https://novemberwestwears.blogspot.com/

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Blogger and freelance writer. I once aspired to being an urban planner. I write about community development, among other things.

https://doreenmichele.blogspot.com/

Mushu if you're so worried, go stand watch.

Aaaah! We're DOOMED! There are a couple of things I KNOW they're bound to notice.

Reddit: u/DoreenMichele

That is my only active social media account.

(Yes, I have a lobste.rs account. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20261196)

Wetlands store carbon, improve water quality, and serve as critical habitat for many species. Historically, their importance was not recognized and they were often drained to provide land for farming, industry and housing.

Since the 1700s, the continental US has lost more than half of its total acreage of wetlands. The world has lost more than 85 percent.

Peatlands cover just 3 percent of the planet’s surface but they store about 30 percent of all land-based carbon, or twice as much as all of the world’s forests combined while taking up far less space. Coastal wetlands remove atmospheric CO2 up to fifty-five times faster than rain forests.

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I have a strong math background for just about any crowd except HN. I took college equivalent math classes from 8th through 11th and was inducted into Mu Alpha Theta, a college level math honor society, in 11th grade, the earliest one could be inducted.

AA in Humanities (cum laude), Certificate in GIS from UC-Riverside, spent 5+ years at a Fortune 500 company soaking up the award-winning design work of their wholly owned subsidiary, and I'm a few classes shy of a BS in Environmental Resource Management with a concentration in Housing from an online program at CSU-Bakersfield back before online programs were common.

In theory, I could still complete that online BS, which was intended as preparation for a Master's in Urban Planning.

FYI: We speak a lot with great certainty about things when in reality we have less hard data than popular media portrays us as having. If we have any hope of fixing this world, we first need to get the facts straight.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27658488

--- Notes about HN Culture ---

Jokes are OK here, though should be used sparingly. (Most of my jokes get downvoted, but this one got dozens of upvotes: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14996229)

If your joke got downvoted, it's not because no one here has a sense of humor. That's just not what we come here for and we won't like you more because you insulted us about it.

Sarcasm isn't ideal, but if you use it, you should probably end it with /s so people are more likely to understand you.

No, the article probably wasn't flagged by the moderator/"YC". Flags are from the user base.

Also: Please remember that UFO still stands for Unidentified Flying Object, not Alien Spacecraft from Another Planet. The US government tracks such primarily for security reasons.

(This last one bothers me because if HN cannot pedantically get this right, who the hell can? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36966061)

If you write code and are looking for a positive thing to do: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36232441.

Last, remember it's the internet.

Hacker News gets millions of visitors. Some people here are self-made millionaires, have PhDs or other substantial expertise, etc. and their profile and comments may not indicate it. People also may be "nobody" today but "somebody" down the road and may remember you were ugly to them once. It's in your best interest to follow the guidelines and try to be polite to everyone at all times.

But, at the same time, don't assume that someone knows what they are talking about. They let anybody in here who follows the rules, so posting here isn't actually evidence of any kind of real world credentials or expertise.

(FYI: Doubling down harder and chest beating louder seems to somewhat correlate to NOT having any real expertise.)

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Lady Bracknell: Do you smoke?

Jack: Well, yes, I must admit I smoke.

Lady Bracknell: I am glad to hear it. A man should always have an occupation of some kind. There are far too many idle men in London as it is.

-- The Importance of Being Earnest, by Oscar Wilde

(I don't smoke. My "bad habits" for occupying myself include HN.)

I added the following link when jellyfish were in the news for a time:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27201456

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There's always an Arquillian Battle Cruiser, or a Korilian Death Ray, or an intergalactic plague that is about to wipe out all life on this miserable planet. The only way these people can get on with their happy lives is that they do not know about it! -- Men in Black

Y2K: Predicted global financial meltdown.

Reality: VCRs stopped being programmable.

Kuwaiti Oil Well Fires: Predicted to burn for years and be a global environmental catastrophe.

Reality: They invented new techniques and put it out in six months.

Et cetera.

Generally speaking, toxic substances are only "cheap" due to externalizing many of the costs involved, like increased healthcare costs and lost productivity. If you do a thorough analysis of the costs of using such chemicals, they aren't cheap at all.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34077183

At one time, one of my hobbies was privately tracking gender-related data on HN. I'm sure you don't care, I just want to know what this link is for my own purposes without having to click it every time I see it.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38035884

---- December 13, 2024:

I rarely post anymore and seem to be on track to not reverse that trend. One reason I don't participate as much as I used to is because I sincerely believe in astrology, karma and reincarnation which is not a respected set of beliefs here, so even though you cannot talk trash about people who believe in Christianity, you can OPENLY call people "idiots" on HN for believing in astrology, a la this comment:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35082868

This is a more detailed explanation of my objections to being pissed on by people who believe in Christianity and think their irrational beliefs merit respect and my irrational beliefs do not:

https://gistofthegemini.blogspot.com/2023/03/do-you-see-what-i-see.html

I had at one time hoped to earn the respect of people here on merit. I seem to be the only woman to have ever spent time on the leaderboard here and I've done it twice under two different handles.

But, no, being on the leaderboard as a woman has only gotten me more drama with no concomitant upside and I'm more thoroughly convinced than ever the policy is "No Girls Allowed in the Old Boys Club except hookers or wives hanging on some man's arm."

Sorry, I've only ever sucked cock for fun, not to sleep my way into appearing to have power while merely being a whore. So count me out.