simulation results reveal a significant contribution to mitigating intermittency.
Cost benefit analysis shows a positive net benefit.
This paper presents and evaluates a novel demand response method for households, designed for mitigating intermittency in smart grids with a high share of renewables. The method, named Dynamic-Active Demand Response (DADR), is based on an innovative paradigm of offering multiple electricity service levels and a dynamic-active demand response scheme. It provides the grid operator with the ability to influence consumption patterns in real time, so that responding to renewables intermittency is more effective in terms of reliability, predictability and response time.
DADR's performance is evaluated using a Monte Carlo simulation model, which assesses the method's intermittency mitigation potential and estimates the expected economic value of implementing it in the Israeli residential sector. Major components of the model are based on a survey, conducted among Israeli households. The survey results indicate that, given a sufficiently attractive economic incentive, participation rates can reach as high as 85–90%. The Monte Carlo simulation results reveal that DADR can make a significant contribution to mitigating renewables intermittency, with energy savings of hundreds to thousands of MWh a day and a positive net economic benefit.


ADGP - Round 1 THIS WEEKEND Symmons Plains!
THIS SATURDAY & SUNDAY Symmons Plains Raceway!
Tickets for Round 1 of the Just Car Insurance Australian Drifting Grand Prix are only available from the ticket booth at the spectator entry during the event. Gates open to the public at 9am both days and close at 5pm.
Ticket prices are the following.
Drifting Tas will also have a trade stall up on the hill so come along and say hey to the guys & girls over there!


