By Russia, With Love

Thank goodness someone is paying attention to these things.

Via 80Beats: Russia Is Developing a Secret Plan to Divert a Non-Threatening Asteroid

"A Cashier In Cashmere Held Up An Old Map Of Norway..."

(title is from the song 'Salvation Barmy')

I read about buying cashmere at moreintelligentlife.com and this got me thinking about all the different types of wools and I ended up at this very informative page at STP: Guide To Wool

Alpaca sounds amazing though it is well-known that I have had a long time love affair with merino.

And it is also good to remember that cheap cashmere has a high cost that someone else has to pay for.

Two Business Related Posts That I Believe Are Related

TNR: Upper Mismanagement: Why can't Americans make things? Two words: business school.

How did we get to this point? In some sense, it’s the result of broad historical and economic forces. Up until World War I, the archetypal manufacturing CEO was production oriented—usually an engineer or inventor of some kind. Even as late as the 1930s, business school curriculums focused mostly on production. Khurana notes that many schools during this era had mini-factories on campus to train future managers.

After World War II, large corporations went on acquisition binges and turned themselves into massive conglomerates. In their landmark Harvard Business Review article from 1980, “Managing Our Way to Economic Decline,” Robert Hayes and William Abernathy pointed out that the conglomerate structure forced managers to think of their firms as a collection of financial assets, where the goal was to allocate capital efficiently, rather than as makers of specific products, where the goal was to maximize quality and long-term* market share.

The Big Picture: Stocks 1999-2009: Worst. Decade. Ever.

Wired Takes On The Big Questions Of Our Day

Why Geologists Love Beer

Supporting the culture theory is the observation that earth science departments at academic institutions across the world almost invariably have a weekly get-together of some sort that revolves around beer.

This appears to be a follow-up to my 2008 post Geologists Love Beer.

Foods You May Want To Avoid

See Yahoo: The 7 foods experts won't eat

1. Canned Tomatoes
2. Corn-Fed Beef
3. Microwave Popcorn
4. Nonorganic Potatoes
5. Farmed Salmon
6. Milk Produced with Artificial Hormones
7. Conventional Apples

Follow Up To Open Source Climate Science

In news that I see as related to 'Climategate' - the Office of Science and Technology Policy is asking for input regarding tax payer supported research.

See Techdirt: White House Wants Input On Public Access Rules For Federally Funded Research

Comments are welcome on the OSTP blog.

Wired Has An Interview With An Expert On Climate Change Denial

Wired: The Psychology of Climate Change Denial

Yet Somehow the TeaBaggers Are Scared Of Obama

Idiots.

Rumsfeld decision allowed Bin Laden to escape: Senate report

Thoughts On Climategate

Lots of summary at TheAtlantic: ClimateGate III: The Mystery of the Missing Data and BoingBoing: More Insight on Those Leaked Climate Change Emails

My thinking is this:
- this is one data set of many
- climate based observations (e.g., sea ice extent, sea level rise, mtn glaciers, species movement, etc) all point to climate change
- based on source code comments the predictive climate computer model has serious problems
- this "scandal" demonstrates why open data and open source software are so important
- it is odd that the climate change deniers who are hyping Climategate are generally the same people who have been silent on the much more troubling problems with electronic voting machine software

Mars News Indicates It Was Once More Earth-Like

NS: Fresh claim for fossil life in Mars rock

Discover: New Map Suggests Huge Ocean Once Dominated Mars’ Northern Hemisphere

Creating Fear In Standish

Thanks to Representative Hoekstra (who, by the way, is no good at keeping secrets).

TNR: Last Standish

Munson ran into Hoekstra at a cocktail party and left a convert. Munson is cryptic about his change of heart, telling me that Hoekstra is "privy to certain information." (Munson
was more candid with The Washington Post: "He told me things that really scared the heck out of me.")

NPR tries to present the facts: FACT CHECK: Guantanamo detainees and US prisons

Real Life Imitating 'The Simpsons'

Many years ago I saw an episode of 'The Simpsons' where Mr. Burns learned the only thing keeping him alive was that every disease was trying to infect him at once and so they all blocked each other.

With this in mind see this at The New Scientist: Common cold may hold off swine flu

"We think that when you get one infection, it turns on your antiviral defences, and excludes the other viruses,"

And this special I recently saw on PBS regarding how descendants the survivors of Europe's black plague carry a mutation that also makes them immune to HIV: Mystery Of The Black Death

Kim Stanley Robinson Developed A New Time Travel Hypothesis For His Latest Book

Interview with KSR at The Guardian: Kim Stanley Robinson: science fiction's realist

The Limit Of Natural Resources

Two items of note.

The Guardian has this story: Key oil figures were distorted by US pressure, says whistleblower

The world is much closer to running out of oil than official estimates admit, according to a whistleblower at the International Energy Agency who claims it has been deliberately underplaying a looming shortage for fear of triggering panic buying.

And the Natural Gas lobby has been on a PR blitz about how great it is that there is a "100 year supply" of natural gas in the United States as if this is supposed to be reassuring. (you won't run out of natural gas but your kids will - hooray!) My immediate reaction was there would be a panic if there was an announcement that the U.S. had a 100 year supply of trees left. Or water. Or air. Et cetera.

You don't have to be a geologist to recognize that 100 years is a very short time frame.

The Gulf Stream Current Is Very Sensitive

When the North Atlantic current that transports heat from the equator to the northern hemisphere gets turned off the heat gets shut off quickly too.

See NS: Mini ice age took hold of Europe in months

Saving The Rule Of Law

Via TheAtlantic: The Test

Perhaps the worst fears of some will be realized; perhaps the trial of Khalid Sheik Mohammed will be disrupted or disruptive; perhaps he will be set free. The chances are slim indeed, but if one imagines worst-case scenarios, one must still ask whether that "worst case" is worse than turning our backs on our system on laws and the process guarantees of a free society. On that one, count me with Eric Holder.

Are These Designers Trying To Fail?

Or are they trying to design this decade's Aztek?

What is going on with these oversized hatchback wagons? Who makes a vehicle that is as big as an SUV but with a sloping rear hatch that makes it impossible to put dogs back there? If you want to make a station wagon then make it wagon like!

It is crazy.

My list of today's stupidest cars (without adding the entire Chrysler line due to obviousness):
- Honda CrossTour
- BMW X6
- Toyota Venza

Fast Company Does Not 'Get' 30 Rock And This Is Why Arrested Development Faield

FC: '30 Rock' Ends Product Placement Speculation, Writes Cisco Into Last Night's Episode

Yes, they did. But it was no different than when AD went over the top with their Burger King placement. I'm surprised that the writer missed this. But then not surprised that Arrested Development was cancelled.

No, 30 Rock Is Not Arrested Development.

But it can be in the same ballpark with it and that is the best compliment. For example, other people report on the longing to have something fill the void left by Arrested Development as attested by a Google search for "the new Arrested Development" and most people say "30 Rock".

Government Doctors Save Heart Attack Victim At An Anti-Health Care Rally

Via Ezra Klein: Socialism in action

The Vatican Preps To Proselytize On Alien Planets

Via NPR: Vatican Scientists Seek Evidence Of Alien Life

Noreena Hertz - I Now Have Favorite Economist

Noreena Hertz is now my favorite economist because she points out the main failure in western economies today - and that is that large businesses are allowed to social risk and privatize reward.

Full profile on Noreena at FC (and it is worth the time to read it all): How an Economist's Cry for Ethical Capitalism was Heard

Hertz is now being looked to as something of a visionary in Europe, someone uniquely qualified to rebuild our dilapidated economic theories while helping to create a blueprint for a new kind of capitalism. Her concept of "co-op capitalism" -- an idea she plans to develop further over the next year -- calls for businesses, governments, NGOs, and the public to experiment together to design new, more-adaptive business models and financial structures that take both profit and larger social goals into account. Companies should be financially motivated to behave in ways that benefit everyone. Where government lags, corporations will put pressure on the state; government, conversely, will impose more regulation on corporations as necessary. The key, Hertz says, is to be flexible, creative. "One of Marx's biggest flaws," she says, was trying "to find a unifying theory for every aspect of the world. I don't think that's possible."

