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Nature abhors a hero.  For one thing, he violates the law of
conservation of energy.  For another, how can it be the survival of the
fittest when the fittest keeps putting himself in situations where he
is most likely to be creamed?
		-- Solomon Short

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Executive Decarbonization With the climate bill dead and blame portioned, Ezra Klein asks what happens when congress fails? He concludes that "regulations to reduce carbon emissions are alive and well. The Environmental Protection Agency can attack carbon as a pollutant, and the Obama administration's announcement that efforts to hamstring the EPA will be vetoed suggests that they mean to do exactly that." BONUS Global Warming Denial, Part 96 - How much is the inability to debate ideas hindered by a disagreement over simple factual data? Everything You Need to Know About Global Warming in 5 Minutes - Why are we arguing the issue? Challenging vested interests as powerful as the oil and coal lobbies was never going to be easy. Scientists are not naturally aggressive defenders of arguments. In short, they are conservatives by training: never, ever risk overstating your ideas. The skeptics are far, far more determined and expert propagandists to boot. They are also well funded. That smoking caused cancer was obfuscated deliberately and effectively for 20 years at a cost of hundreds of thousands of extra deaths. We know that for certain now, yet those who caused this fatal delay have never been held accountable. The profits of the oil and coal industry make tobacco's resources look like a rounding error. On global warming and techno-optimism - Sure, the argument goes, global warming is real. But it's a long-term problem. By the time it becomes a serious threat, we'll have more money, and more technology, to deal with it. Armageddon Wars: Overpopulation Vs. Global Warming - But global warming is different. The fact that carbon emissions are warming the planet doesn't make it more expensive to produce those emissions. So companies do not have an ever-increasing incentive to emit less — the way they would if the problem were, say, a lack of oil. Global warming doesn't solve itself the way that resource scarcity does. Ideas - A petroleum tax of $5 per barrel on every barrel of petroleum produced in America or imported, which would be put into place next year and increased by (my preference) $5 per barrel every year. Energy Transitions, Then and Now - From a new-ish paper on energy transitions, some fascinating data on the share of primary energy consumption by technology in the U.K. from 1500-2000. You can see the slow transition from biomass/food to coal, and then the faster one from coal to oil/natgas, etc. The other thing that struck me was that wind was a larger percentage of primary energy generation in 1700 than it is today. The Decarbonization Macro-Trend - As motors and power-plants of one sort or another have become more and more efficient, and as more carbon-dense fuels are replaced with less carbon-dense successors, the result has been the slow, 200-year 'decarbonization' of the world's fuel supply. The shift has been from wood to coal, coal to oil, oil to methane and, inevitably, methane to hydrogen. Guitars are pure awesome Look, I just like guitars. And I think this is the best guitar blog I have ever seen. For example, this great story about a punk rock bass from New Zealand. And this one about the Maton Phil Manning Custom Stereo. And it's always nice to find some good Antipodean content. You are Here. Davis, California is a small town by almost any measure, yet is home to one of the busiest local wikis in the world. The Davis Wiki chronicles the mundane and the bizarre, but also serves more practical information, such as lunch specials, housing guides, news events, and the hours of the local bike collective. In recognition of the outstanding success of the Davis Wiki, the founders were recently awarded a $350,000 grant to develop their Local Wiki software for more general application, including intensive development of wikis in a number of pilot communities. Many communities already have a wiki, though only a few have really taken off; with luck and a bit of a kickstart, the experience of the Davis Wiki founders can be applied to make this invaluable resource available in more cities. Seattle's newest transportation system. Seattle's newest transportation system. Vintage Series Books for Girls Vintage Series Books for Girls Youth Jail Chronicles Youth Jail Chronicles. From YouthUprising and YAK films who brought us yesterday's dancing video. "I don't know if we should... air this one." Between Two Ferns ep. 9: Steve Carell sits down to talk with Zach Galifianakis about "Dinner for Schmucks" but they never quite get around to it. (Previously. nsfw language.) [via] The Big Easy To Get Away With Murder In 2009, New Orleans, Louisiana learned that it had the unwelcome distinction of once again being the murder capital of the United States according to the FBI's homicide data. New Orleans' newspaper The Times-Picayune even has a special map for keeping track of murders (with associated twitter account). The city had 179 murders in 2008 and 174 in 2009. Already this year there have been 106 people killed. The question becomes: why such an incredible murder rate? Most would answer that it has something to do with "the 60-day rule." According to Louisiana State Law Article 701:(1)(a) When the defendant is continued in custody subsequent to an