11/13 Toxics, BC Quake, Bob Hart, "Optimizer," polling

Check out Ecology's web site describing what's known about toxic chemical pollution sources, loadings, pathways and hazards in Puget Sound. Puget Sound Toxics Assessment

Following the Oct. 27 magnitude-7.7 earthquake that rocked Haida Gwaii and B.C.’s northern coast, the provincial government came under fire for taking too long to notify people about a possible tsunami. The B.C. Ministry of Justice announced Monday that under its new system it will forward alerts it receives from the U.S.-based West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Centre to all local authorities, first responders and the media. After the emails are sent, the Crown agency will post information on Twitter and other social media sites. Kevin Drews reports. B.C. changes how tsunami alerts issued following Haida Gwaii quake

Skagit County’s agricultural community has lost one of its most tireless leaders and dedicated advocates with the passing of Robert “Bob” Ranville Hart. Hart, who died Nov. 4, was a fourth-generation Skagitonian, born in Mount Vernon in 1947 to Ranville Ernest and Margaret Jennings Hart. Hart expanded his family’s nursery in La Conner — now Christianson’s Nursery — and turned his family’s homestead grounds into the La Conner Flats display garden. Elected in 1996, Hart served as a Skagit County commissioner for eight years. While in office, he was one of two commissioners who voted to pass the Conservation Futures Fund ordinance, which uses local taxes along with state, federal and private dollars to purchase and protect Skagit farmland for future generations.  Bob Hart remembered as a leading advocate for Skagit farmland


Two things to learn from the recent national campaign:

It was called “the Optimizer,” and, strategists for President Obama say it is how he beat a better-financed Republican opposition in the advertising war. Culling never-before-used data about viewing habits, and combining it with more personal information about the voters the campaign was trying to reach and persuade than was ever before available, the system allowed Mr. Obama’s team to direct advertising with a previously unheard-of level of efficiency, strategists from both sides agree. Jim Rutenberg reports. Secret of the Obama Victory? Rerun Watchers, for One Thing  

As Americans’ modes of communication change, the techniques that produce the most accurate polls seems to be changing as well. In last Tuesday’s presidential election, a number of polling firms that conduct their surveys online had strong results. Some telephone polls also performed well. But others, especially those that called only landlines or took other methodological shortcuts, performed poorly and showed a more Republican-leaning electorate than the one that actually turned out. Nate Silver blogs. Which Polls Fared Best (and Worst) in the 2012 Presidential Race

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 255 AM PST TUE NOV 13 2012
TODAY
SE WIND TO 10 KT. WIND WAVES 1 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 5 FT AT 11 SECONDS. SHOWERS.
TONIGHT
SE WIND 10 KT...BECOMING SW. WIND WAVES 1 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 6 FT AT 10 SECONDS. A CHANCE OF SHOWERS.

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