A Math Lesson

An urgent lecture by Dr. Albert A. Bartlett: "Arithmetic, Population, and Energy" (2002).



Two great quotes from the presentation:

Democracy cannot survive overpopulation. Human dignity cannot survive it. Convenience and decency cannot survive it. As you put more and more people into the world, the value of life not only declines, it disappears. It doesn't matter if someone dies. The more people there are, the less one individual matters.

—Isaac Asimov

Unlike plagues of the dark ages or contemporary diseases we do not yet understand, the modern plague of overpopulation is soluble by means we have discovered and with resources we possess. What is lacking is not sufficient knowledge of the solution but universal consciousness of the gravity of the problem and education of the billions who are its victims.

—Martin Luther King

A sketch of a tree in front of Strong Hall from my freshman year. I found it while I was going through all my old notebooks.

Kansas...

So there was a really strong storm here earlier, and after a bit I checked the weather. My weather widget said, oh you know, it's 62 degrees-- the moon is so-and-so and it's partly cloudy. I checked weather.com and it said something to the effect of "THERE HAS BEEN A TORNADO SIGHTED IN YOUR AREA, SEEK SHELTER IMMEDIATELY!" Right after that there was an announcement over the dorm speakers and everyone huddled downstairs (not that we'd be safe if a tornado actually hit us anyway), and we waited there for a while.

I just got back to my room. It's almost 2am. I guess we lost a few of the smaller trees. Kansas is awesome.

(Oh, and notice that the sirens never went off, just like they didn't go off when we had the microburst.)

1. More than 8,400 [and counting] without power as hail hits Lawrence


Update:

Westar Energy is reporting that more than 8,600 customers are without power in Douglas County around 2:20 a.m. today as a severe thunderstorm hit Lawrence.

The Journal-World has received several reports of storm-related damage, including downed trees and debris blocking the road in northern and western Lawrence.

6News Chief Meteorologist Jennifer Schack is reporting that the storm had winds in excess of 80 mph in Douglas County.

The severe thunderstorm warning issued for Douglas County expired at 1:45 a.m., and the tornado watch is no longer in effect.

A tree has fallen on a mobile home on Perry street. The family who lives there has been set up at the Holidome, according to Jane Blocher of the Red Cross.

Police and emergency crews are responding to large downed trees, including at Sixth Street at Iowa and Trail Road near Fireside Drive. Also, a roof has blown off a building on Sixth and is on the road on Florida Street.

World population growth through history

Sadly, this is the best graph I could find on Google. It does its job though. (Click to view it in full-size.)


It's crazy to me that just over 200 years ago someone could say, "Wow, there are over a billion people! Isn't that ridiculous?—so, so many of us, more than there's ever been." And at the end of this century there may be as many as eight or twelve times that number.

Darfur's arid underpinnings

1. A Climate Culprit In Darfur
2. Water find 'may end Darfur war'

7/20 update:

3. Ancient Darfur lake 'is dried up'

This world of ours 6

As Uganda is forced to outlaw plastic bags, a study has found that the world's wealthiest have increased their fortunes by 11.4% in 2006. But time spent earning money puts a strain on one's social life, and many simply don't have the time to keep up with friends on facebook or write in their blog— so they pay others to do it for them.
1. Why Uganda hates the plastic bag
2. World rich 'keep getting richer'
3. Are my online friends for real?

Despite the increasing wealth of the upper class, one man has decided that he no longer wishes to live in America's most expensive home ($165 million). He has stated that he wants a "lifestyle change."
4. 'Most expensive' US home on sale

Perhaps he wants to move to Vanuatu, which the Happy Planet Index has named the world's happiest country. Or if his lifestyle change is opting for more occupational stress, he could always become a librarian.
5. What's so great about living in Vanuatu?
6. Librarians 'suffer most stress'

Meanwhile, America is facing some problems. The dollar has reached a new low against the Euro and is continuing to fall, our health care system is terrible despite being the most expensive (it is ranked 37^th, just above Slovenia), and one-third of Americans will abuse alcohol in the course of their lives.
7. Dollar falls to record euro low
8. Health-care costs are sickening
9. One-third of Americans abuse alcohol: survey

