Good Thing Global Warming is a Hoax …

… otherwise, the few hundred peer reviewed articles summarized and referenced in this pre-Copenhagen summary showing, once again, that climate change is worse than the uber-conservative IPCC has been estimating might really scare me. I mean, what if it were really true that these few hundred recent peer-reviewed articles show that:

Madoff Goes Global

Here’s an excellent write-up that describes the ways in which we are stealing from future generations to feed ourselves and the parallels between doing so and any other Ponzi scheme.

PONZICONOMY: Our global pyramid scheme

I’ve read Plan B 2.0, an excellent book, and notice that there is a link to a new version Plan B 4.0 by Lester Brown.

Don’t forget, the article doesn’t even mention the fact that not only is the oil at the pump a subsidized and limited resource, so is the oil we pour on our corn as fertilizer.

That’s right, industrial fertilizers are petroleum products. We’re eating oil!! That can’t be good for either our health or our long term prospects in terms of a very large population dependent on a fossil, non-renewable, resource.

The fallacy of climate activism

This may appear to undermine a number of my earlier posts. However, in this case, I think the point is extremely important. We must begin to recognize and tell the truth of the true nature of our problems. That said, we must also use every weapon in our arsenal to fight for the preservation of the environment to the best of our ability. Most likely the only tool that will actually be worth a damn will be birth control. Yet, we must still do all we can to reduce our ecological (including carbon) footprints while at the same time taking action to reduce the number of feet. The regulars on this blog will remember that I have already argued that the planet cannot support even 300 million of us, let alone 6.7, 8, or 9 billion. So, in that sense, this article is still somewhat consistent with my prior posts. However, I cannot recall previously gotting to the point of wording the issue such that climate change is a mere symptom of a much larger problem, one that involves not only too many people, but people with a completely failed view of the finite planet on which we depend for our very lives every single day.

The fallacy of climate activism

Welcome to the NYC Free Subway System

Here’s an interesting plan to solve two of New York City’s current problems in one fell swoop. First, the subway would be free, at least during off peak hours, and possibly ultimately around the clock. Second, vehicular traffic into the city would be expensive. This new Kheel plan from a long term veteran of conflict resolution promises a wonderful solution to the problems of a transit system in financial crisis and a city clogged with traffic.

Being the pessimist that I am, and looking at what happened to the Bloomberg plan for congestion pricing, I don’t really have much hope for this. However, this just might be exactly what New York needs.

Kheel Plan 2 Seeks to Plug MTA Budget Gap

For the full Kheel plan in PDF as well as an overview of the Theodore W. Kheel’s awe inspiring credentials, click below.

The Full Kheel Plan

Thanks to my wife for a great find.

Slumburbs!!

Damn!! I wanted to be the one to coin the term when I thought of it this morning after reading this Atlantic Monthly article The Next Slum. However, I found that the term was already in the Urban Dictionary. Oh well. Regardless of the fact that I didn’t create the term even though I had not heard it before, it seems to describe the coming situation all too well. The urban dictionary does not seem to note that this has two wonderful interpretations though, one is that the suburbs will become slums. The other expresses their sleepy and boring deathstyle in terms of slumber.

Life After the Tipping Point (i.e. Today?)

If this article, Beyond the point of no return, is correct, we’ll be seeing even more really bad effects of climate change very soon. I’m still hoping to live out my life before the start of the Great Human Die-Off. This article gives a number of reasons not to be so hopeful. However, it also advocates some real and significant changes to the human mind-set.

This is not something I had considered previously.

Toxic Ocean Resembles the Precambrian

You’ve probably already heard that the ocean fish stocks on which we depend are already 90% depleted. Well, this L.A. Times article, A Primeval Tide of Toxins, not only confirms that, but also discusses the effects of this on the rest of the ocean. The chemical and biological content of the ocean is even beginning to make people sick just from getting hit by a nice sea breeze. What the hell are we doing to this poor planet and the rest of its inhabitants? Is the current mass extinction so bad that we are reverting the planet or even just large swaths of it to their Precambrian state? Read the article and find out.

Ten Better Commandments?

Richard Dawkins has made the point that if God were so perfect that he could have come up with ten better commandments than the ones in the Bible. Depending on your particular flavor of the Judeo-Christian-Islamic religion (singular as always for me), the ten commandments may differ slightly. Here are the ten commandments on wikipedia with a good write up, including the original text of the Bible, which is either 16 or 15 paragraphs, depending on whether you prefer to take the version from Exodus or the version from Deuteronomy. That there are two versions and that they differ should immediately strike any thinking person as signifying that the Bible just may not be quite as perfect as many people assert anyway.