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Tag: Solutions
Eco-social Art — Engaging Climate Literacy
Environmental artist Laura Donkers works with the embodied knowledge of communities, through a form of eco-social art engagement, to help develop climate literacy. Laura describes her approach and experience with local communities in Uist in Scotland's Outer Hebrides.
2,300 words: estimated reading time 9 minutes + 6 minutes video
This is the first part of two, and in her next post Laura discusses her move to Aotearoa New Zealand to expand her research as part of her final year of a practice-led PhD at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design at Dundee University.
For the last thirty years, I have lived on the southern island chain in the Outer Hebrides, known as the Uists, where I work as a horticulturalist, artist and researcher. The population of fewer than 5,000 people is largely indigenous and is widely spread across several islands, with between four and fifteen people per square kilometre inhabiting small, close-knit townships of all occupations needed to sustain a community. The archipelago's economic activities are reliant on the primary industries of tourism, crofting, fishing and weaving and dependent on the environment for continued livelihoods.
I feel I belong to this place; I both know and am known by my community. Without this social embeddedness, I could not have undertaken the sort of research I do, which relies on mutual trust and understanding, as well as a familiarity with the way that individuals and societies work at a local level. It's a community that is interconnected across several planes of knowledge. Connected to the land, sea, seasons and with strong intergenerational and societal bonds, people exhibit a broad skills base extending across several identities; and, with shared spiritual connections and an interest in heritage and genealogy, people continue to pass knowledge on through generations.
It is natural then that I am interested in how eco-social art can be used strategically to promote sustainability in small island communities. Through the process of research for my PhD, I have come to understand that this is done best by working with the community's own embodied knowledge, and I want to be able to show the importance of this.
My practice-led thesis aims to show that a specific set of knowledges accumulated through lived experience can help to improve ecological and social regeneration. My research reveals the role and value of this community embodied knowledge as a method for reengagement. Together with an eco-arts approach, this can bring local people, community organisations and national partners together into an open learning environment to develop ways of adapting to climate change.
Embodied knowledge, eco-social art
So what is community embodied knowledge?
I have found it to exist where people know each other through familial and experiential ties, are attached to their place/environment/land and utilise intergenerational knowledge to understand their own existence. It is also a practical form of wisdom, or practical reasoning, that is about individual ability to make good choices, based on understanding what is the right thing to do in the circumstances.
So, embodied knowledge helps us get to the deeper kinds of change that are needed at this time of climatic upheaval. When faced with challenges, practical rural-based people do not have it in their nature to just sit back and wait for others to act, but instead use their lived experience and inherited bank of knowledge to make decisions about what to do. However, in this new climatic regime, changes at a local level can be subtle (while still ultimately catastrophic) as they creep into everyday experience and become the new norm. While rural people are well placed to adapt to change, they share wider society's lack of experience in understanding what irrevocable changes they will need to adapt to. In my opinion, it's here that valuable reengagement opportunities lie, where ordinary practical people, local organisations and national bodies should come together and share knowledge and practices that may achieve solutions for local survivability.
And socially engaged art practice?
This is anchored in community-led development and uses art to draw the community into talking about and acting on social, political or environmental issues. It involves people and communities in debate, collaboration or social interaction, and this is, at some level, where the art lies. It is led by artists who recognise that the community is the expert in their own lives, and works with them to cultivate that understanding more widely.
Reimagining place
So, place-making led by artists can revitalise communities: art and cultural activities involving local individuals and groups in collaborative activities with national organisations to develop meaningful public spaces where people can meet, celebrate and identify with each other. This kind of arts engagement can provide critical reflection and an alternative to the dominant social developmental discourse that can exclude the less vocal, less confident, less certain members of society, especially where historically these indigenous knowledges have been suppressed.
Many of the examples of this kind of 'place-making' are carried out by artists working in urban communities: Jeanne Van Heeswijk's skills building projects develop the community's capacity from 'communication to construction', to transform their roles into co-producers rather than merely consumers. However, I feel that the extensive productive capacities already present in rural communities require artists to take a different approach here.
A more rural approach begins with recognising the importance of the characteristics mentioned earlier regarding communities' valuable interconnected knowledge and deep links to their places, and how they make use of their environments to sustain their livelihoods. So, finding a way to work that respects and upholds embodied knowledge is key to developing a good working relationship before even thinking of trying to shift mindsets for a changing climate. This is as much about showing the community the value of their own knowledge as it is about conveying how this form of knowledge can help other communities and wider society to re-think how to act locally elsewhere.
An example of my work is the Machair Art project. Machair is one of the rarest habitats in Europe: a fertile low lying grassy plain that only occurs on exposed western coasts of Scotland and Ireland. Machair Art was a collaboration between myself and artist Olwen Shone for the Conserving Scottish Machair LIFE+ project. It encompassed the year-long cycle of the machair in the form of four field trips to various crofting locations, exploring the themes of harvesting, seaweed, ploughing and wildlife. Students also attended drawing and photography sessions after school.
machairart film short from Laura Donkers on Vimeo.
As part of my work combining embodied knowledge with eco-social art practice, therefore, I develop practical and theoretical engagements that rekindle old tacit knowledge and skills to help communities reimagine their places as 'climate change prepared'. My eco-social arts activities centre on developing climate literacy through social, intergenerational activities and range from drawing and photography days-out, to long term strategies that establish community food growing sites. Planned actions, shared vision, co-intelligence and co-management strategies help build a deeper understanding and potential for assimilation into everyday life, with actions informed and underpinned by the local embodied knowledge of crofters and contractors, as well as local specialists and advisors.
Another short film I made, Tha Mi a Bruadair — I Have a Dream, shows the possibilities of rural education. In this case, through the Crofter Course run at the local high school, Sgoil Lionacleit, Isle of Benbecula, we engaged young people in land stewardship in their communities.
This video project was part of the 'I Have a Dream' Global Art, Farming and Peace project for Vancouver Biennale 2014-16, and was shown as part of Raising Farmers' Voices for ArtCOP21 in Paris — an initiative by artist Shweta Bhattad, 'Faith in Paris'.
Climate literacy: knowing and not knowing
A community's embodied knowledge develops through its approach to change. While changes come about in all societies — alterations in population, climate, prices, policies, availability of healthcare, schools provision, and so on — tiny communities feel these much more acutely than larger populations. In places like Uist, they have learned that adaptation is always possible. There is no choice but to find a way to overcome challenges, and this produces resilient, adaptable people who can transform and sustain their lives as they need to.
The mindset of communities in places like Uist involves a very different experience of living than in the urban context. Understanding this means appreciating that these communities exist between knowing and not knowing. I will attempt to explain this and how I think my eco-social art abilities can work with these forms of knowledge to include climate literacy.
Rural knowledge is based on communities' own capabilities to make and produce something to live from. Knowing the materials they require and how to access them calls on acute observational understanding and an ability to wait for the right signs. Counter to this runs not knowing whether they will achieve their goal this year. They cannot know for certain whether the materials (e.g. seaweed) will be available or sufficient, whether the right conditions (e.g. gales that bring the seaweed inshore) or signals (e.g. rainfall or lack) will appear, and finally whether these will enable the task (e.g. harvest) to be completed in time. Of course, they will achieve something of their aims, but they strive always with the hope that this year will be a good one that they can celebrate: that they can have some reserves, can feel a little satisfaction. This ability to live within these two states of knowing and not knowing comes through intergenerational knowledge, developing skills to source and make materials, and engaging deep durational and seasonal knowledge as well as acute capabilities to observe and to wait.
My eco-social arts process draws attention to wider issues of concern brought on by climate change and encourages reflexive reassessment via new thinking and doing that draw on the community's existing materials, methods and processes. Our relationship develops through a collaborative process that respects existing knowledges and hierarchies, but introduces an alternative mindset that references climate change knowledge. While this is not at odds with a society dependent on the environment for its livelihoods, the way it is introduced needs sensitive handling in order for it to be considered rather than rejected. I occupy a different space, from another perspective, and can draw links to relevant information that can translate into local understanding.
Making space for climate conversations
I wish to activate and expand the potential of art as an agent of social intervention, community building, and cultural change. I have found the best way to do this is through an open-call process where participants self-nominate. What follows is built around close listening and dialogue and, importantly, showing this through projects that reference the participants' experiences, concerns and ideas.
Essentially, what we create together is a space for the community to enter, influence and direct themselves. They start to have 'climate conversations' that make sense and lead on to transformative climate-aware actions that they take themselves. The artistic aspects help with visualisation and the creation of new spaces (e.g. Community Food Growing Hubs) to reconsider and reflect on recent local changes, whether increasing levels of social isolation, poor diet or mental health issues, as well as the potential climate change impacts of sea level rise, and increased food costs. The visualisations offer another view on the situation, enabling participants to see and hear themselves speaking and acting.
Berneray Community Polycrub
Photo: Laura Donkers © 2016
The creation of these spaces fits in with the community's inherent qualities of knowing and not knowing. It feels true and believable, and sets parameters that are achievable and, in the end, self-determining.
Looking beyond the west
My work is about understanding mutuality through an artform that's concerned with human interactions and social context acting in spaces of the everyday: negotiating the personal, social and political — in place. It's about working with each other to gain new understandings of how to live in a changing world.
I contend that community embodied knowledge is a valuable resource that is not properly understood at present, and so cannot be truly valued. During my studies, I have come to appreciate something of the cultural disparities between the Western disregard for this knowledge and indigenous societies' world views. These are based on interconnected environmental and spiritual values, and recognise human dependence on ecosystems and our influence on them through the use of land, water and air. As with the island community in Uist, this knowledge has come about through extended processes of observation and interpretation. But in non-western societies, the interconnected world view influences how they value their knowledge, affording a context for understanding from an embodied perspective that references the natural world, its materials, and conditions, in a natural state of co-existence.
To explore this point, I have been undertaking comparative research in Aotearoa New Zealand to gain perspective on the role indigenous communities with long-standing interconnected relationships with their natural environment can play in highlighting the importance of practical local knowledge. Māori see themselves as integral parts of ecosystems, and know that their basic necessities such as materials, health, good social relations, security, and freedom of choice and action are provided directly and indirectly by ecosystems. Knowledge of this interdependency supports their ability to care for their land and their people.
This part of my research — which I will turn to in my next post — focuses on learning how regenerative practices can influence the governance of resources and help to develop flourishing communities. And I am also looking at what maybe limits how we can transfer such a model to other places and contexts.
The term 'Eco-social Art' was first coined by artist-researcher (and ClimateCultures Member) Cathy Fitzgerald as part of her PhD by practice The Ecological Turn: Living Well with forests to explain eco-social art practices.
The Rotterdam-based artist Jeanne Van Heeswijk's work engages with the setting up of 'collaborative production' between people involved in processes of urban development.
An artist-researcher who develops interpretive and participatory positions within the community, contributes to eco-social actions, and creates interactive artworks to disseminate the community's embodied knowledge.
Author Laura DonkersPosted on 4th March 2019 18th June 2020 Categories Cultural ChangeTags Adaptation, Artists, Climate Change, Collaboration, Conversations, Cultural Change, Eco-social arts, Ecological Understanding, Identity, Interdependence, Learning, Participation, Place, Practice, Projects, Solutions, Spaces, Traditional Knowledge, UncertaintyLeave a comment on Eco-social Art — Engaging Climate Literacy
"Attending to the world's extraordinary surprise"
Filmmaker James Murray-White reviews Robert Bringhurst and Jan Zwicky's Learning to Die: Wisdom in the age of climate crisis — a book urging the cultivation of human virtues in a time of crisis and the rejection of lazy thinking.
700 words: estimated reading time 3 minutes
This pocket-sized book arrived randomly, appealing to my curiosity with ominous images of two skulls on its cover — with a glowing blurb from Margaret Atwood, speaking of "truth-filled meditations about grace in the face of mortality". Learning to Die has set my mind on fire, and its moral questioning and truth-telling project will rumble deeply on within me.