arrest, an indictment or information shall be filed within forty-five days of the arrest if the defendant is being held for a misdemeanor and within sixty days of the arrest if the defendant is being held for a felony. In other words, the defendant has to be formally charged within two months of arrest, or they walk free. This specific article is the basis for the phrases '701-released' and '60-day homicide'. After Hurricane Katrina many New Orleanians relocated to Houston, TX. Feuds carried over to new neighborhoods, and arrests were made. Houston police didn't understand at first:But when police interviewed the suspects, they suddenly understood why New Orleans was so violent. No matter what police said, they couldn't get the suspects to talk. They had no leverage because no one took their threats seriously. It was a logical response: in New Orleans, 93% of people arrested from 2003 to 2004 never went to prison. "It was a real eye-opening experience," says Sergeant Harris. "People born and raised in Houston seem to have an understanding of consequences, of punishment. You can show them the options, and they start thinking, Wow, maybe I should start cooperating." With New Orleans evacuees, Sergeant Harris says, "there is no baseline. They have no concept of consequence." It was the first time the Houston police had heard the phrase "60-day homicide." Suspects would say, "This ain't nothing but a 60-day homicide," meaning that if they kept quiet for 60 days, they would walk--just as they had too often in New Orleans. So Houston police started letting evacuees spend a few days in jail before questioning them in depth. While they waited, the suspects talked with other inmates and had court appearances--which did not end with release. Eventually, for some, the reality of Texas law began to sink in. "As they stay here more, they seem to talk more," Sergeant Harris says. Recently elected mayor Mitch Landrieu has stated that making the city safe is his top priority and has acknowledged the murder problem. He's brought in a new police chief, New Orleans native Ron Serpas to help clean up, though critics at Serpas' last place of employment had criticisms concerning his effectiveness. They're maintaining tradition with events such as the "27th Annual National Night Out Against Crime", attempting to foster communication between the community and the police department. However, between the incredible loss of goodwill thanks to the Danziger Bridge shootings (back in the news because of the federal grand jury indictments brought against NOPD officers), Serpas facing budget cuts and dismissing police department employees, and being under federal oversight, the NOPD is not looking very confident. New Orleans is just going to have to wait and see if their officials can solve this ongoing problem, or if 2010 is sadly going to be another record-breaking year. I have no legs. I have no legs. I have no legs. "Kids, a film about a bunch of hard-living New York City kids, premiered 15 years ago today. It seems that in many ways the city seems to have forgotten the film, just as many of those involved in the film also seem happy to forget it." Proof that 80s New York was Hella Real (courtesy TMN). The Longest Photographic Exposures in History The Longest Photographic Exposures in History China Crisis The Gilded Age: China 2013 - The dystopian novel that's turning China upside down Objectivision Reason.tv heads to the set of Atlas Shrugged Part One to offer viewers a rare behind-the-scenes glimpse of this most anticipated film. Previously. Previouslier. livejournal photography collection Portraits by Richard Dumas; a page (one of many) of actors and directors; a Brooklyn gang (photographed by Bruce Davidson) in 1959; photographs by Ernesto Bazan. Clive Limpkin. Some Warhol Polaroids. Film set photographs and portraits by Brigitte Lacombe. Photographs by: Dennis Hopper [nsfw], Weegee [nsfw], Jeff Bridges, Julia Calfee [nsfw], Ed Templeton [nsfw], Lauren Dukoff, Robert Frank, Sid Grossman and Allen Ginsberg. A Princeton Dance Weekend in 1960, an American family vacation in 1950, Los Angeles, Coney Island, et cetera. A diverse livejournal collection of photographs. ...And it was called Proposition 19 This November, California citizens will decide whether or not to legalize the possession, buying and selling of, and recreational use of marijuana. Early polls concerning proposition 19, also known as the "Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010", reveal a slight majority for legalization, as well as an interesting case of status quo bias. (Previously) Read the initiative in full. Proposition 19's direct clash with federal law sparks a debate about federal involvement. The official Facebook group has exceeded 130,000 fans. "She wants the world to see the effect a Taliban resurgence would have on the women of Afghanistan." "I showed it to my two young sons, 9 and 12, who both immediately felt sorry for Aisha and asked why anyone would have done such harm to her." [WARNING: Graphic image.] Richard Stengel, managing editor of Time magazine, on why he chose to run on the magazine's cover a photo of a young woman whose nose and ears had been cut off at the insistence of the Taliban. It accompanies the article "Afghan Women and the Return of the Taliban."

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Someday man should learn how to enjoy liberty without license, nourishment without gluttony, and pleasure without debauchery. Self-control is a better human policy of behavior regulation than is extreme self-denial.