Earth Talk | Sunspots, solar wind and oil shale
Dear EarthTalk: Don’t some scientists point to sunspots and solar wind as having more impact on climate change than human industrial activity?
- David Noss, California, Md.
Sunspots are storms on the sun’s surface that are marked by intense magnetic activity and play host to solar flares and hot gassy ejections from the sun’s corona. Scientists believe that the number of spots on the sun cycles over time, reaching a peak—the so-called Solar Maximum—every 11 years or so. Some studies indicate that sunspot activity overall has doubled in the last century. The apparent result down here on Earth is that the sun glows brighter by about 0.1 percent now than it did 100 years ago. Read more
Dinner Diva | Summer rubber chicken
In the midst of summer, even grilling outside can get tedious and hot. Sure, you’ve kept the house cool by going outside to do your cooking, but baby it’s hot outside! Read more
The FlyLady | Making a peaceful move
Every summer, many families decide to move to a new home. This move can be across town or on the other side of the country. Making the move in the summertime is easier on the children. Change is always difficult even in the best of times. Now with the job market and the housing situation, many families are forced to downsize. Then we also have our parents deciding to get rid of their larger homes and move into something that fits their life in retirement. Some families are moving in together. Moving can be overwhelming and emotional! We can help you! Read more
Moore’s ‘Folk Singer’ due out in August
Nathan Moore is a folk singer. For that, he makes no apologies. Some would run from the connotations that such a label might convey, but on his forthcoming EP, entitled “Folk Singer,” Moore quite matter-of-factly calls it as he sees it.
“When I first began performing alone I would say, ‘Hey, you’re listening to a folk singer,’ sort of marking the contrast in my own light of being without a band, but also teasing the crowd because I know so many of them would never think of themselves as liking folk singers,” explains Moore. “But, the truth be told, if a folk singer is a lone soul pining and rejoicing in the magic of life with his own songs to the beat of his own invisible drummer, then I’m a folk singer sure as I’m here.” Read more
Festival combines the serious and casual, sobering and hopeful
Fanfares and flip-flops. Handel’s massive story of Samson and two short works written within the past year. A call to hope arising from the ashes of New York’s World Trade Center.
The 17th annual Shenandoah Valley Bach Festival at Eastern Mennonite University combined serious music with casual dress, Baroque masterworks with contemporary compositions and painful reflections with hard-won inspiration. Read more
Federal, state grants aid local criminal-justice efforts
State money going to support programs to improve criminal-justice services across the Commonwealth will be flowing to a few worthy programs in the Shenandoah Valley and Central Virginia.
The Collins Center and First Step Inc. in Harrisonburg will receive funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, more popularly referred to as the federal stimulus package. The Collins Center will get $212,766 in federal funds to go toward its domestic-violence programs, according to a release from Gov. Tim Kaine’s office released earlier this week. First Step Inc. will get $50,380 in federal dollars. Read more
Mike Judge | Weekend Watchdog
It’s the last weekend to enjoy your interleague play for the season. So we’ve got the big matchups – Yankees at Mets, Cubs at White Sox, L.A. Angels at …Arizona. Well, it’s hard to balance schedules when the West and Central divisions have different number of teams. Read more
Seven ACC ballers picked in NBA Draft first round
The ACC led all conferences with seven first-round draft picks in the 2009 NBA Draft – the Pac-10 was second with six. Since 1986, the ACC has had 88 players selected in the first round of the NBA draft, the Big East is second with 76 and the Pac-10 third with 67. Read more
Tech sells out allotment for ‘Bama opener
The Virginia Tech Athletics Department announced earlier this week that it has sold its allotment of over 30,000 tickets to the 2009 Chick-fil-A College Kickoff, a game featuring the Hokies and the University of Alabama on Sept. 5 in Atlanta, Ga. Read more
New website touts locally-produced wood products
The Shenandoah Resource Conservation and Development (RC&D) Council’s Forestry Committee announces a new “Local Woods” web-based directory that features locally-produced wood products, public parks and forests in the Shenandoah Valley, and sources of local forestry assistance for private woodland owners. Read more
Tiller to participate in prestigious seminar abroad program
Blue Ridge Community College professor Nell Tiller of Weyers Cave will participate in the month-long 2009 Fulbright-Hays Seminars Abroad: History and Culture in China Program in June and July, administered by the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations. Read more
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Dad’s Point of View | Summertime, and the livin’ is easy
Posted on June 27, 2009 · 1 Comment
Filed under Blogs · Tagged with a dad's point of view, bruce sallan