Reading Ms. Hertz reminds me the whispering speculation over the last year that had women been in charge none of this economic mess would've happened.

And this leads me to think of the Dana Scully character in the X-Files or reporter Lara Logan in that Noreena Hertz is an extremely bright and fearless woman with a widespread appeal to men and women and who uses that to expand her audience. It is a tricky task.

Run Like A Persistence Hunter

I was riveted when I read an excerpt of 'Born To Run' in Denver's 5280 Magazine and afterward immediately added the book to my Amazon wishlist.

Now the NYT has taken up the paradox of if humans are made for running long distances then why are there so many injuries?

See: The Human Body Is Built for Distance

Running on only artificial surfaces and in high-tech shoes can change the biomechanics of running, increasing the risks of injury.

What’s the solution? Slower, easier training over a long period would most likely help; so would brief walk breaks, which mimic the behavior of the persistence hunter. And running on a variety of surfaces and in simpler shoes with less cushioning can restore natural running form.

Why Are There So Many Pre-term Births In The U.S.?

And if infant mortality is less in Europe then isn't their health care better in that respect?

Via NPR: U.S. Trails Far Behind Europe In Infant Mortality

So This Explains The Teabaggers!

Via PhysOrg: Extremists more willing to share their opinions, study finds

And somehow this seems related to the purging the Republican party is currently in the midst of. See RS: The ideological purge of the Republican party is reaching new heights.

Volvo Applies For Supernatural Status

Next, actually bringing back people from the dead.

See NYT Wheels Blog: Volvo Sets a Lofty Safety Goal

“Our aim for 2020 is that no one should be killed or seriously injured in a Volvo,” said Thomas Broberg, Volvo’s senior safety adviser, in a recent news release.

Dr. Hart And Ardi

Dr. Hart has been studying the African rift valley for a long time and been a part of many hominid discoveries over the past 20 years.

The latest discovery is the oldest hominid yet.

See DaytonDailyNews: Miami geologists part of history-making ‘Ardi’ dig

Freakin' Lieberman

I never liked that Gore picked him as running mate in 2000. It was a bad idea. His latest antics show why.

Harper's: Lieberman Shills for the Healthcare Industry

Slate: The Lieberman Option

I Hate Hate Crimes

Bloomberg: Expansion of Hate-Crime Law Gets Final Congressional Approval

This is a problem. There's no such thing as love crimes. Crime is crime. When it is associated with what someone thinks then that is a problem.

For example, I hate people who drive Pontiac cars; I don't hate [insert a minority here]. But if you cut me off in traffic and later I punch you in the face that is a crime. I don't get extra punishment because I hate you for choosing a ridiculous car; however, if you can convince a jury that I hated you because of your minority status then I get in extra trouble. That's not right.

You cannot legislate morality. You cannot make what people think a crime.

Fox News, The White House, Apple, Verizon, And Strategy

Much hubbub has been made lately about the spats between Fox News and the White House and Verizon/Motorola and Apple/AT&T.

See:
-Droid Does: Verizon Launches Anti-iPhone Ad for Motorola Droid
-Verizon Tweaks AT&T With "There's A Map For That" Commercial
-The Battle Between the White House and Fox News

All of the analysis has been wrong.

Have these commentators never had an ex they wanted to get back or teach a lesson to? Ask a guy who was dumped by his hot girlfriend how he reacted then look at Verizon/Motorola or The White House for comparison. It is the same reaction. These spats and battles are strategy. They aren't trying to break things up completely; they're trying to hook back up by teaching a lesson that they don't need them. No, it is not rational but then people aren't either.

Yes, Fox News is awful and the iPhone's hotness cannot be debated. But that is not the point. Because Verizon still wants the iPhone on their network. And I bet Obama would grant Fox News' Chris Wallace an interview.

In the end, these fights are like a guy trying to get his hot girlfriend back so I will not be surprised when Fox News gets an exclusive interview with Obama and Verizon gets an Apple device.

If only the pundits listened to Jawbreaker and paid attention to 'Bad Scene, Everyone's Fault'

I ran into this guy I knew
But hadn't seen in years.
We went into the neon kitchen and stole a couple beers.
He said his girl had dumped him
But there was another guy.
He said that he still liked her.
All I could say was,
"Why, why, oh why, oh why,
Why is it always like this?
Either you're too mean, or you're too nice."
He said, "I even cooked her breakfast."
So we went into the living room.
Someone was blasting Zeppelin.
It sounded good.
I felt ashamed.
I knew every drum fill.
Anyway, there she sat,
Totally kissing this guy.
They looked good, I mean like in love.
Then I remembered my friend.
He said, "How could you do this?
You said that you needed your space.
He's wearing the shirt that I gave you."
Then she said, "Why, why, oh why, oh why,
Why are you always like this?
If I'm having fun then it's breaking your heart.
Besides, you said I could have it."

Public Options

There's been a lot of hyperbole about the public option for health insurance. So I made a list of services that have thriving private industries that compete with a basic option offered by the government. And in these cases it seems that by the government offering or sponsoring a similar service it is allowing private companies to focus on their core competencies rather than driving private industries out of business.

- the post office competes with UPS, FedEx, DHL, etc.
- Social Security competes with all of the other retirement savings plans
- private mercenaries take jobs from the U.S. Military
- electricity in the first half of the Twentieth Century (See: How FDR Enacted his “Public Option”)
- telephone service in rural areas (See: History of Rural Telecommunications)
- Amtrak competes with other commuting and traveling options
- roads are paid for with taxes yet there are still private roads
- School. This may be the biggest one of all. Almost everyone sends their kids to public school (a public option). Use private school and you're elitist; home school and you're a little odd yet earnest. And education is very much in your hands. Like health... how you take care of yourself influences how healthy you are. A government paid insurance plan would still allow people to get their own private insurance but you could still take care of yourself at home if you choose.

So my question for people is: if you're against the "public option" does that mean you avoid all of the public options?

And what is interesting is in reading the history of these various policies all of the arguments were made then as we're hearing now regarding health insurance. Namely, government has no role in providing education/electricity/phone service and that private companies cannot compete with a public sponsored service. It really is like they all work from the same template. Or mad lib.

More Evidence Conservatism Is A Psycological Disorder

After reading all 18 pages of Democracy Corps' study The Very Separate World of Conservative Republicans I'm left wondering when do we stop looking at this as politics and start recognizing that these people are paranoid and need help.

See this earlier post: Is Being A Conservative A Mental Defect?

Example from the study:

An Oppressed, Mocked Minority
Conservative Republicans passionately believe that they represent a group of people who have been targeted by a popular culture and set of liberal elites – embodied in the liberal main-stream media – that mock their values and are actively working to advance the downfall of the things that matter most to them in their lives – their faith, their families, their country, and their freedom...

The notion of a liberal media using its reach and power to advance a radical agenda is a given for these voters. If you do not see and understand this reality, you are not a part of their collective group and you cannot possibly understand the current political environment in our country. This creates an almost siege-like mentality, in which these conservative Republicans are always on the defensive, at all times looking for any slight against them and their beliefs and seeking to link it back to a broader effort rooted in the liberal media.

Although I find it interesting that they now see themselves as the minority after oppressing other minorities for generations. And, they would not be mocked if they stopped this. (yes, I am an elitist.)

Interview With Rick Bayless

I was introduced to Rick Bayless (lots of recipes at his web site!) while watching Top Chef Masters and thought he was very deserving of the win (and I was also pleased that Oprah's smarmy personal chef was knocked out early on). I look forward to using some of his simple Mexican recipes to add some heat this winter.

Via the ChiTrib: Rick Bayless, under fire

Comparing The Government Option In Health Care And Parcel Delivery

The US Postal Service has emerged as the example of a "public option" that conservatives point to when they argue against government sponsored health insurance. See: Post office wrong target for conservatives

Yet, as posted at FiveThirtyEight: Picking on Cliff Clavin, FedEx and UPS thrive despite the USPS but they also hand off packages to the USPS in rural areas where the private carriers don't want to go. And it is the rural population that is more conservative. Perhaps they should think about if they'd get any parcel delivery at all if it weren't for the "public option".