Further, the US Army fell well short of its recruiting goals. Hopefully this will improve in the coming decades it will likely take to resolve the insurgency. Don't bash Bush on the issue though, give his troop surge more time.
10. US Army falls short of recruiting goals again: officials
11. US Iraq chief warns of long war
12. Bush urges Congress Iraq support
13. Bush pleads for time to give Iraq plan chance to work

Don't feel alone if you do bash him though; 71% of Americans aren't fans of his administration. It's perfectly understandable—between the war, the egregious environmental and foreign policies, the president's favorable treatment of "Scooter" Libby, Cheney's assertion that he is not a part of the executive branch, and how the administration has consistently misled the American public and favored corporate interest, it does seem curious that almost a third of Americans actually approve of the guy. Maybe Putin will like him...?
14. Bush's popularity hits all time low
15. Bush not ruling out Libby pardon
16. Cheney claims a non-executive privilege
17. More Than Half of Americans Support Kucinich's Call to Impeach Cheney, Poll Shows
18. Bush woos Putin with home visit


Then again, I may just think all of that because the BBC has a liberal bias.
19. Does the BBC have a bias problem?

Wikipedia too. Apparently, after a home-school student turned in a history paper using "BCE" for dates, Andy Schlafly could no longer tolerate Wikipedia and created a more trustworthy alternative: Conservapedia.
20. A conservative's answer to Wikipedia
21. Conservapedia

Oh, how I adore thee, Lewis Black:

Murdoch's move [to buy the Wall Street Journal] is part of a trend by conservatives to turn what they see as left-leaning unfair biased media into right-leaning unfair biased media. When conservatives perceive institutions as liberal, they buy them. If they're not for sale, they make their own. Take Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia that is edited by you, the reader. Well, apparently conservatives feel that you have a liberal bias. So they've started Conservapedia, where homosexuality is defined not as "sexual attraction between people of the same gender..." as on Wikipedia, but as "...an immoral sexual lifestyle... going beyond the boundaries that God has set up..." I gotta tell ya, on Conservapedia "Gay" sounds way more interesting. Yep, free-market conservatives who don't like how the free market shook out on the internet aren't going to take it anymore. [...] So YouTube and Wikipedia, maybe the two most genuinely egalitarian media ever conceived, are a part of a vast left-wing conspiracy...

...

Despite its significant contributions to climate change, the US (California specifically) is leading the way in green technology. And as the world faces water shortage problems, the Sudanese government isn't living up to the Comprehensive Peace Agreement... and we're discovering that men and women are equally talkative.
22. US leads search for climate solutions
23. Water shortage 'a global problem'
24. Sudan misses withdrawal deadline
25. Men 'no less chatty than women'

...

A lot of news is disheartening...
26. CIA details Cold War skulduggery
27. US senator admits 'serious sin'
28. 'My mother held me down'
29. Vatican text angers Protestants

But then some news is inspirational.
30. Obama leads in campaign funding

It really depends on what you expose yourself to.
31. Western diet risk to Asian women
32. Organic food 'better' for heart


A cloud against the clouds
weaves and pushes its way past,
through the crowds,
and sees squares and stamps
dappling the ground below the glass.

In patches beneath its patch of shade
are fingers crawling, recording, reporting
the events of days
interacting and contorting.
Their only gaze is downward.

Green skylines?

1. Grow Up
2. Vertical farming in the big Apple
3. Multi-storey glasshouses the future of farming?
4. Let’s Get Vertical

Two more articles on global warming...

1. Climate change 'can be tackled'
2. Economics of tackling climate change


(And one more, so technically three.)
3. Efforts to help developing nations adapt to the impacts of climate change have been called "woefully inadequate" by a UN-commissioned report.

This world of ours 5

(For optimal effect, listen to this while reading.)


