I have an ongoing fascination with issues that are, to most people, boring as hell. I’m fascinated with school reform, demographics, infrastructure, and in all cases, data.
The problem with such stories, from a freelance perspective, is that they’re tough (for me) to make interesting enough to sell, even if they’re really important.
Fortunately, I met up with David Cohn at CopyCamp in San Jose last month, and he encouraged me to put a pitch up on Spot.us, his new project to crowdfund local investigative reporting (more info here). Here’s what I want to write about:
California has committed to reducing greenhouse emissions to 1990 levels by 2020 (AB32). The cement industry is at the center of this effort. Making cement is one of the dirtiest industries in the state, and California’s 11 kilns produce about 10 percent of the total US cement output each year.
Making cement naturally releases CO2. It’s part of the chemical process. On top of that, most kilns burn coal or petroleum coke, which adds to the pollution. Other fuels are possible–natural gas, saw dust, biosolids–but those come with added costs and other issues.
If plants leave or shut down, they’ll likely be replaced by kilns in other states with less stringent environmental laws, or by international competitors like China, which already produces half the world’s cement and more carbon dioxide than the US.
Can cement plants in the Bay Area cut emissions and stay in business?
I wrote about cement plants a few years ago, when I worked in the Antelope Valley. What I kept wondering, long after I left the newspaper and moved to China: Why do they even bother? Why run a cement kiln in California when every regulation and every state legislator behind it seems determined to push you into the ocean, or at least into Nevada. I’m still looking for an answer to that question.
Here’s a bit more background:
If this is interesting, if it’s something that should be written about, please consider pledging a small amount (even a dollar) to help me get this story produced. I promise words, pictures, video and probably a map (or some kind of visualized data), and I promise it will be interesting.
Perhaps you’ve seen the cover of the most recent New Yorker, drawn by Barry Blitt. Perhaps you, like Barack Obama’s campaign, were offended by the image of the candidate dressed in Muslim garb, mimicking that of Osama bin Laden, who is pictured in a framed portrait over a fireplace, wherein an American flag is burning. Michelle Obama is a Black Panther in extreme, toting a Kalashnikov and giving her husband that famous fist-bump (or is it a terrorist fist-jab?). It’s possible I have no taste or decency, which is why I laughed.
Satire is tough, and good satire almost necessarily offends someone. The trick is offending the “right” person, I suppose.
David Horsey makes a better stab at the subject in the Seattle PI, benefited by pseudo-controversy and the ability to bounce off Blitt’s piece.
I got to thinking about these illustrations–both potentially offensive to some–while reading Imagethief’s reaction to the new That’s Beijing, which should be considered offensive to all. A snippet:
So, how is it? It’s Chinglish monthly, and much expense appears to have been spared on copy editing. It has amateurish layout and design, to the point of occasional unreadability. It’s lifeless and sports a gloomy, stark cover that says nothing about what is in the magazine. (The cover relates to an article on the Wenchuan earthquake. This may explain the stark design, but if so it comes a bit late and is a strange approach for an expat entertainment magazine). The back page is a grade school crossword puzzle. There may be something of value in the magazine, but you have to wade through the desert to get to it.
Some background on this: That’s Beijing was the mainstay lifestyle magazine for English-speaking Beijing denizens until this spring, when its publisher pulled the copyright from True Run Media. The magazine continues in all but name, Imagethief reports, under the new masthead, the Beijinger. (Disclosure: I wrote a bit for Urbane, an offshoot of the original That’s).
Will Moss should earn a model worker badge for typing out a passage from the magazine so readers and fellow bloggers could properly dismember it. Hell, he deserves an award just for reading it.
The shower: Conversation between American guy and Chinese girl
Q. Why don’t Western people take showers at night?
A. Some do. Especially after moving to Beijing. There’s no doubt it makes sense to shower before hitting the sheets. But many Westerners, before coming to Beijing, lived relatively comfortable lives, with an air conditioned home, car and office, and no sweat or stench at the end of the day. Another way some westerners manage their stench is through creams, powders and deodorants, which all work to limit perspiration and odor. When clothes or bed sheets get too dirty, the washing machine and drying machine makes every thing as good as new in just a couple of hours. It is easy to see why with this sort of day-to-day routine the nightly shower might drop out of the picture.
Q. But now that my boyfriend is in Beijing, shouldn’t he shower before sleeping? There’s lots of pollution here.
A. The simple answer is yes, he probably should. But old habits die hard. After doing things his own way for 20 to 30 years, he’s bound to have formed his own patterns and habits about sleeping, waking up and cleaning his body. Many Westerners sweat a lot during the night and so require a shower in the morning if they want to look presentable. Differences in hair and skin call for different patters of care. Imagine how you’d feel if you suddenly gave up your nightly shower. You might find it harder to go to sleep. Many Westerners rely on their morning shower to start their day, and a shower at night throws that immune system out of balance.
Q. Why don’t Chinese people shower in the morning?
A. Some do. Especially if they have a skin and body type that sweats during the night, or hair type that requires special care or conditioners. Otherwise, it’s not uncommon for many of the people you work with to fall out of bed and drag combs across their heads on their way to the bus. This makes even more sense when you remember that it was just eight hours or so previously that they took a shower, followed by a good night’s sleep in a clean bed. So what is there to clean?
Q. Why do Chinese people insist that I shower at night?
A. Because 1) they are concerned about your health, and 2) they think you’re totally disgusting for not doing it. If you were dating someone who never, ever brushed their teeth, would you kiss them?
When I built my online clip file last year, I used Wordpress, the same software I use on my blog. It’s easy to use, I could install it quickly and tweak it as needed. It’s good for SEO without much effort. And best of all, it’s free.
But Wordpress really is a blogging platform. It’s meant for conversational media, like this blog (in theory, anyway). With my clip file, I turned off comments on posts, because I didn’t envision that as a place to have a conversation. That’s what this blog is here for. Plus Twitter. And Facebook. Or Wired Journalists or FriendFeed or [insert social media darling of the month].
Today, though, I got to thinking: What would a conversation about my old clips look like? Maybe somebody wants to talk about the time Henry Hearns, mayor of Lancaster and bishop of a major church, hired a convicted child molester to help plan his day camp. It’s possible somebody has a critique of my multimedia projects, or an idea for improving the site itself.
So I’m thinking of opening up comments there, but first I thought I’d ask anyone passing by here. Should I?
I have an ongoing fascination with issues that are, to most people, boring as hell. I’m fascinated with school reform, demographics, infrastructure, and in all cases, data.