"Just Ring It Up With The Dong Tea"

[Update on 10/26/2009: Hulu has confirmed programming will stop being free at some point]

Hulu is removing Arrested Development seasons 1 and 2.

See TBM: Fox Kidnaps Itself

The article speculates that this is being done to drive DVD sales of Seasons 2 and 3. I disagree - this move seems more in line with Hulu offering paid subscriptions (currently in testing) and FOX's Murdoch love of paywalls to his properties.

See LAT: Will Hulu make you pay to watch?

Fortunately, shortly after AD was canceled syndication rights were sold to MSN. And because of that every episode is available at ArrestedDevelopment.msn.com.

A warning to FOX, content wants to be free. Removing dearly loved content like this will only drive your audience to other outlets.

G.O.B.: So is it for sale? I could use it in my act.

Asian Man: Maybe. Sword of Destiny hundreds of years old. Come with ancient story of warning, and...

G.O.B.: Yeah, I make up my own patter. Just ring it up with the dong tea.

Via: The OP (don't call it that)

The Sinful South

I wonder if their religiosity is some perverted way to absolve themselves - a form of cognitive dissonance?

TheAtlantic: Texas Leads the US in Thrice-Married Adults

Wired: American Vice: Mapping the 7 Deadly Sins

My Kind Of Revival

Via Slate: What Would John Adams Drink? Get ready for the rebirth of cider in America.

Volvo Is Going To Do It - A Diesel-Electric Hybrid!

This is what I have been waiting for. For an automaker to manufacture a car that is a four-wheel drive plug-in electric hybrid with a biofuel compliant diesel engine all in a station wagon form.

And here it is, via FC: Volvo Offering a Plug-in Diesel Hybrid in 2012

and GCC: Volvo Car Corporation to Introduce Diesel Plug-in Hybrid in Europe in 2012

I just hope the third-row jumper seats are available. It would then be the one car to rule them all.

I have already contacted Volvo in the U.S. to ask that this car be brought stateside.

Real Mayans Tell Westerners To Chill Out

Via NPR: 2012 Isn't The End Of The World, Mayans Insist

I Am Officially Adopting Steamboat Springs, CO As My Second City

It is because of Grizzle-T Dog & Sled Works

Via Life of a Sled Dog

Oil Rules

In other words, peak everything. And more evidence of my hypothesis that the Great Recession was caused by peak oil and exacerbated by the 9/11 attacks as I previously conjectured.

See TOD: What Peaked at the Same Time as Oil Prices? Lots of things

Female Coyotes + Male Wolves

Via SciAm: Wylie Coywolf: The coyote-wolf hybrid has made its way to the Northeast

Prepare Or Panic?

NewScientist has an article about a recent simulation of a three day warning of an asteroid impact.

See: Asteroid attack: Putting Earth's defences to the test

Hummers

New study confirms the obvious - "Americans who believe in rugged individualism and the frontier myth see an H2 as John Wayne on wheels"

And so it is with a great deal of schadenfreude that I read this: GM Agrees to Sell Hummer Brand to China’s Tengzhong

I think this sums it up best:

It's On!

Worstpreviews.com: "Arrested Development" Movie to Shoot in the Spring

Movieline: Alia Shawkat Offers Proof to Movieline That the Arrested Development Script is a Go

David Cross, Tony Hale, and Jason Bateman

These folks can't even do an interview without being asked about a little TV show from four years - behold the power of Arrested Development!

Time.com: Arrested Development's David Cross

NyMag.com: Tony Hale Talks CTRL, The Informant!, and Getting to First Base With Liza

Can you give us an update on the Arrested Development movie?
I talked to Mitch [Hurwitz] about a week and a half ago, and he’s in the middle of writing it. Everybody’s onboard and I think right now it’s just a matter of getting everybody’s schedule on the same page. And then just finishing the script.

MTV: The Arrested Development Of Our 'Arrested Development' Movie Is Just A Myth?

Profiles Of The Current Republican Party

Salon.com: Meet the man who changed Glenn Beck's life: Cleon Skousen was a right-wing crank whom even conservatives despised. Then Beck discovered him

Harpers: Rush, Glenn and the G.O.P.

VF: Levi Johnston on Life with the Palins

Sarah was always in a bad mood and she was stressed out a lot. Sometimes she would wonder why she took the job as governor. It was too hard, she said; there was so much going on. Todd was always out in the garage working on his snow machines and drinking beer or screwing off. (Eighty percent of the time he’s in the garage. Once winter is here, he’s out riding every other day.) He’s not supposed to have beer, because Sarah doesn’t like him drinking. (She only goes to church four or five times a year—mostly on holidays—but Sarah doesn’t drink or cuss much.) So Todd will hide his beer, go out there, and work on his sleds.

Missing The Point

The smug sense of self-satisfaction is part of the degree.

See Cincinnati.com: Miami asks: Does elitist image hurt enrollment?

Some Must-Reads About The Current State Of The Republican Party

First is from TNR: Wealthcare
It is a complete deconstruction of Randites. And I write this as someone who has read every Ayn Rand novel and owns Objectivist books. But since my Ayn Rand acolyte days I have become much more pragmatic (read "liberal").

Harpers: Joe Wilson, Neoconfederate

After reading these articles a line from Woody Allen's 'Manhattan' came to mind:

Isaac: Has anybody read that nazis are going to march in New Jersey, you know? I read this in the newspaper, we should go down there, get some guys together, you know, get some bricks and baseball bats and really explain things to them."

Man: "There was this devastating satirical piece on that on the op-ed
page of the Times. It is devastating."

Isaac: "Well, well, a satirical piece in the Times is one thing, but
bricks and baseball bats really gets right to the
point."

Woman: "Oh, but really biting satire is always better than physical
force."

Isaac: "No, physical force is always better with nazis. Cos
it's hard to satirize a guy with shiny boots."

Google Domestic Trends

There is plenty of evidence indicating web searches are a leading indicator of economic trends (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/07/17/summers-economy-has-moved_0_n_237684.html and http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/11/AR2009091103771.html?hpid=topnews). There are even some boffins who make money on the conspiracy circuit with the "Web Bot Project".

Now Google has unleashed a fascinating economic prediction tool: Google Domestic Trends.

And as Fast Company mentions, this could be quite useful to the investor looking to profit from future trends.

GoogleBlog's official announcement

Another Dog Origin Hypothesis

On the heels of the Dogs In Disarray post comes a mitochondrial DNA study suggesting dogs were first domesticated in China for the same reason cows and pigs were domesticated.

See NYT: In Taming Dogs, Humans May Have Sought a Meal

Sampling the mitochondrial DNA of dogs worldwide, the team found that in every region of the world all dogs seem to belong to one lineage. That indicates a single domestication event. If wolves had been domesticated in many places, there would be more than one lineage, each leading back to a local population of wolves.

The single domestication event seems to have occurred in southern China, where the dogs have greater genetic diversity than those elsewhere. The region of highest diversity is usually the place of origin because a species tends to lose diversity as it spreads.

Another Republican Gone Wild

It is not the act(s) that are the problem, it is the hypocrisy.

See NPR: Calif. Lawmaker Quits Over Taped Sex Comments

In a recording of a legislative hearing, Duvall can be heard talking about a recent sexual escapade with a woman he says is 18 years younger.

"I'm getting into spanking her," Duvall is heard to say on the videotape.

The other man asks if she likes it, too. Duvall responds: "She goes, 'I know you like spanking me.' I said, 'Yeah, that's 'cause you're such a bad girl."'

...Duvall received a 100 percent rating from Capitol Resource Institute, a conservative advocacy group, for his votes on legislation considered pro-family during the 2007-08 legislative session.