Learning to Die. Book cover by William Miller (human skull, engraving, 1818 in 'Engravings of the Skeleton of the Human Body' by John Gordon).
The mind of the wild
In three short sections, 100 pages in total, Canadian poet-philosophers Bringhurst and Zwicky take us on a voyage beyond ancestral time, through the story of our planet and the biosphere. It makes use of recent science – for example, the life of the oriental hornet, vespa orientalis, which has a photosynthetic organ: the bright yellow band on its abdomen is the only organism known to man with this – and deep philosophy that skewers any cosiness or lazy thinking we might be deluding ourselves with.
The first section, Robert Bringhurst's The mind of the wild, is spaciously captivating, inviting us to "let ourselves become enlarged" through ideas and rational truth both forming as poems within the mind. This is unified polymath-eism at its most sparkling, and writing that touches readers deeply because it is spartan in style and speaks to the heart: "The wild, you could say, is a big, self-integrating system whose edges are everywhere and whose centre is nowhere."
Bringhurst makes some crucial points in the conclusion of this section. "Civil disobedience remains an important political and sociological tactic" – this as popular movements such as Extinction Rebellion are gaining great momentum here in the UK and now around the world, and we are all speaking truth to the corrupt political power that has emerged from our very human-systemic thinking. It is thinking that is not at all eco-systemic, or even engaging with the eco.
In section two, A ship from Delos, Jan Zwicky urges the cultivation of human virtues – awareness, humility, courage, justice, amongst others — to gain the moral virtue needed to face the breakdown that is underway, and that we have caused:
To be aware that death is imminent is not to wallow in despair; it is precisely not that. To be aware is to acknowledge what is the case … Pain must be used to turn the soul toward the real, to reform both action and attention: to love what, in this case, remains.
Zwicky — who suggests that "we attend also to the world's extraordinary surprise: its refusal to quit, the weed flowering in tar, the way beauty and brokenness so often go together" — challenges us for simply preaching to the converted, and advises that the solution will be found within simplicity, cultivated through these values – be they Socratic, Buddhist, faith-based, or deep ecology focussed:
Thinking like an ecosystem – forms of life are also forms of meaning. When they are lost, meaning is also lost. We actively desire the health of the ecological community to which we belong. We want to do what it takes to be at home.
The final chapter, Afterword: Optimism and Pessimism, is a long and detailed take-down of American academic Steven Pinker's book Enlightenment Now (2018), in which the esteemed psychologist — who I've seen delight crowds across the UK with his finely honed public lectures on living in less violent times — puts forward a new humanistic and technologically-focused salve for thriving rather than survival or extinction. I hope we see Bringhurst and Zwicky debate with Pinker someplace soon!
Learning to die is a book of urgent brevity. I'd love to be buried with this back-pocket volume so that its inherent wisdom and my vegetable body may merge and decompose together, giving back to the ecosystem something of the planet that we have nourished from it.
Learning to Die: Wisdom in the age of climate crisis, by Robert Bringhurst and Jan Zwicky is published by University of Regina Press, Canada (2018).
Author James Murray-WhitePosted on 18th February 2019 16th May 2020 Categories ReviewTags Books, Climate Change, Cultural Change, Direct Action, Ecological Understanding, Ecology, Extinction, History, Insects, Learning, Loss, Meanings, Poetry, Science, Solutions, UrgencyLeave a comment on "Attending to the world's extraordinary surprise"
My Voice in the Climate Change Crisis
Poet and artist Salli Hipkiss, in the first of two posts, reflects on how she came to understand the urgent challenges of climate change, and decided to write The Riddle of the Trees, a novel supporting positive change.
It all began in 1999 with 'A Novel Idea'. Not the idea for a book, but a wonderful bookshop of the same name on a dusty peninsular of the East African town of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania. Living there as a teacher, a weekend treat was to head to 'A Novel Idea' where highly contemporary international new books appeared as if magically in a town where other correspondence from the rest of the world often failed to arrive. One particular Saturday a book found its way into my hands, as 'just the right book' seems to do from time to time. It was The Carbon War by Jeremy Leggett.
I read it in a couple of power-rationing interrupted evenings (the irony was not lost on me) and came away knowing I had been introduced to possibly the most serious issue of our time, and one that would become a greater and greater problem and international focus over years to come. The issue in question was, of course, climate change. My immediate action was to apply for a new additional post at the school where I worked, aiming to become 'Leader for the Environment'. I was given the post and for two years, in addition to my art teaching duties, I was the Environmental Education coordinator for the secondary school. Over this time I tried to introduce some of the urgency I had sensed through the book, including creating a whole school Environmental Charter.
A meaningful contribution
Jump to September 2006. I had left both Tanzania and full-time teaching in 2002 with the intention to retrain and hopefully carve out a new career in one of my other great passions: music, alongside my arts and sustainability commitments. I was living in Cambridge in the UK as a self-employed arts and sustainability practitioner and educator when An Inconvenient Truth hit the cinemas.
Having read The Carbon War I was very aware of Al Gore and his climate change advocacy work, but most people I knew at that time saw him solely as the former US presidential candidate. An Inconvenient Truth changed all that. I went to see the film three times at the cinema and bought the DVD for friends. My passion was renewed and I wondered once again how I could contribute meaningfully to the conversation around climate change and help to turn things around for the better.
Teacher training workshop with Conservation Society of Sierra Leone in Kenema, Sierra Leone, 2006.
Photo: Salli Hipkiss © 2018 www.sallihipkiss.com
Later that month an opportunity arose to travel to Sierra Leone to help with forest conservation education and my time there helped focus my thoughts. The idea began to form that my personal contribution to the climate change solution could be to write a book that inspired dialogue and change: after all, a book and a bookshop had been my introduction to the issue. Straight away I knew it would be a book for young people, and that the science would be put across through the medium of a magical story. I started to make notes and sketches and by the time I came back from Sierra Leone I had made a firm commitment to write the story.
The advice generally given to writers is to "write what you know". Although my musical ambitions had suffered many setbacks, music remained a source of great joy and wisdom in my life, and as the idea to write a novel took shape I knew music would be one vital thread through the story. The imperative to help with the climate change challenge formed the other.
I began to read more widely about carbon sequestration and carbon trading and gradually the story began to take shape. It was to be set in a future when 'carbon balance' has been achieved through widespread reforestation. A new crisis would then emerge when a mysterious disease befalls one such forest and threatens the others, and therefore puts the carbon balance into peril and the threat of climate change looms again.
My deeper ecological message was to illustrate that in planning for widespread increased sequestration as one solution it is vital that we also keep sight of the need to protect biodiversity and that a healthy planet will only prevail if we seek health on all levels. The other deeper message was that this may only come about if we put aside our cultural differences and work together as one humanity.
The Riddle of the Trees
Characters appeared next: a lonely teenage girl, a shy teenage boy, a Forest Keeper grandfather who is too often absent due to his commitment to the forest, international musicians who carry the sounds of nature and the seeds of culture from all quarters of the world within their music. Other key characters are a heavy-handed Ealdorman who tries to save the forest by imposing greater and greater restrictions, and a reclusive artist living in the forest who provides intuitive wisdom born of her close connection with and immersion in nature. Then the settings emerged: a forest by the sea, a former palace turned cultural centre, a portside town, and a mysterious cottage in the woods with a magical tower and observatory.
I started to write, sitting at a corner desk in my one-bedroom maisonette with a cherry tree just outside the window, or in one of the many cafes in and around Cambridge.
Lino cut illustration for The Riddle of the Trees
Image: Salli Hipkiss © 2018
www.sallihipkiss.com
In 2007 I embarked on a Masters degree in Children's Book Illustration, envisaging, amongst other outcomes, a beautifully illustrated chapter book of my story, or even an interactive ebook with moving illustrations and strains of music at key moments. The course turned out not to be the right place to nurture the story, and a year in I took a break and a part-time job in a shop aptly named 'One World is Enough'.
I continued to write. Then after focusing on finishing the MA in 2010, I completed the first draft of the story and The Riddle of the Trees was born.
Since then the story has undergone numerous revisions and attempts at publication while I have also been raising a family. Now, almost twenty years after first reading The Carbon War I feel inspired once again to try to get the story out into the wider world where I hope it will inspire young people and others to care more deeply about climate and biodiversity issues and to take individual and collective action. Perhaps when this happens we will be one small step closer to achieving not only carbon balance but also 'Carbon Peace'.
Salli's second post in this series is The Riddle of the Trees: A Paean for the Natural World. And her recent poem, Modest Things — asking how English poet, artist and radical William Blake might have responded to climate change and what examples we might take — is published at Finding Blake.
Jeremy Leggett's The Carbon War is no longer in print but you can find second-hand copies online, and you can read a download of his follow up book, The Winning of the Carbon War at JeremyLeggett.net
In An Inconvenient Truth, (2006) by Davis Guggenheim, the film follows former vice president and presidential candidate Al Gore on the lecture circuit, raising public awareness of the dangers of global warming. Grist has an interesting behind-the-scenes at how the film came about, An oral history of An Inconvenient Truth.
The 2017 'sequel' film An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power, by Bonni Cohen and Jon Shenk, follows Gore as he speaks with scientists and leaders, and is featured in this Scientific American (28/7/17) article, Al Gore Returns with an Ever-More Inconvenient Truth.
A writer, artist and educator, producing picture books, a novel and songs, with a background teaching and facilitating arts and sustainability with schools and communities.
Author Salli HipkissPosted on 18th June 2018 16th May 2020 Categories Challenges of Creative EngagementTags Climate Change, Creativity, Cultural Change, Energy, Literature, Music, Solutions, Stories, Storytelling, Trees
ClimateKeys — Moving Climate Conversations Centre Stage
Composer and pianist Lola Perrin offers this roundup of her own and many others' experiences of ClimateKeys — the major, global initiative she set up to bring together musicians, experts and audiences to engage in climate change conversations.
3,100 words: estimated reading time 12.5 minutes
The latest ClimateKeys concert took place at the end of November in a candlelit art gallery under the arches in Waterloo as part of PowPowPower, a month-long series of arts events linked to climate change. Violin and cello duo, Fran & Flora, performed their virtuosic style of sonorous Eastern European folk music, at times bursting into truly beautiful acapella singing. Their set was followed with a talk by Nolan MacGregor whose premise was that the increasingly absurd system of commodity production is one of the chief factors in driving climate change. MacGregor then facilitated a conversation, with audience members sharing comments and ideas. Afterwards we were treated to a final piece of music before viewing the climate change art in the gallery and retiring to the bar where conversation about climate change, and the music, continued.
Performers Fran & Flora with ClimateKeys guest speaker, Social Theorist Nolan MacGregor at PowPowPower
ClimateKeys is an initiative I founded that pairs concert musicians with climate change experts across the world to provide new opportunities for conversations. At the October gala launch in London ten pianists performed to a full house, with the music being interspersed with talks by Sir Jonathon Porritt, the Truth about Zane campaign and Hannah van den Brul. During October and November thirty-three concerts took place in nine countries. The speakers were scientists, policy experts, physicians, economists, radio journalists, legal experts, ecologists, psychologists and other specialists, all giving talks within the setting of a concert performance. Comments, photos, videos have been coming in to give a snapshot view of the concerts, for example;
"The audience members really wanted to talk and learn, and the discussion lasted longer than I thought it would … for me personally, this was incredibly rewarding." (Political Science Professor Matt Hoffmann, who collaborated with pianist Erika Crino in Toronto.)
"Helping spark discussion and lay the foundation for civic engagement among my peers tonight made me feel like I was making a tangible difference in the world." (Caroline, performer and audience member at a Syracuse University London ClimateKeys concert.)
"It's important to think, talk and do something for future generations. The unusual blend of music and ecology is a good environment to make the audience think about climate change, everyday local problems (plastic bags, biodiesel, heating …). Thanks to ClimateKeys we have this wonderful collaboration of our Music and Technical Schools." (Speaker Jovanka Vicentic, Ecology teacher, who collaborated with young pianists in Serbia.)
"One audience question was on how prepared we should be to compromise. If we choose to be vegan, does that mean we can continue to fly around the world?" (Extract from description of the conversation at Cynefin's concert in London with guest speaker Julia Marques, climate change dramatist.)
"The general manager from the venue was very happy too and was also interested in more projects with us." (Pianist Neslihan Schmidt, who performed with Dr Andrzej Ancygier in Berlin.)
Pianist composer Marija Ligeti Balint's ClimateKeys concert in Pancevo, Serbia made the pages of local newspaper Pancevac, 17th November 2017 www.pancevac-online.rs
Excitingly, musicians responded in ways I hadn't anticipated; creating inspired programmes around what climate change means to them and choosing works reflecting nature, the chaos of climate change and the constancy of the Holocene. Composer Alexander Schwarzkopf was inspired to complete and perform his work Liquid Piano, which "investigates evaporation, drought, flood, frost, birdsong and imaginary radio waves from outer space. Repetition is an important element of these compositions as it is integral to the processes of the natural and manmade world." Liquid Piano caught the imagination of local news media and triggered further climate change discussions.