Recently, a man in the Ukraine celebrated the completion of his 116^th year upon this Earth. That is 42,340 days, 1,016,834.3 hours, or 61,010,058 minutes.
1. Ukraine's 'oldest man' turns 116

Meanwhile the days in Darfur remain just as dismal:
2. Hopes fade for solution for Darfur
3. Sudan defiant on Darfur suspects
4. Darfur 'was worst abuse of 2006'
5. Kansas Senate Approves Sudan Divestiture

As do the prospects of curbing the earth's spiking warmth:
6. 'Now or never' for climate action
7. Wrangling delays climate report
8. Ethical Man's top ten tips for ethical living

Don't fret, though— that kills brain cells:
9. Stressful event kills brain cells

We still have reason to be happy, or at least reasons for it. So be happy: socialize, be kind, exercise, roll in the dirt, or be a Dutch child.
10. Path to true happiness 'revealed'
11. Dirt exposure 'boosts happiness'
12. Why are Dutch children so happy?

If you're a Chinese teenager, though, you're going to have to find other roads to happiness than MMOs:
13. China seeks to 'limit game hours'


Oh, and abstinence-only sex education DOESN'T work. ("[T]he US federal government spends $176 million on them annually...") If it's any consolation, you can still take your kids to a newly-built anti-evolutionary-science museum.
14. US sex-abstinence classes queried
15. Sex Abstinence Programs A Waste Of Time And Money
16. Creationist museum challenges evolution


Lewis Black, who—for whatever improbable reason—had a show in Salina, Kansas recently, has some thoughts pertaining to the latter (#16):

Whenever someone says they believe the earth was created in 7 days, I grab a fossil and say, "Fossil." And if they keep talking, I throw it just over their heads.

There are people who believe that humans and dinosaurs co-existed. And what this is, plain and simple, is a psychotic reaction. These people are stone-cold-f***ing nuts. I can't be nice about this, because these people are watching the Flinstones as if it were a documentary.

[Can't think of a segue]:


17. Japan anger at US sex slave bill


And is the media's depiction of women as sex objects good for the mental health of young girls? In case you can't already guess:
18. Sexualisation 'harms' young girls


Meanwhile, I have my fingers crossed for peace in Northern Uganda, although I'm doubtful:
19. Uganda rebels sign new ceasefire

I'm also hopeful for Iraq, although I have little or no reason to be:
20. Bush, Democrats trade accusations in war stand-off
21. Iraqi deaths survey 'was robust'
22. Payouts reveal Iraq civilian toll¹
23. In pictures: US war artist

But of course, as Obama says:

There are no good options in Iraq. At this point there are bad options and worse options.

Speaking of Mr. Obama, the 2008 presidential campaigns are looking to be pricey (as in "record-breaking" pricey):
24. Obama fundraising rivals Clinton


Also in the news:
25. Office workers 'risk blood clots'

26. Autism gene breakthrough hailed
27. Clear obesity gene link 'found'

28. When exercise becomes an obsession [too much exercise can be bad for mental health]

29. Danish protests turns flowery

30. Bed sharing 'drains men's brains'


And hot off the press (what the fuck?):
31. Sudan man forced to 'marry' goat



¹

One file records a payment of $35,000 made to a family in Hib Hib, Iraq, after US forces "accidentally discharged 155 mm rounds", killing three children aged five, 16 and 18 and damaging their home.

I was thinking, you know, I'm spending something upwards of $55,000 on college, and the compensation for three lives and a home is only $35,000. We're also spending some $165 million annually on abstinence education.

---

Just a castaway
An island lost at sea
Another lonely day
With no one here but me
More loneliness
Than any man could bear
Rescue me before I fall into despair, oh.

I'll send an S.O.S. to the world
I'll send an S.O.S. to the world
I hope that someone gets my (x3)
Message in a bottle. (x2)

A year has passed since I wrote my note
But I should have known this right from the start
Only hope can keep me together
Love can mend your life
But love can break your heart

I'll send an S.O.S. to the world
I'll send an S.O.S. to the world
I hope that someone gets my (x3)
Message in a bottle (x4)

Walked out this morning
Don't believe what I saw
A hundred billion bottles
Washed up on the shore
Seems I'm not alone at being alone
A hundred billion castaways
Looking for a home

I'll send an S.O.S. to the world
I'll send an S.O.S. to the world
I hope that someone gets my (x3)
Message in a bottle (x4)

Sending out an S.O.S. (x24 ¹/₂)


11/16 update:

Two significant happenings:
32. US university shooting kills 33
33. Sudan agrees to UN peacekeepers

This world of ours 4

Anthropogenic warming. Impending doom. Tortillas and ethanol.
1. Humans blamed for climate change
2. Waxman: White House misled public on global warming
3. Climate resets 'Doomsday Clock'
4. 'Doomsday' vault design unveiled
5. Mexicans stage tortilla protest

Then there's:
6. View of US's global role 'worse'
7. France glimpses art in video games
8. Sweden plans Second Life embassy

And:
9. Richest 2% own 'half the wealth'
10. Gender bias 'increases poverty'
11. Birth rate 'harms poverty goals'
12. 'Altruistic' brain region found

And:
13. Stress 'harms brain in the womb'
14. Study Puts Rate of Autism at 1 in 150 U.S. Children
15. No sleep means no new brain cells

Put it all together, this farrago:
the intersections that evade the eye's scrutiny.


2/13 update:

Oh, and:
16. New crops needed to avoid famines
17. Obama throws his hat in the ring

><{{{*>

1. 'Only 50 years left' for sea fish


11/3 update:

2. Will seafood nets be empty? Grim outlook draws skeptics

Three more articles about global warming

1. Humans 'causing stronger storms'
2. Earth's species feel the squeeze
3. In pictures: Your changing world

BBC climate change experiment

The BBC has a distributed computing climate change project underway led by Oxford University:

1. BBC - Science & Nature - Climate Change

Check it out. It's worth looking into.


6/23 Update:

Also:

The Earth is the hottest it has been in at least four centuries and perhaps in thousands of years, according to a new report released in U.S.

The report also claimed that human activities are responsible for it.

The National Academy of Sciences, US, reaching the conclusion in a broad review of scientific work requested by Congress, reported Wednesday that the "recent warmth is unprecedented for at least the last 400 years and potentially the last several millennia."

1. Earth is hottest now in 400 years: Study

This world of ours 2

In international news, the humanitarian situation in Sudan's Darfur region is as bad as it's ever been, China has been harvesting the organs of executed prisoners, Saddam Husein obviously isn't innocent but his trial continues nonetheless, the price of barrels of oil have hit new records in parts of the world, the US is saying that the world is safer despite over ten thousand terrorist attacks in '05, and a survivor of the Rwandan genocide tells her story to the BBC, saying, "In the years since the genocide, I have been very sick and constantly in pain. I live on pain killers - I'm always on medication. [...] I can't forgive the people that did this to me. It is impossible. [...] The wounds that are inside me will, I guess, always be there."
1. Darfur crisis 'is as bad as ever'
2. China 'selling prisoners' organs'
3. Saddam 'did sign death warrants'
4. Oil hits record $74 on Iran, US gasoline stocks
5. US says world safer, despite 11,000 attacks in '05
6. Genocide survivor can't forgive

In other news: wetlands are "rebounding" now that golf course water hazards (and similar bodies) now qualify as wetlands (though by past definitions they're declining), recent studies suggest that gender equality could mean better sexual relationships, Intel-based Macs can now run Windows and Linux (dogs and cats living together- mass hysteria!), the Silent Hill movie had a good opening weekend despite poor ratings from a vast majority of critics, and, ironically enough, a family that doesn't even own a computer is being sued by the RIAA.
7. Wetlands Rebound, but Wait, So Do Golf Course Ponds
8. Quality of sex life linked to equality
9. Apple unveils software to permit Windows use
10. Spooky thriller tops box office
11. RIAA nails family with no computer


Web upon latticed web,
Step after step,
The feet of
Entangled footsteps
Aggregate and depart.
 