These Are The Daves I Know

Watch at MilkAndCookies Bruce singing 'The Daves I Know'

Their movie 'Brain Candy' may have been a let down, but it appears the Kids In The Hall will be returning to the CBC for eight very special episodes.

See: Kids in the Hall to return to CBC

Geologist At Work

When I was in high school my favorite books were in the 'Winning Of America' historical fiction series by Allen Eckert. The NYT has a profile of Asbury Sallenger Jr. and his book 'Island In The Storm' which sounds like a work of geological fiction: The Geologist’s Tale: A Storm, a Survivor and a Vanishing Island

The book is “Island in a Storm.” The island is Isle Derniere (in French, “last island”), one of the barrier islands that run along the Louisiana coast. And the storm was a ferocious hurricane that roared out of the Gulf of Mexico on Aug. 10, 1856.

A Dog That Does Not Play Is A Depressed Dog

Another reminder that dogs need to get outside for a walk and play every day.

Via PsychToday: How Outdoor Play Can Cure Depression in Dogs

The Dog Genome Project

NHGRI Dog Genome Project

This project has been in the news with the recent report that three dog genes account for the coats in 95% of all dog breeds.

See NYT: Three Genes Determine the Nature of a Dog’s Coat

Studying Geologists In Their Natural Environment

Because a great geologist is a great person - someone you'd be lucky to know - but what makes them such wonderful and smart people and the best lovers on the planet?

Via PhysOrg: Cognitive scientists use eye-tracking technology to learn what makes a great geologist

An Evolutionary Explanation Of Depression

It is for analysis of complex problems perhaps.

See SciAm: Depression's Evolutionary Roots

Uh Oh

Maybe if we ignore it it will go away?

Not sure how else to explain the lack of attention to this news from NOAA:

"Recent observations have suggested that the air above Alaska may already hold the first signs of a regional increase in greenhouse gas emissions that could contribute to climate change around the globe."

See: NOAA, Coast Guard Hunt for Alaska Methane, Carbon Dioxide Sources

Just as I posted last year: Game Over Man...

Real Good Wood

I don't get the fixed gear bicycle fad, but wood frame bikes are things of beauty. Here's another one - Renovo Hardwood Bicycles

The smoothest bike you'll ever ride, stealth quiet, light and responsive, stiff as you want. Renovo hollow wood and laminated bamboo frames will forever change your understanding of what a bicycle should be, and how these natural materials can perform when designed to their strengths.

Speaking of real good wood:

More Important People Than Me Are Recognizing What Ford Is Doing

As I recently mentioned in Ford Seems To Get "It"

See TheBigMoney: Ford’s Ferocious Message

The Arguments Against Inter-City Rail Make The Best Argument For It

And that is inter-city rail will encourage population density.

See Newsweek: High-Speed Boondoggle: Why Obama's bet on rails is an expensive mistake

What works in Europe and Asia won't in the United States. Even abroad, passenger trains are subsidized. But the subsidies are more justifiable because geography and energy policies differ.

Densities are much higher, and high densities favor rail with direct connections between heavily populated city centers and business districts. In Japan, density is 880 people per square mile; it's 653 in Britain, 611 in Germany and 259 in France. By contrast, plentiful land in the United States has led to suburbanized homes, offices and factories. Density is 86 people per square mile. Trains can't pick up most people where they live and work and take them to where they want to go. Cars can.

Distances also matter. America is big; trips are longer. Beyond 400 to 500 miles, fast trains can't compete with planes. Finally, Europe and Japan tax car transportation more heavily, pushing people to trains. In August 2008, notes the GAO, gasoline in Japan was $6.50 a gallon. Americans regard $4 a gallon as an outrage. Proposals for stiff gasoline taxes (advocated by many, including me) go nowhere.

August Arrested Development Updates

Zap2It: 'Arrested Development' movie is nowhere near happening

"I don't think Mitch is gonna do it," an insider told me. "It seems like he's moving off the idea. So much time has passed."

THR: Arrested Development Three Reunite

AD's creative mastermind Mitch Hurwitz and his co-executive producer Jim Vallely are putting together the single camera comedy for Arnett, who will play another smug privileged rich boy (see also Let's Go To Prison, 30 Rock and his quirkier take on the type in Arrested Development) who despite his own protestations falls for a hippy who hates his lifestyle and values.

ChiTribune: The sad tales of comedy writers

Mitch Hurwitz ("Arrested Development") says he wishes he hadn't gone back to his high school and offered encouragement. Entertainment, he says, "can make a lot of people very, very unhappy."

Dogs In Disarray

Update - SciAm has more on this topic: The Origin of Dogs

New genetic research indicates dogs may not have originated from the domestication of wolves in east Asia as originally believed. Now a massive worldwide collection of DNA from dogs is underway in order to better understand where dogs were first tamed.

See NYT: Research Undermines Dog Domestication Theory

Fastest Animal On Land

At anything more than a short sprint the fastest animal is not a cheetah, not a horse; but dogs.

See PsychToday: Could dogs be the fastest land animals in the world?

Too Strange To Make Up

President Bush really did see the Iraq War as a mission from his God. Yikes.

See SecularHumanism: A French Revelation, or The Burning Bush

Chirac recounts that the American leader appealed to their “common faith” (Christianity) and told him: “Gog and Magog are at work in the Middle East…. The biblical prophecies are being fulfilled…. This confrontation is willed by God, who wants to use this conflict to erase his people’s enemies before a New Age begins.”

This bizarre episode occurred while the White House was assembling its “coalition of the willing” to unleash the Iraq invasion. Chirac says he was boggled by Bush’s call and “wondered how someone could be so superficial and fanatical in their beliefs.”

Maybe more of Bush's religious fanaticism will be revealed in Cheney's upcoming memoir?

Perhaps The Bumper Stickers Are Right?

My dog might really be smarter that your honor roll student.

See PhysOrg: Renowned canine researcher puts dogs' intelligence on par with two-year-old human

When Vintage Is Better

Seems the older kitchen items are better than their new counterparts. I reach for a wood spoon when stirring, a Mason jar for storing, and a cast iron skillet for most cooking.

Based on this article at Slate, older stoves are better too (specifically Wedgewood): This Old Stove

Hybrid Hype

The big hype right now is that the Chevy Volt will get 230 mpg in the city!

Wrong.

As calculated at Environmental Economics, the Volt gets 230 mpg if traveling only 51.11 miles, 50 mpg after that.

See: 230 mpg?

And as reported at Edmunds.com: EPA Says It Can't Confirm GM's 230-MPG Fuel Economy Claim for Chevy Volt

For comparison, the new $27k Ford Focus hybrid and the $24k TDI Jetta Sportwagen both get around 42 mpg combined.

Furthermore, Popular Mechanics just tested a BMW diesel against a hybrid Lexus and found the overall mpg differed by 1 mpg; but the diesel was a lot more fun to drive.

See: 2010 Lexus HS250 Hybrid vs. 2010 BMW 335 Diesel 390-Mile Fuel Economy Comparison Test Drive

Trees Are For People

Most people I talk to who are in their 30's are in love with the idea of having a treehouse to retreat to - seems like most of my friends daydream about just such a sanctuary.

Keep working friends and perhaps you can afford one of these treehouses that are designed and built for full-time living.

See FC: Architecture Firm Specializes in Bespoke Treehouses

Official site: Amazon Treehouses

Rather build your own treehouse? Check out the Northwest Treehouse School in Fall City, Washington.

Mexico's Largest Oil Field Declining Twice As Fast As Expected

Via Bloomberg: Mexico Oil Production to Fall 4.9%, Drop Through 2012

Output is slumping as Cantarell, the company’s largest field, falls at a rate twice as fast as forecast. Last year production slumped at the fastest rate since 1942.

Consumer Reports Hearts Ford

Specifically, the Ford Fusion hybrid. And with good reason - a car that can reach 47 mph under electric power alone is a good thing. But why can't we get a hybrid Ford Fusion estate (station wagon)? (I know, it would compete with all of Ford's "crossovers")

But it'd be a handsome car - not unlike the UK's Mondeo Estate.