New work is also emerging from the concerts. Florida ClimateKeys speaker, physician Dr John Strasswimmer, who collaborated with Duo Gastesi-Bezerra and artist Justin Guariglia, produced an imaginative video in response to both ClimateKeys and his research using spectroscopy.
Opportunities to imagine, to begin talking
The ClimateKeys concept grew out of my ninth suite, Significantus, for piano, a guest speaker (who gives a talk on positive response to climate change) and a conversation with the audience. Climate Outreach founder George Marshall kindly brainstormed with me and told me that "two thirds of people who are asked when they last had a conversation about climate change say they've never had a conversation about climate change." This made me think that moving the conversation into the centre of whatever we do in life is vital, so I moved it into the centre of my concerts. I've been performing Significantus since September 2016 and have collaborated so far with nearly twenty speakers, reached around 600 audience members and possibly created over 1,500 conversations due to the ripple effect. Now that other musicians are using that same concert formula in ClimateKeys, many hundreds more climate conversations are taking place than I alone can achieve.
ClimateKeys talks are given without projections or PowerPoint presentations, leaving the imagination free to roam. The audience may get a surge of images running through their minds, perhaps the lobster with a Pepsi logo tattoo, or the plastic islands in the seas, or the recent fire in California that burned an area larger than the size of New York City, or the millions of homeless Bangladeshis wading through floodwaters, or shrinking, low lying coastlines in the global South, or oil spills in Dakota, or Black Friday over-consumption, or Chinese smog, or children in the Democratic Republic of Congo mining minerals for our smartphones … the list goes on. Such overwhelm can create a catatonia, but the job of the guest speaker is to negotiate around our potential stupor and suggest positive directions in which to engage; for example, revising our rate of meat consumption, or re-designing our economy so that we live within nature and not at its expense, or putting renewable energy into place in developing nations to fight poverty without increasing warming emissions, or the role of digital innovation in environmental justice, or lobbying politicians around carbon pricing … The speaker synopses on the ClimateKeys website give an overview of the talks.
"Fremd" (strange)
Exhibited at PowPowPower, London, November 2017
Artist: Frederik Marks © 2017
https://www.instagram.com/sh0tkiller
In every corner of the global effort is a myriad of features, responses, ideas, solutions, proposals, foundations, experts, schemes, charities, activist groups. Each day, if we choose to seek it out, and especially by searching on social media, we see more analysis, more reports, more research papers, more conferences, more expertise, more comment. Navigating around increasing flows of information on climate change, choosing what to focus on, trying not to miss the glaringly important, attempting to marry big solutions with individual choices: it is complicated.
ClimateKeys concerts are opportunities to practise talking — or in some cases, to begin talking — about climate change. The first wave of concerts was timed to take place during COP23, to raise public engagement with Bonn. To some extent this was successful as several concerts got local newspaper, TV and radio features, including front page coverage in Trump's local paper, Palm Beach Daily News (I understand that he does read this one!). It was noticeable that there was no coverage by the BBC and UK press, despite numerous efforts. Two ClimateKeys speakers were COP23 delegates; Banja Luka's Professor Goran Trbic and Berlin's Dr Andrzej Ancygier.
Local coverage by the Palm Beach Daily News, 4th November 2017 www.palmbeachdailynews.com
Necessary, desirable and achievable
Ancygier is a policy analyst and a contributor to a new report, 2020 The Climate Turning Point, which took centre stage at COP23. I watched the livestream from the session, 2020: The necessary, desirable and achievable turning point to safeguard our climate. Chaired by Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland, heavyweight panelists Christiana Figueres (former UNFCCC Executive Secretary), Johan Rockström (Director of the Stockholm Resilience Centre), Hans Joachim Schnellnhuber (founding director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research), and Kevin Anderson (Chair of Energy and Climate Change at the Tyndall Centre), made presentations on how, if global CO2 emissions continue to rise beyond 2020, or even remain level, the temperature commitments set in Paris and the Sustainable Development Goals the world agreed to in 2015 become unattainable. The speakers agreed on outcomes although there was some disagreement on methodology. Good questions came from the audience and online viewers.
I recommend watching this session in its entirety (see link below). But to briefly summarise the ten-minute presentations:
Figueres spoke of 2020 being a critical turning point in which we reach peak emissions and thereafter drive emissions into a steadily descending curve to avoid a much steeper rate of reductions later on. In this latter scenario, the curve will look more like a cliff edge and in such a speedy transition society would not be able to support citizens; numerous, sudden job losses would make for social upheaval and unrest. Although she actively engages with an increasing number of corporations, not enough businesses currently work from this perspective.
Anderson argued for mitigation (emissions reduction) to become a COP focus through the top 10% of individual emitters in the world (climatologists are in this 10%) reducing their emissions to the level of the average European and thereby lowering global carbon emissions by 33% straight away. He believes COP itself should "lead by example" and reduce its own footprint. Anderson suggested that the requirement of a zero carbon energy system is a lower total energy consumption (or 'smart 21st Century energy use' as Zero Carbon Britain describes this), and so fundamental systemic change is needed in which we all must start playing our part now.
Rockström detailed clear technological steps to keeping within the 1.5°C limit, and argued for the removal of fossil fuel subsidies as an immediate priority.
Schnellnhuber suggested new private-public partnerships to fund the transition away from employment in dirty energy, proposing that money in tax havens be put to better use and liberated into new investments in clean energy. Schnellnhuber is an adviser to Chancellor Angela Merkel and so it's revealing to think that this type of debate might be happening in the German government.
Repeated themes ran through the session; "it's all about Time", "don't be late", "we've known what it is we must do", "we're saying we must start doing this by 2020", and "the procrastination must stop." So, what will happen if, despite COP outcomes, the procrastination does not stop?
Taking on procrastination
Shortly after signing the Paris Agreement in 2015, in a gut-wrenching moment, British Prime Minister David Cameron slashed subsidies for solar panels. In the Budget right after this year's COP and its focus on the year 2020, Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond announced tax incentives prolonging North Sea oil and gas investment. A month earlier, Brazil announced it was proposing a bill to give subsidies worth $300 billion to oil companies to drill off its shores. Given that the clear message from Bonn is that emissions need to peak two years from now and then go into a steady decline of 6% per year to stay under the carbon budget and have the chance of meeting the 1.5°C limit by mid-century, we don't have time to sit around just in case, miraculously, in the next twenty-four months, the required amount of political will somehow shows up.
When political processes fail, the next step is to turn to the law. Perhaps that next step has already arrived. More and more, we see litigation around the world: the UK government being sued for illegal pollution levels; the US government for stealing a stable climate from American teenagers; 47 countries for not protecting Portuguese schoolchildren from climate change. In a brand new case, Plan B (co-founded by a former government lawyer) is suing the UK government for climate inaction, in a move that has recently drawn support from leading doctors who published a letter in the British Medical Journal on 7th December 2017. Helpfully, Plan B has also made its website into a source of litigation information for the international community. And at the Cambridge Literary Festival in November, ClientEarth founder James Thornton spoke of how the Chinese government is currently training lawyers to sue the Chinese government (yes, you read that correctly!) if it doesn't meet its own targets.
The day after the M2020 presentation in Bonn, climatologist and founder of the innovative televised Global Weirding series Katharine Hayhoe was in conversation with George Marshall at University Church of St Mary in Oxford. Hayhoe was there to talk about her work communicating climate change to 'dismissers' (her preferred term for deniers) in the heartland of Republican Texas. I attended and was glad to bump into fellow ClimateCultures member, author Deborah Tomkins, as well as Cardiff ClimateKeys speaker, environmental psychologist Dr Stuart Capstick. Deborah and I had a conversation a few days later. We discovered we'd both been inspired by Hayhoe's account of having been invited to present a one-hour talk to an oil company in Texas; after two and a half hours they still didn't want to let her go, asking what they should do to become part of the solution rather than remain part of the problem.
This Texan tale, along with the need to stop the political procrastination and immediately remove fossil fuel subsidies described by the panel at COP23, and the role of litigation are four guides to lead my development of ClimateKeys into 2018.
Moving out of the concert hall
After such a strong start, courtesy of the many musicians and speakers who gave concerts in October and November, ClimateKeys is set to carry on initiating more such collaborations in 2018. However it was always the plan, once ClimateKeys was established, to add new types of concerts. Inviting musicians with portable instruments means that concerts can be performed anywhere, not just in music spaces. This has started to happen quite naturally, for example with musicians such as Fran & Flora performing ClimateKeys in an art gallery. So, why not follow Hayhoe's lead and aim for a concert in the Shell Building in collaboration with their Chief Climate Change Advisor, perhaps with a performance by a string quartet? Or in Tesco's head office with their packaging planners? Or at the British Museum in partnership with board members to discuss fossil fuel subsidies, their own link with the industry, and climate change? Perhaps such cultural events are opportunities for new leaders to emerge within companies, and this will inspire new collaborations with ClimateKeys.
ClimateKeys at Syracuse University London, 14th November 2017
It's widely recognised how the activities of the high carbon world cause climate change and how the impacts are greater on the low carbon world. Tragically, recent statistics suggest that around four environmental defenders in indigenous regions are killed each week. When Pope Francis states in his Encyclical that we "have to save Creation", he is surely including those courageous activists standing up to the causes of climate change and being killed in the process. All who are standing up, from the indigenous defenders, to the Pope, to treehouse dwellers in Germany preventing an expansion of lignite mining, to Mary Robinson and the M2020 panelists, to school children taking governments to court, to authors of climate change novels, to climatologists speaking to communities, all are in the same wide mass movement I increasingly see as a form of international service (that I, for one, wish was compulsory). ClimateKeys hopes to play a part in bringing more corporations to this service. They are urgently needed.
You can catch up with the speaker synopses and other news from the performances so far, and with new developments, at the ClimateKeys site.
There is a video from the ClimateKeys concert in Istanbul on 14th November, where guest speaker Ömer Madra, former lecturer of humanitarian law and co-founder of Açık Radyo" (Open Radio), said "As an academic, a writer, a broadcaster and a grandfather, I humbly feel that it is my utmost duty to 'take arms against a sea of troubles' and fight with this 'ultimate absurdity' to the end. This is the demand which originates from the responsibility of the intellectual." Pianist Birsen Ulucan said "The people who surround me in Istanbul, where I will perform ClimateKeys, are not actually aware of the consequences of climate change."
You can read about the Truth about Zane campaign, which is calling for an Independent Panel Inquiry into the death of 7 year old Zane during the February 2014 floods in Surrey, UK, and to protect the public.
You can watch the video of the COP23 seminar, 2020: the necessary, desirable and achievable turning point to safeguard our climate, on the Uppsala Centre for Sustainable Development website – and read about and download the 2020: The Climate Turning Point report at the M2020 site.
You can read about Plan B and their actions to sue the UK government, as well as other legal actions and resources, at the Plan B site. There is an article, Leading doctors back legal action to force UK government to cut carbon emission, at the website of the British Medical Journal.
Katharine Hayhoe's TV series is available on the Global Weirding YouTube channel, and you can watch a film of Katharine talking with George Marshall at the ClimateOutreach site – where, of course, there is loads more about COP23 and communicating climate change.
Visit the Palm Beach Daily News site for their coverage of ClimateKeys – as possibly read by Donald Trump. The article states that "the concert ties in with Earth Works: Mapping the Anthropocene, an exhibition featuring works that evolved from artist Justin Brice Guariglia's flights over Greenland with NASA scientists studying the effect of melting glaciers on sea level rise" and that local ClimateKeys presenter Dr John Strasswimmer "is a dermatologist who is researching a tool that could be used to detect skin cancer using spectroscopy, a technology employed by NASA to measure the contents of the Earth's atmosphere."
The Guardian reports on Environmental defenders being killed in record numbers globally and you can watch a film, "Keep It in the Ground": As COP23 Ends, Activists Protest at Europe's Largest Open-Pit Coal Mine, at the Democracy Now website.
The full text of Pope Francis' Encyclical, Laudato 'Si, is available at the Vatican site.
A composer, pianist and collaborator on keyboard conversations about climate change with economists, lawyers, scientists, artists and other thinkers across the world.
Questioning Venue? Space for creative thinking...
Where would you take ClimateKeys to engage a new audience? Be specific -- choose your venue. Would it be at a company, a council, a call centre, a cultural hub, or a countryside location? And who would be your local expert, and your preferred musician?
Share your thoughts - use the Contact Form, visit the ClimateCultures Facebook page or write a response on your own blog and send a link!
Author Lola PerrinPosted on 11th December 2017 16th May 2020 Categories Cultural ChangeTags Climate Change, Collaboration, Creativity, Culture, Events, Music, Researchers, Solutions, Spaces, Urgency
The Coccolithophores Project 3rd April 2017