Extinction and anthropocentric ethical theory

1. Humans spur worst extinctions since dinosaurs: UN
2. Life's diversity 'being depleted'

I think there's some kind of paradox involved with ethics that extend outside the domain of the humanistic in a way that is similar to the argument that claims all people are selfish (i.e. the altruistic care for others because of the gratification that it gives them to be altruistic). Similarly, most people could be seen as caring about nature because of its effects on us a species, and when we go beyond this and seek out naturalism we are reminded that we are not outside of ecology, but that we would, in a natural setting, have our own proper place in a proper ecological niche. In this way we are greeted with an almost dialectical ambiguity. To do what is best ecologically is to be within the realm of naturalism, and to do what is in the realm of naturalism implies that we recognize our role as a species, and in doing so accept its inclinations and prejudices. Animals look out for their best interests collectively, but their family and species have the immediate priority. Daniel Quinn would say that the difference is that in the state of nature animals don't eliminate their competition in order to further their familial or special (?- specie-al) prosperity and in turn allow their numbers to grow beyond what the natural carrying capacity would allow, but at the same time I don't think that a single caveat would eliminate my uncertainty on the matter.

A non-anthropocentric take on ethics by definition would place the immanent priority on the collective interaction between species, which to many would seem ludicrous (e.g. "The elimination of insects through pesticides is unethical because it kills mindless bugs when it allows existing humans to meet their food supply demands and prevent starvation?"). It follows that because the push for ecology is either in the interest of our personal well-being (viz. our impact on ecosystems that in turn affect us) or in the pursuit of naturalism (at which point we must resume our role that immanently places priority on the benefaction of our species), a sensical non-anthropocentric ethical theory would have to be (1) pretty creative, and (2) perhaps even not truly "non-anthropocentric", because we would have to be outside of our subject to appropriately make such determinations.

At this point I'm not quite sure what logically follows. Personally, I would like to embrace some degree of intrinsic value in other species and ecological systems (viz. deep ecology), while maintaining that humans can remain at least as prosperous (in a human utilitarian sense) as we are now in doing so, which seems to be apodeictically false. To reject the former qualifies me in the anthropocentric, to reject the latter places me into the direction of something that is popularly deontologically immoral (not accepting human life as the greatest earthly good). Maybe I could turn to an axiological judgment centering around sustainability which places its ethical qualifications in the long-term humanistically and ecologically, as well as ecologically in the short term. It doesn't quite resolve the paradox as much as sidestep it and go in a different direction.

5/1 update:
This doesn't make sense.

Antarctica...

1. Antarctic ice is shrinking: NASA
2. Shrinking Antarctic ice proves scientists wrong
3. Antarctica Cannot Replace Ice Loss

Mechanisms to promote positive ecology

I've only been able to come up with four:

(1) Voluntary: Producers/companies voluntarily adjust their outputs and means of production in favor of what they deem environmentally responsible. This isn't promoted in the free market, it makes them uncompetitive unless there is a demand for their products by educated consumers due to their practices.
(2) Consumer demand/activism: This kind of meshes in with the former one. Consumer-activists macroscopically place demand on products that are created in an ecologically "ethical" fashion. This would require an unheard sense of consumer awareness (as well as a popular demand for environmentally "ethical" practices) and probably some transparency on the part of producers.
(3) Legal restrictions: Governments formally place restrictions on producers/companies and designate land for environmental purposes to be excluded from the market (state-owned). I guess I could see private projects akin to "national parks" but I think it would be generally easier to approach the matter governmentally.
(4) Green taxes: Externalities are somehow incorporated into production costs through taxes. Wow- this would be hard.. but not impossible.

So as to which one or combination of these would be the most favorable, I think (1) can be ruled out for the reasons given--voluntary consideration could happen in an ideal world, but not a modern capitalist one... unless green taxes were in the picture and kicking.

I'm kind of thinking (2).. but that would be a hardcore grassroots effort. And then of course, land management would undoubtedly need to be handled through the state.

I need to narrow my focus to decide between formal (legal restrictions/taxes) and social means. I'm not sure on what grounds they should be judged. If anyone has any suggestions I'm open to them, if not I'll address it whenever I dig myself out of the hole I just made.

Bird flu karma and an oil-free Sweden

1. Reality takes wing over bird flu
2. Sweden aims for oil-free economy [by the year 2020]

The heat of 2005

A manifestation of global warming?
1. Greenhouse gases blamed for making 2005 hottest year to date

And if this is true, there is something seriously wrong:
2. Climate expert says NASA bids to muzzle him: report

Icelandic sustainable energy

1. Iceland the First Country to Try Abandoning Gasoline