Lethality verus survivability

[meus-ovatio.livejournal.com]

Inspired by the recent post about gun control, I wanted to talk about guns. More specifically, what guns do. It helps to nail down some basics before getting into higher-level discussions about gun policy. So what exactly do guns do? How should we talk about guns? I have a story.
( Put a bag over your head. )

Debt and Usury, The Greek Example

[peristaltor.livejournal.com]

A couple of weeks ago, htpcl wrote a fine piece concerning the current Greek political situation and the rise of the extremist parties in the face of economic collapse and chaos. He made some excellent points, noting how the far-left Alexis Tsipras and ultra-nationalist Panos Kammenos have been making political points demonizing the centrist parties New Democracy and PASOK:

Tsipras . . . sensed the pulse and the big pain of the Greeks and, together with the far-right Kammenos, he said the old big parties like New Democracy and PASOK should be punished for all the evils they've brought upon the country. Now, obviously those really did fuck up big time in the recent decades, but meanwhile some of their achievements are being conveniently omitted in the Tsipras and Kammenos speeches. Like the EU entry (1980, New Democracy's achievement), the Euro-zone entry (2001, PASOK), the well organized Olympic games (2004, PASOK and then New Democracy), and the rising living standard overall. Unsustainable living standard though, and that's the main problem.

(I added emphasis)

I emboldened that phrase because, the more I delve into this whole economics thing from what some are calling a "post-Keynesian" perspective, the more I stumble on to the fact that those very achievements "being conveniently omitted" ( might be a proximal actual cause of Greece's troubles today. )

What will we eat tomorrow?

[airiefairie.livejournal.com]

Lots of delicious meat, vegetables and sea food. The sight may look nice, but only a small part of the world's population could afford such abundance. In order to guarantee enough food for an ever growing population, we may soon come to a point where we will have to change our ways of making food, preparing food, and eating food. Sooner than we might be hoping for.

Fortunately, science is not sleeping, and it is working hard to devise new sources of food and new ways of food production. From sausages made inside bio-reactors, to insect salads, to fish farming products, to food skyscrapers, to genetically modified rice. Shall we plunge into the dinner of the future? =)

( Right. Let us plunge. )

(no subject)

[allhatnocattle.livejournal.com]

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2012/06/08/alberta-oil-spill-red-deer-river_n_1581008.html?ir=Canada&ref=fb&src=sp&comm_ref=false

This pipeline oil spill is currently going on in Alberta, about a two hour drive from my house. The company was completely unaware and only found out when residents kilometers away began complaining about a rotten egg smell, meanwhile hundreds of thousands of litres have spilled. Average recovery rates? 5%

-- and the oil and gas industry wants more pipelines. One down to the refineries in Texas and another to Kitimat BC, gateway to the orient.

Now there's a simple solution of closer monitoring of pressure along these pipelines. They could also take a cue from the shipping industry and double hull (or triple hull) these pipes along their proposed routes.

Are you for or against oil from Canada? How do you propose transporting it? Is ethical oil a valid concern?