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


(Gateway Pundit) – Legendary Boston mobster Whitey Bulger was killed in prison overnight on Tuesday.
89-year-old Boston mob boss James 'Whitey' Bulger was killed in prison by a 'fellow inmate with mafia ties' shortly after he was transferred to a West Virginia federal prison.
Bulger was reportedly wheeled away from security cameras and beaten with a lock in a sock and also had his eyes gouged out.
Sources told The Daily Mail that Whitey Bulger was about to out people in the FBI, specifically FBI officials of the informant program.
Bulger was found dead overnight on Tuesday at USP Hazelton, a high-security prison with an adjacent minimum security satellite camp in Bruceton Mills.
It emerged in Bulger's 2013 trial that he had served as an FBI informant as far back as 1975, though he always denied the claim.
Law enforcement sources tell DailyMail.com that Whitey had been talking about outing people in the FBI – people in the top echelon of the informant program.
The sources said he hadn't even been processed at the West Virginia facility when he was killed. But someone who knew he was being transferred put the word out – the killer had to know he was coming.
In May, Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) published a 48-page report called "Robert Mueller Unmasked" to expose the Special Counsel's decades of corruption.
In the extensive report, Gohmert covered Mueller's shady past of helping mobster Whitey Bulger by eliminating mob competitors.
"Mueller was the head of the Criminal Division as Assistant U.S. Attorney, then as Acting U.S. Attorney. I could not find any explanation online by Mueller as to why he insisted on keeping the defendants in prison that FBI agents—in the pocket of Whitey Bulger—had framed for a murder they did not commit. Make no mistake: these were not honorable people he had incarcerated. But it was part of a pattern that eventually became quite clear that Mueller was more concerned with convicting and putting people in jail he disliked, even if they were innocent of the charges, than he was with ferreting out the truth," Gohmert said.
The Special Counsel learned last week of an alleged scheme to pay off women to fabricate sexual assault allegations against Mueller.
This week, Mueller unleashed the power of the government and referred the scheme to the FBI.
Whitey Bulger, a mob boss with a long history with Mueller was also murdered in prison this week–interesting string of events connected to Mueller are all unfolding at once.


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This rectangle patch is made from an abstract green stripe print cotton scrap fabric. I embroidered a navy blue bug silhouette with red "Fishman" donuts on it. Embroidered using SULKY polyester thread: navy, red and black. Inspired by the Phish song "Bug". The patch can be ironed on for placement, I do recommend stitching it on as well (see below for adhering instructions).


These tropical beauties can be fiddly to get the flesh from if you don't know how, so follow our easy method for perfect results.
Stand the mango upright and, using a sharp knife, slice off the two flatter 'cheeks', avoiding the oval stone in the centre.
Slice the remaining two narrow sides from the mango and discard the stone.
Holding a 'cheek' in the palm of your hand, make a series of parallel cuts into the flesh, cutting until you can just feel the pressure of the knife on your hand – don't break the skin (if you're not too confident, hold the mango, flesh-side up, on a chopping board).
Using a spoon, scoop the flesh away from the skin in perfect slices.
For mango cubes, make another series of cuts at 90 degrees.
Then push the mango inside out and slice the cubes off with the knife.
For more step-by-step expert techniques, click here.


Controversial plans to transfer the powers for policing to the mayor have been rejected today (Friday) - despite a public consultation showing support for the proposals.
In Greater Manchester and London the mayor oversees police. However, the vote today means that the West Midlands will continue to have a separate Police and Crime Commissioner.


