Category Archives: serious stuff
As if.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Saudis Seek Payments for Any Drop in Oil Revenues “It is like the tobacco industry asking for compensation for lost revenues as a part of a settlement to address the health risks of smoking,” said Jake Schmidt, the international climate policy director at the Natural Resources Defense Council. “The worst of this racket is that […]
Norman Borlaug
Saturday, October 3, 2009
The Associated Press: Borlaug, who saved millions from hunger, dies “Norman E. Borlaug saved more lives than any man in human history,” said Josette Sheeran, executive director of the U.N. World Food Program. “His heart was as big as his brilliant mind, but it was his passion and compassion that moved the world.”
Inside the Apocalyptic Soviet Doomsday Machine
Friday, October 2, 2009
The point of the system, he explains, was to guarantee an automatic Soviet response to an American nuclear strike. Even if the US crippled the USSR with a surprise attack, the Soviets could still hit back. It wouldn’t matter if the US blew up the Kremlin, took out the defense ministry, severed the communications network, […]
Now, see, Dominion? Not that big a deal.
Monday, June 15, 2009
Plastic takes thousands of years to decompose — but 16-year-old science fair contestant Daniel Burd made it happen in just three months.
Iceland, not so much like Newfoundland
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Wall Street on the Tundra | Vanity Fair Since its fishing policy transformed Iceland, the place has become, in effect, a machine for turning cod into Ph.D.’s. But this, of course, creates a new problem: people with Ph.D.’s don’t want to fish for a living. They need something else to do. […] Enter investment banking.
Blackstrap Hawco
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Only occasionally do i feel moved to review something here. Well, “moved” would be the wrong word, because sometimes i do it out of whimsy more than admiration, and ‘here’ might not refer to the current incarnation of this blog. Anyways, after finishing Blackstrap Hawco i find myself wanting to say something. i always imagined […]
i know i sure bought more magazines before getting on the interwebs…
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Welcome, Wired. We call this land “Internet” | Boing Boing Gadgets Since then, Wired.com’s grown to 11 million monthly visitors: its blogs are among the best in their fields and its tech news reportage is among the finest, online or off […]. The sheer size of that readership speaks volumes: the Times says the magazine […]
Copper is scary
Monday, April 20, 2009
A ‘Copper Standard’ for the world’s currency system? “China has woken up. The West is a black hole with all this money being printed. The Chinese are buying raw materials because it is a much better way to use their $1.9 trillion of reserves. They get ten times the impact, and can cover their infrastructure […]
J.G. Ballard 1930-2009
Monday, April 20, 2009
But technology in terms of video-tape machines and so on may make it possible to have a continuous alternative to direct experience, and I mean any alternative. You can have this played back in a slow motion, or do you want it in infra-red, or do you want it this or that. Take your pick, […]
