Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
Flood myths are common to human culture. Swollen rivers, tidal storms, and tsunamis make their appearance frequently in literature. But Hurricane Sandy, which has drawn newly etched high-water marks on the buildings of lower Manhattan (and Brooklyn), has shifted the discussion from storytelling to reality.
The topic of last week’s post, the likely fate of Israel in the twilight years of American empire, makes a good example of more than one common theme. As I commented in that earlier discussion, Israel is one of several American client states for whom the end of our empire will also be the end of the line. At the same time, it also highlights a major source of international tension that bids fair to bring in a bumper crop of conflict in the decades before us.
In contemplative moments I like to think about all the manufactured products that could come from the soil surface rather than from deep underground.
The polar bears are in danger because of the way we live, because of our abuses to the environment, because of our throwaway consumer culture. Josh and Mr. Kleinberger are unsung heroes in battling those exact problems. They are the lingering vestiges of our fix-it culture. And we need to bring people like that back into our communities.
The remarkable variety of life’s interdependent phenomena and processes — what we call ‘diversity’ — is being eroded by the modern forces of homogenization. The rich tapestry — woven from a countless multitude of mutually reinforcing strands of biological, cultural and linguistic relationships — is wearing out. Our increasingly fatigued world is losing its vitality, luminosity and splendour under a relentless assault from various “izations”, such as industrialization, colonization, secularization, computerization, globalization, and harmonization, to name a few.
What if the vacant lots in Mission Bay were activated into garden and event spaces?
If you want to make your house more efficient at repelling the unpleasantness outdoors (whether hot or cold), what should you do first? Insulate the walls? Insulate the ceiling? The roof? Better windows? Draft elimination? What has the biggest effect? While I have regrettably little practical experience tightening up a house (it’s on my bucket list), I at least do understand heat transfer from a physics/engineering perspective, and can walk through some insightful calculations. So let’s build a fantasy house and evaluate thermal tradeoffs at 1234 Theoretical Lane.
Rarely does the release of a data-driven report on energy trends trigger front-page headlines around the world. That, however, is exactly what happened on November 12th when the prestigious Paris-based International Energy Agency (IEA) released this year’s edition of its World Energy Outlook.
•Cornucopia of Prosperity Can Flow From Carbon Tax [Craig Comstock]•The economics of carbon taxes Beyond carbon policy: A national feed-in tariff [Chris Nelder]•The economics of carbon taxes [Video presentationts]
Does art have a purpose? Can it change our sense of what is possible in the world?
Cooperation is the basis of human society. However, most societies today have been deformed and oppressed by small authoritarian groups for a very long time.
•Earth’s most valuable resource is the space between the sand
•Moments of revelation trigger the biggest transformations
•Beyond Civilized and Primitive
•Why Gridlock Is Good (If You’re a Progressive)