text:
Coroner: Woman dies after her son allegedly shoots her in the head in Miami Township
Alexei Siddique, 33, charged with felonious assault
Updated: 8:56 AM EST Jan 6, 2020
WLWT Digital Staff
Dan Griffin
ASHLEY: A 62-YEAR-OLD WOMAN IS FIGHTING FOR HER LIFE IN THE HOSPITAL, AFTER MIAMI TOWNSHIP POLICE SAY HER SON SHOT HER IN THE HEAD. THANK YOU FOR BEING WITH US, I'M ASHLEY KIRKLEN. STEVEN: AND I'M STEVEN ALBRITTON. THIS IS HARDLY THE FIRST TIME INVESTIGATORS SAY THEY'VE BEEN TO THE HOME. WLWT NEWS 5'S DAN GRIFFIN IS LIVE WITH HOW THAT MOTHER IS DOING TONIGHT. DAN? DAN: RIGHT NOW, WE'RE TOLD SHE IS IN CRITICAL BUT STABLE CONDITION. POLICE HAD ALREADY BEEN TO THEIR HOME EARLIER TODAY, BUT THEY SAY SHE TOLD THEM EVERYTHING WAS OK. >> IT SEEMED LIKE EVERY COP CAR IN THE COUNTY CAME FLYING THROUGH HERE, IT WAS JUST CHAOS DAN: CHRIS FOLEY SAW A PROBLEM UNFOLDING IN HIS NEIGHBORHOOD THIS AFTERNOON. MIAMI TOWNSHIP POLICE SWARMED THIS HOME ON WINDY HOLLOW COURT, AFTER MULTIPLE CALLS TO 911. ONE OF THOSE CALLERS, POLICE SAY, DESCRIBED A WOMAN LYING IN A DOORWAY. >> I KNEW EXACTLY WHAT WAS GOING ON BECAUSE THERE'S BEEN STUFF HERE IN THE PAST. DAN: INVESTIGATORS FOUND 62-YEAR-OLD TATIANA ROMANOVA WITH A GUNSHOT WOUND TO THE HEAD, BUT ALIVE. THEY ARRESTED HER SON 33-YEAR-OLD ALEXEI SIDDIQUE ON A FELONIOUS ASSAULT CHARGE. MIAMI TOWNSHIP POLICE CHIEF, MIKE MILLS, SAYS THIS WAS THE SECOND TIME THEY'D BEEN TO THIS FAMILY'S HOME TODAY, BUT HE SAYS THE FIRST VISIT, ROMANOVA TOLD THEM EVERYTHING WAS OK. >> WE EVEN ASKED HER IF SHE WANTED US TO TAKE HER SOMEWHERE AND SHE WOULD NOT GO ANYWHERE. DAN: THE CHIEF SAYS THEY'VE BEEN TO THIS HOME A NUMBER OF TIMES IN THE LAST MONTH, FOR DOMESTIC-TYPE AND OTHER CALLS. >> OUR HANDS ARE TIED OBVIOUSLY WHEN WE DON'T HAVE ANY EVIDENCE OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE OR ANY INDICATIONS OF HARM THAT'S GOING TO BE CAUSED. DAN: HE SAYS SIDDIQUE USED A HANDGUN TO SHOOT ROMANOVA, AND THAT HE THEN CALLED 911 SIX TIMES HIMSELF. IT WAS ENOUGH TO SEND HIS MOTHER TO THE HOSPITAL, FIGHTING FOR HER LIFE. >> SOMETHING WAS ALWAYS HAPPENING AND FINALLY IT HIT A HEAD. DAN: POLICE SAY SIDDIQUE HAS MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES. NEIGHBORS WE TALKED WITH SAY THERE HAVE BEEN A NUMBER OF EPISODES INVOLVING HIM RECENTLY. LIVE AT U.C. MEDICAL CENTER, DAN GRIFFIN, WLWT NEWS 5. STEVEN: MIAMI TOWNSHIP POLICE SAY THEY ARE STILL PROCESSING THE CRIME SCENE AND IT'S UNCLEAR
A 62-year-old woman has died days after police said her son shot her in the head in Miami Township.Investigators said they'd been to the home earlier in the day on New Year's Eve, but the woman told them everything was OK."It seemed like every cop car in the county came flying through here. It was just chaos," neighbor Chris Foley said.Foley saw a problem unfolding in his neighborhood as Miami Township police swarmed a home in the 6000 block of Windy Hollow Court after multiple calls to 911.Police told WLWT one of those callers described a woman lying in a doorway."I knew exactly what was going on because there's been stuff here in the past," Foley said.Investigators found Tatiana Romanova with a gunshot wound to the head, but alive. She was taken to UC Medical Center where she died days later on Jan. 4, according to the Hamilton County coroner. Police arrested her son on New Year's Eve, Alexei Siddique, 33, on charges of felonious assault.Miami Township police Chief Mike Mills said this was the second time they'd been to the family's home during the day, but he said at the first visit, Romanova told them everything was OK."We even asked her if she wanted us to take her somewhere and she wouldn't go anywhere," Mills said.This is hardly the first time investigators have been to the home.The chief said they've been to the home a number of times in the last month, for domestic-type and other calls."Our hands are tied, obviously, when we don't have any evidence of domestic violence or any indications of harm that's going to be caused," Mills said.He said Siddique used a handgun to shoot Romanova and that he then called 911 six times himself. "Something was always happening and finally it hit a head," Foley said.Investigators said Siddique has mental health issues.Neighbors we talked with said there have been a number of episodes involving him recently.Miami Township police said they are still processing the crime scene and it is unclear who owns the gun used in this shooting.
MIAMI TOWNSHIP, Ohio —
A 62-year-old woman has died days after police said her son shot her in the head in Miami Township.
Investigators said they'd been to the home earlier in the day on New Year's Eve, but the woman told them everything was OK.
Police: Man arrested after shooting his mother in the head in Miami Township
"It seemed like every cop car in the county came flying through here. It was just chaos," neighbor Chris Foley said.
Foley saw a problem unfolding in his neighborhood as Miami Township police swarmed a home in the 6000 block of Windy Hollow Court after multiple calls to 911.
Police told WLWT one of those callers described a woman lying in a doorway.
"I knew exactly what was going on because there's been stuff here in the past," Foley said.
Investigators found Tatiana Romanova with a gunshot wound to the head, but alive. She was taken to UC Medical Center where she died days later on Jan. 4, according to the Hamilton County coroner.
Police arrested her son on New Year's Eve, Alexei Siddique, 33, on charges of felonious assault.
Miami Township police Chief Mike Mills said this was the second time they'd been to the family's home during the day, but he said at the first visit, Romanova told them everything was OK.
"We even asked her if she wanted us to take her somewhere and she wouldn't go anywhere," Mills said.
This is hardly the first time investigators have been to the home.
The chief said they've been to the home a number of times in the last month, for domestic-type and other calls.
"Our hands are tied, obviously, when we don't have any evidence of domestic violence or any indications of harm that's going to be caused," Mills said.
He said Siddique used a handgun to shoot Romanova and that he then called 911 six times himself.
"Something was always happening and finally it hit a head," Foley said.
Investigators said Siddique has mental health issues.
Neighbors we talked with said there have been a number of episodes involving him recently.
Miami Township police said they are still processing the crime scene and it is unclear who owns the gun used in this shooting.