See: Test complete: 2010 Ford Fusion

Coffee Generalizations: Arabica Taste Better; Robusta Has More Caffeine

See TheAtlantic: Arabica vs. Robusta: No Contest

Christopher Columbus Knew Exactly What He Was Doing

As I discovered when I read Stephen J Gould's 'Dinosaur In A Haystack'. Everyone knew the Earth was round and that there was a continent to the west. Now there is some more supporting evidence.

See Reuters: Vinland Map of America no forgery, expert says

How Godzilla Movies Begin

Via Wired: Scientists Drill a Mile Into Active Deep Sea Fault Zone

I Thought This Question Had Been Settled

Further confirmation that stromatalites are microbial in origin.

See PhysOrg: Scientists say that microbial mats built 3.4-billion-year-old stromatolites

"Mitch Hurwitz is just starting to write it. It'll be out in a year and a half."

Dear Lord,
I do not pray often but please here me now.
Please keep the world around for the next year and a half so that I can see the Arrested Development movie.
Afterwards your will be done.

Peace Out,

Andy

See: Jason Bateman's Arrested Development is in the Details

Why Women And/Or Canadians Should Run The Banks

I've long felt that women make better managers, and most organizations would be better off if they were led by the more rational gender.

See CSMonitor: More women in finance, a more sustainable economy

Studies indicate that women are more comprehensive thinkers and less attracted to excessive risk than are their male peers. It seems we have reached a fairly broad consensus on the meltdown: Guys were the ones flying too close to the sun.

Canadians make good leaders/bankers too. See NewsWeek: The Canadian Solution

It Is Best To Not Pick Wild Leeks

From TheGlobeAndMail: Locavores, beware

When you pick a ramp, you take the entire plant, including the bulb. Once the bulb is gone, there is nothing left of the plant; it will not grow back the next year. The Toronto and Region Conservation Authority considers it to be "a species of conservation concern." And eating a nice sized bulb could be the equivalent of dining on an old-growth cedar. "It's a really, really, slow-growth plant. A bulb could be 18 to 20 years old,"

"What I really need is a droid that understands the binary language of moisture vaporators."

The arrival of the moisture vaporator may be imminent.

See FC: How to Conjure Water From Thin Air

Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute in Stuttgart say they've invented a novel way to turn air moisture into drinking water

Mammas Don't Let Your Girls Grow Up To Like These Guys

The Tag/Axe Tool user.

The fixed gear douche bag.

The Maxim reader

The Moran.


An icy hot stuntaz.

Any of these guys .

Ladies, real women have curves, hair, and smells. Find someone who appreciates antiques (indicates they'll stay with you for the long-term), knows how to use a slow-cooker and a charcoal bbq (indicates they take their time in doing the things that matter), and walks their dog every day (indicates a nurturing and loyal personality). Those factors are key. These are attributes of the man who will be a life partner (not a fun date like Mississipi Gary) And if you want to keep them around learn how to master the pizza bagel sandwich.

The best place to meet these wonderful anti-guys is the library, the outdoor store, and popular dog-walking places.

Good luck!

It Happened

Via Wired, my worst fear realized (almost): Meteorite Strikes Teen’s Hand; He Survives

Reality Versus The Republicans

My Congressman, Dave Camp, is against Cap and Trade:
Every American Will Pay Energy Taxes

FactCheck.org debunks the GOP arguments: True or false? Carbon regulation will cost you $3,100

And meanwhile things keep warming up. See Ars: Government report: climate change here, mitigation needed now

The US government's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has released a report that looks at the effects that global climate change will have on the United States. Entitled Global Climate Change Impacts in the United States, it draws material from 13 US government science agencies. The report is meant to be one that can be used by anyone—policymakers, school teachers, and people in industry and business. Eschewing the scientific terminology that is omnipresent in peer-reviewed science, the report uses everyday language to describe the effects that global climate change will have on various parts of the US and what can be done to minimize those risks. In general, its authors' conclusion is that the earlier we start changing, the less severe and shorter-lived the final impact of climate change will be.

This report is not out to rehash old arguments about the issue, as its opening sentences demonstrate: "Observations show that warming of the climate is unequivocal. The global warming observed over the past 50 years is due primarily to human-induced emissions of heat-trapping gases." From there on out, the report focuses primarily on what will happen in the United States while highlighting current and potential responses to these changes.

A Canadian Geologist Gives 'The Talk'

Via WalrusMag: An Inconvenient Talk

The Talk is all kinds of policy-wonky. Your eyes could glaze over. You could even miss the two slides Dave always says are the only ones you must remember. The first is a single-line graph depicting “World Per Capita Annual Primary Energy Consumption by Fuel 1850–2007,” which climbs by 761 percent over its 157-year timeline and flips from 82 percent renewable biomass (mostly wood) at the 1850 end to 89 percent non-renewables (almost entirely fossil fuels) at the 2007 end. The second critical slide has three line graphs in horizontal sequence, all tracking curves that begin in 1850, around the time humanity started drilling for oil in a serious way, and then spiking impossibly high at the right-hand, 2007 termini of their X axes. Global population today: 5.3 times global population in 1850. Per capita energy consumption today: 8.6 times that of 1850. Total energy consumption today: 45 times 1850’s.

You could also miss the way these figures resonate with The Talk’s voluminous data on oil and natural gas and coal reserves. You could miss how our current trajectory obliges us to rely on hydrocarbons for 86 percent of our projected primary energy needs in 2030, and how that fits with the strong case Hughes makes that the global hydrocarbon peak (the point at which global energy supply will begin an irrevocable decline, making the energy price shocks of the past couple of years start to look like the good old days) is estimated to occur nine years before that date.

Here’s the upshot: if you plan to drive a car or heat a house or light a room in 2030, The Talk is telling you your options will be limited, to say the least. Even if you’re convinced climate change is UN-sponsored hysteria or every last puff of greenhouse gas will soon be buried forever a mile underground or ducks look their best choking on tar sands tailings, Dave Hughes is saying your way of life is over. Not because of the clouds of smoke, you understand, but because we’re running out of what makes them.

The Quaternary Gets A Little Longer

Via EarthMag: Redefining Quaternary

I Appreciate A President Who Can Interview A Nominee By Himself

See NPR: How Obama's Nomination Of Sotomayor Unfolded

...Obama and Sotomayor were the only two people in the room

Does Anyone Like Car Dealerships?

GM and Chrysler are closing many of their dealerships. So I'll use it as an excuse to post this from The Atlantic: Driving a Hard Bargain

...the high-pressure tactics of the modern American dealer originated in a single Memphis franchise after World War Two, when new vehicles were scarce and buyers could be browbean into signing a deal that assured fat commissions for salesmen and profit margins for their employers. It started with "unhorsing" (getting the keys of the prospect's own car), proceeded through "detention" (stalling, allegedly for trade-in value inspection), and if successful for the dealer, ended with "release" (a signed contract).

And I once wondered why I couldn't buy a car online, direct from the factory, as it seemed the most efficient way to do it so you could get all the options you want. I found out it was because the car dealership political lobby kept it from happening.

See MotherJones: Why You Can't Buy a New Car Online

Wish I could say it was shocking...

This is from Intellichoice: Behind the Scenes - How does a dealership work?

The Father - Daughter Relationship

Via FiveThirtyEight: Having Daughters Rather Than Sons Makes You More Liberal

The authors' key finding is that support for policies designed to address gender equity is greater among parents with daughters. This result emerges particularly strongly for fathers.

Formula For Change

Don't know the source as I found this on scrap paper at my work desk. Here are the minimum number of U.S. currency coins needed to always have exact change:

1 dime
2 nickels
3 quarters
4 pennies
----------
Always having exact change

1600+ Acres Placed Under Easement Near My Honory Hometown

More signs of the new west. Where keeping the land green turns the state blue.

Via SBPilot: 1,613 acres to be conserved

A group of partners have joined forces to conserve more than 1,600 acres of working agriculture land and critical environmental habitat in West Routt County.