text:
The Secret Hotels of New Orleans
6/4/2005 — By Malia Boyd
In the Big Easy, a little peace and quiet is not too much to ask
You might not go to bed until dawn, but do it at the most inviting inns in this perennial party town.
Finding affordable rooms in New Orleans between January and early May is as hard as finding clean politicians here: They exist, but, boy, are they hidden. The Sugar Bowl/Mardi Gras/St. Pat's/French Quarter Fest/Jazz Fest megaseason all but guarantees a constant influx of bons vivants who snarf up every hotel, motel, and B&B cubbyhole around. It is not unheard-of for basic digs at, say, the Hilton to go for north of $300. But if you book early at one of the spots below (which we priced on a high-season weekend outside of the super- expensive festival periods), you may be able to have your King Cake and eat it, too.
The McKendrick-Breaux House is really two houses, both beautifully restored 1865 Greek Revivals in the Lower Garden District, connected by a shady courtyard. The nine rooms bear extravagant touches, like floor-to-ceiling silk dupioni drapes and fresh flowers, and each has a spacious bathroom--most are resplendent with pedestal sinks, claw-foot bathtubs, and luxuriously thick robes with slippers.
An incarnation of the city's grand (yet sometimes seedy) past, The Columns Hotel is a Garden District mansion that played a brothel in the 1978 Brooke Shields movie Pretty Baby. Some of the 20 rooms have seen better days--tatty wallpaper, threadbare drapes, slightly banged-up furniture. But they're clean, and when you consider the hotel's ornate mahogany bar, its expansive porch, and the sounds of live jazz in the ballroom, the shabbiness just feels right. And the potential is enormous.
Well situated Uptown on one of the Carnival parade routes, Beau Sejour has six rooms in a 100-year-old Italianate home set high on an avenue canopied by live oaks. The ground-floor suite is the best option, but two of the upstairs rooms have balconies overlooking the street. If the weather is warm enough--which it often is, even in February--guests take a dip in the small pool or hold cookouts around the gas grill.
The 137-room Hotel Le Cirque stands 10 stories tall on Lee Circle, near the streetcar stop, and around the corner from the city's Warehouse Arts district. The rooms are small, mod-looking affairs done in an eye-lulling range of neutrals. In all, it's a pretty slick spot considering the price, and guests get free access to a nearby gym.
The brand-new Renaissance Arts Hotel, smack in the Warehouse Arts district, has gussied itself up with original works everywhere. There's a gallery off the lobby and a sculpture garden on the second floor. Even the rooms are decked in local art and bold linens. It's a gimmick that works. All that creativity fills the hotel with a certain energy and makes staying here fun.
Parked on the streetcar line in the Central Business District and near the French Quarter, the Hotel Monaco--a renovated former Masonic temple from 1926--doesn't rest on the laurels of its location. It's also historic and colorful. The lobby and rooms are aflame in hot hues and contrasting prints, and its trendy restaurant, Cobalt, hosts live jazz on the weekends.
Le Richelieu probably peaked in 1975 when Paul and Linda McCartney spent two months holed up on its top floor, which overlooks the street on the downriver end of the Quarter. The 86 rooms are a bit dark and none too stylish. But affordable beds in the Vieux Carré are rare, and if you request a spot on the second floor, which has 12- to 14-foot ceilings and a fabulous balcony, you won't be sorry.
Just up the road lies Hotel Provincial, a series of buildings built in the mid-1800s. Because of sporadic development, each of the 93 rooms sports a different layout and is filled with antiques that have seen better days. Nonetheless, the hotel's prime location, ample parking, and two pools make it a sweet spot to hang your mask during high season.
In the Faubourg Marigny, just downriver of the Quarter, the six-room B&W Courtyards is run by two chatty and opinionated dudes who are only too happy to tell you all the coolest places to eat, drink, and dance. Rooms range in size and style--everything from tiger stripes to Balinese--and most of them open onto one of three fountained courtyards.
Summer meltdown in the Big Easy
In August--when it feels like you're walking around town with a hot, wet blanket wrapped around your head--even the prices at the snazziest hotels begin to droop. Book as late as you can.
The grand-mere of posh Crescent City hotels, the Windsor Court (300 Gravier St., 888/596-0955, windsorcourthotel.com/) rents mostly suites. In deep summer, an 800-square-foot unit that normally costs $700 goes for $240. The Soniat House (1133 Chartres St., 800/544-8808, soniathouse.com/), on the quiet, lower end of the French Quarter, has 33 rooms with gleaming antiques and art. The cheapest goes for $250 in season, but come the dog days, just a single Ben Franklin will get you in. A couple of weeks before Mardi Gras, you'll pay $450 for a room at the W Hotel French Quarter (316 Chartres St., 888/625-5144, whotels.com/), but a few weeks before Labor Day, you can set the A/C to 60 and jump into its pillow-top beds for half that. Meanwhile, at the Ritz-Carlton (921 Canal St., 800/241-3333, ritzcarlton.com/), a $415 room can be had for just $129. Take the money you save and spend it at the spa.
McKendrick-Breaux House 1474 Magazine St., 888/570-1700, mckendrick-breaux.com, $135
The Columns Hotel 3811 St. Charles Ave., 800/445-9308, thecolumns.com, $110
Beau Sejour 1930 Napoleon Ave., 888/897-9398, beausejourbandb.com, $130
Hotel Le Cirque 936 St. Charles Ave., 800/684-9525, neworleansfinehotels.com, $119
Renaissance Arts Hotel 700 Tchoupitoulas St., 800/468-3571, renaissancehotels.com/, $159
Hotel Monaco 333 St. Charles Ave., 866/685-8359, monaco-neworleans.com, $144
Le Richelieu 1234 Chartres St., 800/535-9653, lerichelieuhotel.com, $140
Hotel Provincial 1024 Chartres St., 800/535-7922, hotelprovincial.com, $149
B&W Courtyards 2425 Chartres St., 800/585-5731, bandwcourtyards.com, $129
4 reasons why you should travel to the Bahamas thi...
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text:
911 merger concerns Sarpy County residents
Updated: 7:31 PM CST Feb 18, 2014
Last Friday KETV NewsWatch 7 first reported on the preliminary discussions to merge Douglas and Sarpy counties 911 systems. Some said the merger will increase public safety and save money, but others have serious concerns.Officials said the merger could save both counties millions of dollars, but some said the real cost to saving money could mean the loss of dozens of jobs."Potentially some of the 911 dispatchers' jobs are on the line in Sarpy County," said Chad, a concerned Sarpy County resident. Chad said those jobs shouldn't be up the County Board."This should be open to the public, to let Sarpy County stand for themselves as a people," he said.-- Video: 911 merger concerns residents about job cutsChad is one of thousands of people who 'liked' the Keep Sarpy County 911 Center Facebook page."In less than 24 hours, over 1,000 likes on it, which stands kind of for itself," he said.Those who share the same concerns wrote on the Facebook page, "A lot could be at stake, including customization, services, quality, due to policy change and much more."But Papillion Fire Chief Bill Bowes said if the merger does happen, safety will not be impacted."It really won't impact how we do things at all. Our job starts when the tones go off in the fire station," Bowes said.The fire chief said technology and GPS does the rest on the road.Douglas County said Friday merging the two centers would save $2 million."That's the driving force behind this -- saving money. Now at the same time we want to make sure that the service levels don't decline and preferably increase," Bowes said.Sarpy County board members said there won't be a citizen vote because the merger itself wouldn't cost anything, but the board's vote will be public.Washington and Cass counties were rumored to join as well, but the Washington County sheriff said the rumor isn't true and Cass County hasn't returned KETV NewsWatch 7's phone calls.The merger is still just in the discussion phase.
SARPY COUNTY, Neb. —
Last Friday KETV NewsWatch 7 first reported on the preliminary discussions to merge Douglas and Sarpy counties 911 systems. Some said the merger will increase public safety and save money, but others have serious concerns.
Officials said the merger could save both counties millions of dollars, but some said the real cost to saving money could mean the loss of dozens of jobs.
Report gives Sarpy County dispatch below-standard rating
Douglas, Sarpy counties look to combine 911 call centers
"Potentially some of the 911 dispatchers' jobs are on the line in Sarpy County," said Chad, a concerned Sarpy County resident.
Chad said those jobs shouldn't be up the County Board.
"This should be open to the public, to let Sarpy County stand for themselves as a people," he said.
-- Video: 911 merger concerns residents about job cuts
Chad is one of thousands of people who 'liked' the Keep Sarpy County 911 Center Facebook page.
"In less than 24 hours, over 1,000 likes on it, which stands kind of for itself," he said.
Those who share the same concerns wrote on the Facebook page, "A lot could be at stake, including customization, services, quality, due to policy change and much more."
But Papillion Fire Chief Bill Bowes said if the merger does happen, safety will not be impacted.
"It really won't impact how we do things at all. Our job starts when the tones go off in the fire station," Bowes said.
The fire chief said technology and GPS does the rest on the road.
Douglas County said Friday merging the two centers would save $2 million.
"That's the driving force behind this -- saving money. Now at the same time we want to make sure that the service levels don't decline and preferably increase," Bowes said.
Sarpy County board members said there won't be a citizen vote because the merger itself wouldn't cost anything, but the board's vote will be public.
Washington and Cass counties were rumored to join as well, but the Washington County sheriff said the rumor isn't true and Cass County hasn't returned KETV NewsWatch 7's phone calls.
The merger is still just in the discussion phase.


…is driven to finish every search with creative and thoughtful deliberation and implementation. To Fred, it is all about the thrill of the hunt, and contributing to his associates' success and development.
Fred leads the Finance and Investor Relations Practice at Berkhemer Clayton. After spending seven years in commercial banking, the balance of his career has been in retained executive search, first at Price Waterhouse where at 29 years of age he launched and grew a Los Angeles Executive Search and Human Resource Consulting practice into a western U.S. presence, which included consultants in Newport Beach, San Diego, San Francisco and Denver. He was then a partner in an international retained executive search firm that was acquired. For the last 20 years, he has been Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of Berkhemer Clayton, Inc., serving client corporations in finance and accounting, investor relations, corporate communications, general administrative management and corporate directorship in all industries.
In addition to managing searches for clients, as CEO, Fred manages operations in the firm's downtown Los Angeles and Hong Kong offices. The Hong Kong office serves U.S. multinational corporations that require communications and marketing executives for operations in Asia Pacific.
A University of Southern California graduate, Fred earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from the Marshall School and completed an advanced professional development program at the University of Michigan graduate school of business.
Fred currently serves on the Los Angeles board of directors of the National Investor Relations Institute (NIRI) and on the PricewaterhouseCoopers Los Angeles Alumni Advisory Council. He was previously on the board of INROADS/Southern California where he twice served as Chairman and is past President of The Paralysis Project of America.


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I am playing around with an idea for a new book at the moment and I am struggling to come up with names for my characters. Would you be able to help? I can't tell you much about the story because a story idea has to stay top secret until it is written, but I can tell you it includes some pets with unusual characteristics who form part of a mission team. They look normal on the outside but actually they are totally extraordinary when you get to know them.
He is the brains behind the team but is unable to fly because he is partially paralysed down one side. This doesn't stop him getting about though because he has a team of willing helpers who can take him places in the front basket of their bicycles. His perch at home is on wheels so he can be moved about. Although his body is a little bit wonky, his mind is as sharp as a razor. He is able to crack any code, remember amazing details on maps and knows nearly everything about everything.
If you ever went on University Challenge, you would want this bird on the team.
But what is his name?
Next up is this gorgeous dog.
She is young, bouncy and playful. She is full of beans as all young dogs are. She looks cute doesn't she? But underneath she is immensely brave and loyal and would put herself at risk to save her friends. She also has a hidden talent but I haven't decided what it is yet.
I think her name should reflect what she looks like rather than betray her brave personality. What do you think I should name her?
The next character is the clown of the team. He never stops talking.
He's constantly complaining about everything and has a serious inferiority complex. He is convinced that everyone is better than him which isn't true. His team mates get fed up with his constant yabbering especially when they are on a secret mission. But he is an essential part of the team because he understands every human and animal language which is an essential skill for the missions they go on.
I think his name should be something very ordinary so that it reflects his obsession with being normal compared to his amazing team mates.
Can you think of a name for this rat?
Last up is the villain. Or one of them. I'm already regretting choosing this animal to feature in my book because I am a total arachnophobic. Even selecting this picture to add to this post gave me the heebie jeebies.
This spider is almost as clever as the parrot but instead of wanting to do good, he wants to do evil. He is a classic supervillain. He wants revenge on humans for something that was done to him in the past. He's vicious and cruel and can get others's to do what he wants using something like the Jedi mind trick.
What would you call a spider like that?
I look forward to hearing your suggestions.
Tags: characters, Jo Franklin, names. Bookmark the permalink.
Great idea. Do you think Maizy would work?


text:
Q: Crash on WatchKit Extension I made an application for the Apple Watch, which I have published. Today, I received a crash log from Apple. According to them, my app crashes when using voice input on the Apple Watch. Here is my crash log. Does anybody have advice? I cannot find the reason why my app would crash, since it works totally fine when testing it myself
Incident Identifier: 623D5DE7-27F9-44CE-83B3-3101D29CA71A
CrashReporter Key:   3a62bf8f6b6b5aea51f9fa22b9df0f117f8e8a4b
Hardware Model:      xxx
Process:             awtrans WatchKit Extension [1038]
Path:                /private/var/mobile/Containers/Bundle/Application/654805BF-84CD-42E8-AAB6-A8E53384D632/awtrans.app/PlugIns/awtrans WatchKit Extension.appex/awtrans WatchKit Extension
Identifier:          com.prodict.awtrans.watchkitextension
Version:             4.0 (1.0)
Code Type:           ARM-64 (Native)
Parent Process:      launchd [1]

Date/Time:           2015-04-23 04:44:26.640 -0700
Launch Time:         2015-04-23 04:43:51.234 -0700
OS Version:          iOS 8.3 (12F70)
Report Version:      105

Exception Type:  EXC_CRASH (SIGABRT)
Exception Codes: 0x0000000000000000, 0x0000000000000000
Triggered by Thread:  1

Last Exception Backtrace:
(0x1837b82d8 0x194fdc0e4 0x1837b8218 0x1846446f0 0x100036bd0 0x19562d994 0x19562d954 0x19563a780 0x19563bc4c 0x19580d22c 0x19580cef0)

Thread 0 name:  Dispatch queue: com.apple.main-thread
Thread 0:
0   libsystem_kernel.dylib          0x0000000195758e0c 0x195758000 + 3596
1   libsystem_kernel.dylib          0x0000000195758c84 0x195758000 + 3204
2   CoreFoundation                  0x000000018376f720 0x183690000 + 915232
3   CoreFoundation                  0x000000018376d674 0x183690000 + 906868
4   CoreFoundation                  0x00000001836992d0 0x183690000 + 37584
5   Foundation                      0x00000001845d14c4 0x1845c4000 + 54468
6   Foundation                      0x000000018462b80c 0x1845c4000 + 423948
7   libxpc.dylib                    0x00000001958401b0 0x195830000 + 65968
8   libxpc.dylib                    0x0000000195841f1c 0x195830000 + 73500
9   Foundation                      0x00000001847a2908 0x1845c4000 + 1960200
10  PlugInKit                       0x000000018f3ea80c 0x18f3dc000 + 59404
11  WatchKit                        0x0000000188c12248 0x188be8000 + 172616
12  libdyld.dylib                   0x000000019565aa04 0x195658000 + 10756

Thread 1 name:  Dispatch queue: com.apple.root.default-qos
Thread 1 Crashed:
0   libsystem_kernel.dylib          0x0000000195773270 0x195758000 + 111216
1   libsystem_pthread.dylib         0x000000019581116c 0x19580c000 + 20844
2   libsystem_c.dylib               0x00000001956eab14 0x195688000 + 404244
3   libc++abi.dylib                 0x00000001947a9414 0x1947a8000 + 5140
4   libc++abi.dylib                 0x00000001947c8b88 0x1947a8000 + 134024
5   libobjc.A.dylib                 0x0000000194fdc3bc 0x194fd4000 + 33724
6   libc++abi.dylib                 0x00000001947c5bb0 0x1947a8000 + 121776
7   libc++abi.dylib                 0x00000001947c5474 0x1947a8000 + 119924
8   libobjc.A.dylib                 0x0000000194fdc200 0x194fd4000 + 33280
9   CoreFoundation                  0x00000001837b8214 0x183690000 + 1212948
10  Foundation                      0x00000001846446ec 0x1845c4000 + 526060
11  awtrans WatchKit Extension      0x0000000100036bcc 0x10002c000 + 43980
12  libdispatch.dylib               0x000000019562d990 0x19562c000 + 6544
13  libdispatch.dylib               0x000000019562d950 0x19562c000 + 6480
14  libdispatch.dylib               0x000000019563a77c 0x19562c000 + 59260
15  libdispatch.dylib               0x000000019563bc48 0x19562c000 + 64584
16  libsystem_pthread.dylib         0x000000019580d228 0x19580c000 + 4648
17  libsystem_pthread.dylib         0x000000019580ceec 0x19580c000 + 3820

Thread 2 name:  Dispatch queue: com.apple.libdispatch-manager
Thread 2:
0   libsystem_kernel.dylib          0x0000000195758c24 0x195758000 + 3108
1   libdispatch.dylib               0x000000019563de6c 0x19562c000 + 73324
2   libdispatch.dylib               0x000000019562f998 0x19562c000 + 14744

Thread 3:
0   libsystem_kernel.dylib          0x0000000195773c78 0x195758000 + 113784
1   libsystem_pthread.dylib         0x000000019580d2d8 0x19580c000 + 4824
2   libsystem_pthread.dylib         0x000000019580ceec 0x19580c000 + 3820

Thread 4 name:  com.apple.NSURLConnectionLoader
Thread 4:
0   libsystem_kernel.dylib          0x0000000195758e0c 0x195758000 + 3596
1   libsystem_kernel.dylib          0x0000000195758c84 0x195758000 + 3204
2   CoreFoundation                  0x000000018376f720 0x183690000 + 915232
3   CoreFoundation                  0x000000018376d674 0x183690000 + 906868
4   CoreFoundation                  0x00000001836992d0 0x183690000 + 37584
5   CFNetwork                       0x000000018317a890 0x1830dc000 + 649360
6   Foundation                      0x00000001846b9db4 0x1845c4000 + 1007028
7   libsystem_pthread.dylib         0x000000019580fdc4 0x19580c000 + 15812
8   libsystem_pthread.dylib         0x000000019580fd20 0x19580c000 + 15648
9   libsystem_pthread.dylib         0x000000019580cef4 0x19580c000 + 3828

Thread 5 name:  com.apple.CFSocket.private
Thread 5:
0   libsystem_kernel.dylib          0x0000000195773498 0x195758000 + 111768
1   CoreFoundation                  0x0000000183775124 0x183690000 + 938276
2   libsystem_pthread.dylib         0x000000019580fdc4 0x19580c000 + 15812
3   libsystem_pthread.dylib         0x000000019580fd20 0x19580c000 + 15648
4   libsystem_pthread.dylib         0x000000019580cef4 0x19580c000 + 3828

A: The significant part of it is that you cannot reproduce the steps the customer has.  For example, you voice input commands work, their voice commands cause a crash.  However, note that voice commands can require iPhone help and network calls back to apple to process the audio, so a key difference is the network environment they are sitting in, and the latencies they see.
Do you have any code that does actions upon a callback -- those could be coming in later or earlier than in your testing environment, such as when the voice command has completed and the text is available.
One approach is to try introducing artificial timing delays in your code and adding logging code whenever a callback comes in.  Perhaps download the network link conditioner developer tool from Apple member centre (which allows introduction of latencies and errors in the network).
I have noticed that in a electrically noisy environment, I get called by (darwin notification in this case) multiple times (maybe OS layer re-sends).  So its also worth looking at your data protocols (if you have any).  Make sure you catch delayed messages and duplicate messages (say put in a random token into any messaging call).
Since your application is out in the wild the conditions it is used in can vary a lot depending on how widely it is used.  So simulating bad conditions and added code/logging to handle stray conditions comes more important as usage grows.
Because your error is SIGABRT it means the system knows you have done something wrong that it can detect; these are often calling methods on released objects or calling methods not supported on the given object.  Its probably some standard error, not something exotic that you need to look out for.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Harford on a Carbon Tax
by Alex Tabarrok November 26, 2021 at 7:24 am in
Tim Harford has a good piece on the virtues of a carbon tax:
A friend recently wrote to me agonising over an ethical question. He was pondering a long-haul trip to see his family but was all too aware that the flight would have a huge carbon footprint. Could the journey possibly be justified? I suggested that my friend find out what the carbon footprint was (a tonne of CO2, it turns out) and then imagine a hypothetical carbon tax. Would he still be willing to travel if he had to pay the tax? If not, the trip wasn't worth it.
My advice raises the question of what this carbon tax should be. At a carbon tax of £5 per tonne of CO2 — plenty of carbon global emissions are taxed at less than that — the extra tax on that one-tonne return flight would be trivial. At a more serious £50, it would be noticeable but perhaps not decisive. (The emissions trading systems in the EU and the UK until recently implied a carbon price of around £50 per tonne of CO2; the UK price has since leapt. US Democrats are pondering their own carbon tax.) If the carbon tax were a deep-green £500 per tonne of CO2, my friend would have to be missing his family more than most of us ever do.
I realise it is quixotic to advise checking one's personal consumption decisions against a completely hypothetical tax, but it gets to the core of what a carbon tax is for. It isn't just an incentive to change behaviour; it's a source of information about which behaviour we most urgently need to change.
Exactly right. Or as Tyler and I say in Modern Principles, a price is a signal wrapped up in an incentive. Put a price on carbon and every actor in the system will be incentivized to follow the signal and reduce carbon use in ways that no one can predict or plan.
Tim concludes:
…A carbon tax changes that by making the climate impact as real a cost as any other. It sends a signal along all those supply chains, nudging every decision towards the lower-carbon alternative. A shopper may decide that a carbon-taxed T-shirt is too costly, but meanwhile the textile factory is looking to save on electricity, while the electricity supplier is switching to solar. Every part of the value chain becomes greener.
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