Aided by funds from the Colorado Division of Wildlife and Routt County’s Purchase of Development Rights program, the land on Wolf Mountain Ranch will be placed under a conservation easement and permanently precluded from development.

View Larger Map

A Toyota - Subaru Baby Is Incubating

Via Wired: Subaru Prius Set for 2012 Debut

I'll keep my fingers crossed for a diesel boxer engine plug-in electric hybrid Outback. /swoon

A Burning Question

Via the CSMonitor: Who is responsible for averting an asteroid strike?

Isostatic Rebound

Not just words that sound great together, but a geological process that has been happening in the Great Lakes region since the last glaciers retreated.

Now Alaska gets to experience it too.

See NYT: As Alaska Glaciers Melt, It’s Land That’s Rising

More information at Wikipedia.

Organic Farming Assistance

See TH: Obama Offers Farmers $50 Million to Go Organic

New Tornado Safety Guidelines

I seem to recall reading about this a couple of years ago. The idea is that cars may actually be a fairly safe place during a tornado.

See Weather.com: Tornado Safety - Cars Versus Ditches: A Controversy

The NWS recommends that if you are being overtaken in your car by a tornado, then you should get out of the car and into a nearby building or ditch. The new American Red Cross recommendation is that if no building is available, stay in the car - get out of the car and into a ditch only as a last resort. Crouch down with your seat belt on and your head below the windshield level.

Origins

New genetic research pinpoints the source of all humans to near the South African - Namibia border.

Via BBC: Experts unveil African gene study

The first humans most likely evolved near the South Africa-Namibia border, the team said, and migrated north out of the continent via the Red Sea.

Researchers had identified 14 ancestral population clusters "that correlated with ethnicity and shared cultural and/or linguistic properties", they said.

View Larger Map

You Are Fat Because Of What You Eat

Duh.

See PhysOrg: Increased food intake alone explains the increase in body weight in the US

How much of the obesity epidemic has been caused by excess calorie intake and how much by reductions in physical activity has been long debated and while experts agree that making it easier for people to eat less and exercise more are both important for combating it, they debate where the public health focus should be.

A study presented on Friday at the European Congress on Obesity is the first to examine the question of the proportional contributions to the obesity epidemic by combining metabolic relationships, the laws of thermodynamics, epidemiological data and agricultural data.

"There have been a lot of assumptions that both reduced physical activity and increased energy intake have been major drivers of the obesity epidemic. Until now, nobody has proposed how to quantify their relative contributions to the rise in obesity since the 1970s. This study demonstrates that the weight gain in the American population seems to be virtually all explained by eating more calories.

Geoengineering And Iron

I first learned about the Iron Hypothesis in Earth Magazine back in 1996. This hypothesis has been tested, and as usual, nature is more complex than we can imagine. See PhysOrg: Ocean carbon: A dent in the iron hypothesis

...study reveals that most of the carbon from lush plankton blooms never reaches the deep ocean.

The results are interesting because fertilizing the oceans with iron in order to sequester carbon is a geoengineering idea, and the White House science adviser has not taken geoengineering off the table. See NYT: Science Adviser Lays Out Climate and Energy Plans

Freakwater Interview

Wisconsin Public Radio's 'To The Best Of Our Knowledge' had a segment on "American Classics". It included music and interview with Freakwater.

Biodiesel Keeps Getting Better

PhysOrg: Study Finds that Styrofoam Increases Biodiesel Power Output

By dissolving polystyrene packing peanuts in biodiesel, scientists have found that they can boost the power output of the fuel while getting rid of garbage at the same time.

More Wooden Bicycles

Mentioned before.

FastCompany.com has more: Four Wooden Bicycles That Will Grow on You

I find that there is something very beautiful and elegant about these bikes.

Why There Is A Flu Season

Dr. Jeff Masters of the Weather Underground explains it as a function of humidity and temperature in Influenza and the weather

And there is evidence it may be tied to summertime Vitamin D exposure: Epidemic Influenza And Vitamin D

How To Be The Most Popular Person On The Boat

SouthernFriedScience: How to brew beer in a coffee maker, using only materials commonly found on a modestly sized oceanographic research vessel.

A Couple Of Ford Links

ConsumerReports: Ford Fusion – The best car you don’t know about

DetFreePress: Ford outsells Toyota

Interesting Polls

FiveThirtyEight: Two National Polls, for First Time, Show Plurality Support for Gay Marriage

PewResearch: Fewer Voters Identify as Republicans [only 27%]

Not Bad Dogs, Bad People

Or as Cesar Millan says "I rehabilitate dogs. I train people."

See PhysOrg: Dogs are aggressive if they are trained badly

Alaskan Eskimo Village Forced To Move

Hey Alaskans - "You can ignore reality but you cannot ignore the consequences of ignoring reality" -Ayn Rand

Via CNN: 'Climate change' forces Eskimos to abandon village

More Evidence Of Conservativisim As A Sign Of Mental Defect

See: The Irony of Satire

Using data from an experiment (N = 332), we found that individual-level political ideology significantly predicted perceptions of Colbert's political ideology. Additionally, there was no significant difference between the groups in thinking Colbert was funny, but conservatives were more likely to report that Colbert only pretends to be joking and genuinely meant what he said while liberals were more likely to report that Colbert used satire and was not serious when offering political statements. Conservatism also significantly predicted perceptions that Colbert disliked liberalism.

MJ: Conservatives Live in a Different Moral Universe—And Here's Why It Matters

Maybe 2012 Really Will Be The End?

Like the Mayans prophesied...

Wired: The 2012 Apocalypse — And How to Stop It

Worse yet, the next period of intense solar activity is expected in 2012, and coincides with the presence of an unusually large hole in Earth’s geomagnetic shield.

Evidence For A Single Migration To The Americas

See PhysOrg: Native Americans descended from a single ancestral group, DNA study confirms

Unfortunately we may never know if the Clovis people were similar to Native Americans or had different genetics because they died out.

81.5 MPG In A Stock Ford Fusion Hybrid

Via GCC: Ford Fusion Hybrid 1,000 Mile Challenge Car Sets Record with 1,445 Miles on Single Tank of Gas; Averages 81.5 mpg

Drivers trained in mileage-maximizing techniques such as smooth acceleration and coasting to red lights were able to wring 1,445.7 miles out of a single tank of gas during a fund-raising effort in Washington, DC that concluded today. They did it by averaging 81.5 miles per gallon in an off-the-showroom floor, non-modified 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid, nearly doubling its EPA rating.

The Fusion Hybrid 1,000-Mile Challenge started on 25 April. After more than 69 continuous hours of driving, the Fusion Hybrid finally depleted its tank and came to a stop with an odometer reading of 1,445.7 miles—setting a world record for gasoline-powered, midsize sedan.

BSG Updates

Salon: Frak this prequel

As premises go, "Caprica's" dead teenager uploaded into battle robot is a promising one ("Terminator" meets "Freaky Friday"?), but the pilot lacks the dramatic heft of its predecessor. It doesn't have the same sense of scale or tragedy as "Battlestar" and feels considerably more generic, both dramatically and stylistically. The drama builds slowly, and scenes unfold without much, if any, tension. What little tension it has owes to viewers' knowledge of what will happen 58 years later. There are no hostage crises or food shortages to resolve, since the show's main concern is the emotional state of its two families. In fact, robot subplot and holographic excursions aside, there really isn't much that’s science fiction-y about "Caprica."

TheOnion: Obama Depressed, Distant Since 'Battlestar Galactica' Series Finale

According to sources in the White House, President Barack Obama has been uncharacteristically distant and withdrawn ever since last month's two-hour series finale of Battlestar Galactica.

"The president seems to be someplace else lately," said one high-level official, speaking on condition of anonymity. "Yesterday we were all being briefed on the encroachment of Iranian drone planes into Iraq, when he just looked up from the table and blurted out, 'What am I supposed to watch on Fridays at 10 p.m. now? Numb3rs?'"

And now that I have had time to reflect on the series my favorite episode was the first one after the mini-series: "33"

The Latest On The K-T Boundary

PhysOrg: New blow for dinosaur-killing asteroid theory
Professor Keller's page: The Great Chicxulub Debate

Protecting The Earth With A Tether And Ballast

Via PhysOrg: How to deflect asteroids and save the Earth

The Aldo Leopold Archives

The University of Wisconsin has made the full Aldo Leopold archives searchable at The Aldo Leopold Archives.

In The U.S. - Venezuela Has 42% Favorable Rating, Republicans 39%

(I do not fully buy this but it is funny) See OpenLeft: Republicans Less Popular Than Venezuela

The Endurance Running Hypothesis

Via SeedMag: The Running Man

“Running an animal to heatstroke is something that most humans can do, and that other animals can’t,” says Lieberman. “It’s a compelling explanation for why these capabilities evolved, and frankly, nobody’s come up with a better idea yet.”

This article reminded me of The Legend of Cliff Young: The 61 Year Old Farmer Who Won the World’s Toughest Race

For Reel

I've been using a Brill Luxus reel mower for eight years and love it. Brill has an updated reel mower now that looks even better.

See CleanAirGardening: Brill Razorcut 38 Reel Mower

Principles For A New Party

I stopped being a Republican when I realized the party was more concerned with protecting the rights of corporations over individuals; with socializing risks and privatizing rewards; and in general just representing ignorance in economics and history. Not that I can comfortably call myself a Democrat either. But I can support Obama because I believe him to be a pragmatist. The best description of my leanings is Liberaltarian.

I was reminded of the need for a new political party by Nassim Nicholas Taleb at FT: Ten principles for a Black Swan-proof world
The abbreviated list is:

1. What is fragile should break early while it is still small. Nothing should ever become too big to fail. .

2. No socialisation of losses and privatisation of gains.

3. People who were driving a school bus blindfolded (and crashed it) should never be given a new bus.

4. Do not let someone making an “incentive” bonus manage a nuclear plant – or your financial risks.

5. Counter-balance complexity with simplicity.

6. Do not give children sticks of dynamite, even if they come with a warning.

7. Only Ponzi schemes should depend on confidence.

8. Do not give an addict more drugs if he has withdrawal pains.

9. Citizens should not depend on financial assets or fallible “expert” advice for their retirement.

10. Make an omelette with the broken eggs.

Where Did The Recession Come From?

Oil price increases seems obvious. That plus runaway housing prices as I wrote about earlier.

And now a new research paper indicates that this great recession is the result of peak oil production.

EconoBrowser: Consequences of the Oil Shock of 2007-08

Whereas historical oil price shocks were primarily caused by physical disruptions of supply, the price run-up of 2007-08 was caused by strong demand confronting stagnating world production.

Guerilla Gardening

Something I have always wanted to do is bundle up wild edible plants and scatter their seeds across the landscape. I already do this on a limited basis on my walks - I'll stick red oak acorns, white pine cones, and white cedar seeds in my pocket and scatter them in needy places.

Other folks take this concept much further:

NPR: Environmentalists Adopt New Weapon: Seed Balls

CSMonitor: Guerrilla gardening takes root in Los Angeles

BBC: Guerrilla gardeners wage turf war

I Never Understood Why Station Wagons Were Not More Popular

MSNBC: Pile in! Station wagons are making a comeback

And I have always wondered why all police cars aren't station wagons?

Non-Stationary Hot Spots

PhysOrg: Bent tectonics: How Hawaii was bumped off

...the hotspot responsible for the Hawaii-Emperor seamount chain was not fixed. Rather it had been drifting quite distinctly southward. Nearly 50 million years ago, it finally came to rest while the Pacific plate steadily pushed on, the combination of which resulted in the prominent bend.

The Payroll Tax

Should the Social Security tax (FICA) be put on holiday in order to stimulate the economy?

See The NY: Not Insane

Whatever happened to the idea of eliminating the ceiling on FICA so that income above $102,000 was taxed too? Wouldn't this solve the Social Security "crisis"?

Beating Asteroids

Wired: How to Defend Earth Against an Asteroid Strike

(Continuation of a theme)

Local And Organic Is Not Sustainable

To feed the world's people you need industrial agriculture. It is a matter of scale.

Must reading for people who think the local food movement will solve all of our agricultural problems.

MJ: Spoiled: Organic and Local Is So 2008

Consider what it would take to make our farm system entirely organic. The only reason industrial organic agriculture can get away with replenishing its soils with manure or by planting nitrogen-fixing cover crops is that the industry is so tiny—making up less than 3 percent of the US food supply (and just 5.3 percent even in gung-ho green cultures like Austria's). If we wanted to rid the world of synthetic fertilizer use—and assuming dietary habits remain constant—the extra land we'd need for cover crops or forage (to feed the animals to make the manure) would more than double, possibly triple, the current area of farmland, according to Vaclav Smil, an environmental scientist at the University of Manitoba. Such an expansion, Smil notes, "would require complete elimination of all tropical rainforests, conversion of a large part of tropical and subtropical grasslands to cropland, and the return of a substantial share of the labor force to field farming—making this clearly only a theoretical notion."

The Palins

I feel bad for the family. But choices have consequences.

MSNBC: Bristol Palin and fiancé split

Are the conservatives who lauded the choices made by Bristol in interviews during the Republican Presidential Convention still happy with her decisions now I wonder?

MJ: Sarah Palin: More Earmark Hypocrisy

Using Gasified Wood In Your Truck

A neighbor of mine runs their truck on wood in the summer months.

For a how-to See MEN: Mother's Woodburning Truck: After 1,500 miles of free-fuel driving, we found that you can run a truck using firewood for fuel. This article includes detailed diagrams, photographs and how the wood/gas generator was constructed.

Rescuing Huskies

A husky can be a great dog but do not get one unless you can give it one hour of exercise every day, and a lot more at least once a week. Although I have never been a fan of pure breed dogs and like the husky-shepherd mix best of all.

But it is sad when people buy a puppy expecting one thing and then are confronted by reality.

See: AdoptAHusky.com

Via MLive: Too many Siberian huskies end up in shelters

I will confess that for years, I have harbored a secret fantasy about owning a Siberian husky. Granted, I'm a romantic. I love their look, their spirit, their sense of adventure. I figured owning one would bring out my Jack London rather than my Elmer Fudd.

But the fact that I don't have one is finally OK. My visit with the Michigan Dog Drivers Association last weekend affirmed what I also secretly knew. Anyone can wish for one. But it takes a special person to own one and do it well.

Reminds Me Of "Those Who Write The History Books..."

Funny but true at BalloonJuice.com: The Thin Line Between Socialism and Capitalist Nirvana

The 2010 proposed rate of 39.60% = socialism.
The 2002-2008 rates of 35.00% = capitalist nirvana.
The 39.6% rate of the 1990’s = socialism.

Vinegar - There Really Is Nothing It Cannot Do

PhysOrg: Cleansing toxic waste -- with vinegar

The research team, led by Dr Doug Stewart from the School of Civil Engineering and Dr Ian Burke from the School of Earth and Environment, has discovered that adding dilute acetic acid (vinegar) to the affected site stimulates the growth of naturally-occurring bacteria by providing an attractive food source. In turn, these bacteria then cleanse the affected area by altering the chemical make-up of the chromium compounds to make them harmless.

Orange Juice Is Packed With Orange Flavors

Alissa Hamilton is promoting her book Squeezed: What You Don't Know About Orange Juice (Yale Agrarian Studies Series)

Boston.com has an interview: Q&A with Alissa Hamilton

IDEAS: What isn't straightforward about orange juice?

HAMILTON: It's a heavily processed product. It's heavily engineered as well. In the process of pasteurizing, juice is heated and stripped of oxygen, a process called deaeration, so it doesn't oxidize. Then it's put in huge storage tanks where it can be kept for upwards of a year. It gets stripped of flavor-providing chemicals, which are volatile. When it's ready for packaging, companies such as Tropicana hire flavor companies such as Firmenich to engineer flavor packs to make it taste fresh. People think not-from-concentrate is a fresher product, but it also sits in storage for quite a long time.

Via BoingBoing

Too Many Cars

A bunch of pictures of unsold cars sitting in lots around the world at Ritholtz: Unsold Cars Around the World



At some point these cars will be deeply discounted in order to be sold. At that point what happens to a person with a slightly used car? Who is going to buy a used car if there are new cars available at the same price? Eventually there will be a collapse in vehicle values and many people are going to find they owe more for their car than it is worth. Just like their house. And when energy prices start to rise again people will have more credit card debt than assets.

More images at Getty.

We Condemn In Others What We Fear Most About Ourselves

Via BB: Red states consume more porn?

According to a new Harvard Business School study, eight of the top ten states in terms of online porn consumption were ones where McCain won in the presidential election. Professor Benjamin Edelman analyzed anonymised credit cards receipts from a large online porn company. Based on their limited data, the largest consumer is Utah.

Commuter Bikes

MetaEfficient with a 2009 Commuter Bike Round-Up.

Not on their list is a bicycles I would consider for commuting duty too. Schwinn's electric assist bicycles.

Emprically Showing Conservatives Do Not Support Liberty

First, a study by George Mason University professor Daniel Klein: Conservative Magazines and the Presumption of Liberty: A Content Analysis on Sex, Gambling, and Drugs

Conservatives say they are for small government and individual liberty, but a content analysis of leading conservative magazines shows that most have preponderantly failed to take pro-liberty positions on sex, gambling, and drugs. Besides many anti-liberty commissions, the magazines may be criticized for anti-liberty omission—that is, failing to oppose anti-liberty policies.

This reminds me of a conversation I heard between two older gentleman last week. Within a span of a few minutes they complained about the United States moving towards "socialism" and they wanted Adjustable Rate Mortgages outlawed.

Or another person I know who will only vote Republican because he doesn't want to pay high taxes. Yet he has also said people who send spam faxes to fax machines should be severely punished and he wants the State to care for his autistic son when he turns 18.

There Will Be Gardening

The possibility of a garden on the White House lawn is getting closer to reality.

Via TH: White House Farm Coming Soon

I believe that by this summer there will be a garden – another garden, a vegetable garden – on the White House lawn...I believe the Obamas are committed to that. It’s a big idea, and its gonna happen. During the campaign, going around shaking peoples’ hands, he never got sick once. He was eating well, and it could have to do with having an organic chef with him. This is someone who 'gets' nutrition.

I, We, Two

BBC: 'Oldest English words' identified

Neko Case. Blast Off.

She seems like the reluctant star who is about to take off with the latest album coming out March 3rd.

Paste: 17 Things I Love, By Neko Case
Her numbers 1 through 5 would be on my list too, but not in the same order.

NYT Mag: Wild Thing

For the last five years, Case has lived in a middle-class, one-story-house neighborhood of Tucson, not far from the city’s center. But this spring she’ll move to an old farm she bought and is now renovating in northern Vermont. “I want to get away from the social vampires in Tucson,” she says. “The people who have no lives of their own and meet me and know who I am and feel entitled to say negative things. I have good friends here, especially in the bands” like Calexico and Giant Sand. Members of these bands and others have often appeared on her CDs. “But a lot of it is just like high school. And I like forests and all the wildlife up in Vermont.” It’s hard to imagine what these acts of social vampirism might consist of, but she prefers to leave them unspecified. She also asks that the Vermont town’s name not be mentioned. “I’ve had stalkers,” she says. Alexandria, Tacoma, Vancouver, Chicago, Tucson and, next, Vermont. Case hopes that her new community will prove to be her permanent home. You wonder.

One of many reviews: Neko Case spins alt-country tunes into "Cyclone"

MJ: Ramblin' Woman Neko Case

Just Like Vinegar?

In that it is a miracle cleaner and sanitizer. It is electrolyzed saltwater. See LAT: Simple elixir called a 'miracle liquid'

Overcoming Ice Challenges

NYT with a blog post regarding one of the biggest challenges to offshore wind farms in the Great Lakes - ice. See: Freshwater Wind Farms for the Great Lakes?

Lima Is Still In The Top 10

When you grow up it will be much easier to live in Lima, OH than elsewhere. As Lima has been one of the most affordable housing markets for about the last 20 years. I don't think that is such a good thing.

See Lifehacker: The 10 Most and Least Affordable Cities in the US

Ten Most Affordable Cities with a Population Under 500,000
1. Lansing-East Lansing, MI
2. Sandusky, OH
3. Lima, OH
4. Springfield, OH
5. Bay City, MI
6. Battle Creek, MI
7. Canton-Massillon, OH
8. Saginaw-Saginaw Township North, MI
9. Utica-Rome, NY
10. Binghamton, NY

The "When I Grow Up I Want To Live In Lima" song by Mr. Fioretti:

When I grow up I want to live in Lima
Maybe get there on a big jet liner
Take me an hour or maybe two
Either way I'll get there to you
We'll all pile into a conversion van
Drive on down to the House of Hunan
When we get there we'll see what they've got
Change our minds and go to the China Wok

When we get bored we'll blow up BP
When we get hungry we'll go to Kewpee

Nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah
[repeat]

A Wish That All Presidents Were Graduate School Lecturers

Professor-President Obama is demonstrating that the best leadership works in the classroom as well as the boardroom and as well in the political realm.

See Bob Herbert in the NYT: Obama Riding the Wave

He said that the fact that he’d been rebuffed so far in his quest for bipartisanship would not stop him from reaching out for Republican support.

“Going forward,” he said, “each and every time we’ve got an initiative, I’m going to go to both Democrats and Republicans and I’m going to say, ‘Here’s my best argument for why we need to do this. I want to listen to your counterarguments. If you’ve got better ideas, present them. We will incorporate them into any plans that we make, and we are willing to compromise on certain issues that are important to one side or the other in order to get stuff done.’ ”...

...But beyond his specific policies (and whether one supports them or not), Mr. Obama is emerging as the very model of the type of person one would want in high public office. He is intelligent, mature, thoughtful, calm in the face of crises and, if the nation is lucky, maybe even wise.

Feeding Elk Since 1912

Elk feedlots in Wyoming are extremely contentious. On one hand elk herds bring tourists and hunters to Wyoming, on the other hand, they destroy forest diversity. Good thing they have a good-natured guy like Brandon to administer the program.

See NYT: Debate Rages Over Elk Feeding

The Jackson herd, now tens of thousands of animals strong, became the foundation for a resurgent elk population. After the federal government stepped in to run the feeding system in 1912, a self-reinforcing loop of tourism, hunting, ranching and politics emerged. Having lots of elk in one place where humans would feed them, year in and year out, gradually became a goal in itself, shrouded with complex motives and enshrined by time.

“Habit became tradition; tradition became culture,” said Bruce Smith, who served for 22 years as senior biologist at the National Elk Refuge here, operated by the federal Fish and Wildlife Service.

Now a new and tightening circle of challenges is closing in on the elk and the human system that has sustained them, forcing a debate over the science, emotion and economics of protecting these magnificent animals and the landscape they inhabit. At the center is a critical question: Did human kindness backfire, setting the elk up for disaster?

When To Go To The Veternarian?

You can decide by checking symptoms at Vet Help Direct.

Via Mashable.

Addicted To Pets Via Oxytocin

Salon.com interviews Meg Daley Olmert, author of "Made for Each Other": The love that dare not bark its name

I get the impression that she thinks wolves became domesticated via nursing human mothers raising wolf pups.

You Give Me Fever

Fascinating story about doctors from the 19th century having sporadic success in putting tumors and cancer in remission by inducing fever.

See AmeriSci: Healing Heat: Harnessing Infection to Fight Cancer

The thinking is that cancer cells are designed to keep the immune system from reacting too strongly. Having a fever ramps up the complete immune response which includes dealing with cancerous cells.

This reinforces my hypothesis that RSV related wheezing in toddler and infants is partly due to the accompanying fever; in that, the body responds to the fever by ramping up the immune response and inadvertently attacking and constricting the respiratory system.