>> I said that we can't feed the world and dispense with
>> agribusiness, but i hope we can dispense make food production more
>> productive and less destructive to habitats. we are approaching 7
>> billion people and little sign of reaching zpg.
> So what selection criteria do you suggest be
> But are these ways _efficient_? China population didn't stop growing,
> despite the 1-kid-per-couple law. I saw a documentary about a chinese
> girl that worked as a slave in some export-oriented industry; she
> was an "unperson", an illegal child that was not registered - probably
> most girls
> Farm subsidies are there basically to prevent the collapse of the farm
> industry and keep farmers in business, because the farming business is
> so economically anomalous the normal economic rules don't apply to it
> very well at all. And we are talking about our *food supply* here ..
> [snip] when you turn farmers loose and
> try to hold them accountable to economic theories that don't take the
> reality of farming into account, to sink or swim on their own, more
> often than not, they sink.
I don't understand how farming is supposed to be different from other
investments
> unfortunately the domestic sheep population in new zealand numbers
> over 75 million (mostly for export) and their hooves are destroying
pasture
> that used to be rain forest.
> the human population is less than 5 million...
> http://www.maf.govt.nz/mafnet/rural-nz/sustainable-resource-use/organ
> Much of New Zealand's pastureland (by no means all) is cleared land,
> and that means some of it would have been rainforest, even on the
> South Island.
Cleared land certainly, before people got here the islands were pretty
much covered by native bush tip to tail (excepting the tussocked
hi
> I met David Lange when I was on a bicycle sojourn in the late 80s.
A reflection of New Zealands small size. I too bumped into him while
cycling (in my case getting around my home town).
He's not the only Prime Minister I've happened across in daily activities.
> I was under the impression tha
For the curious, and in reply to a query about some of NZs laws, here's
a snippet about the beginning for Free Trade talks with the U.S from a
local blog...
Quote:http://norightturn.blogspot.com/
Labour is patting itself on the back over the announcement that it will
begin free-trade negotiations
> Sorry if the analogy is confusing or faulty, my main point is that
> governments are "consenting partners" too.
That just ain't so. As has been observed Government is force. and
there's sweet F.A negotiation between it, its agents and the citizens it
bends to its will.
Force generally is not
> Maybe I am in the minority, but I have never felt the government is
> opressing me, or forcing me to do things I don't want to do, and I reckon I
> get fair recompence for paying my taxes & obeying the law.
It is not required for a government to be oppresive for it to be true
that you do not
> I give my consent to be governed by people with whom I disagree, so long as
> they are elected by legal democratic means.
I doubt very much anyone ever asked you (who had the will and power to
change it) if it was okay that you were governed by the system in place.
And absent that you haven't
> Don't forget, Hitler was elected by Democratic means.
While initially true it is inaccurate to claim he took power
democratically. His party was elected to a significant proportion of
government but the position of authority he abused was bestowed by
presidential executive fiat.
___
>> This is a myth. He was elected by the parliament, which is not
>> democratic. It's like Bush II in 2000, who was elected by the
>> electoral college, and not by the people.
>
> Ah, so you are saying it was only about 49.9% of the popular
> preference, instead of 50.1%? Sounds like a robust sy
> The problem was that no-one (including the board of directors of AIG knew
> that AIG was insolvent until the day the government intervened. Bubbles and
> panics are part of the nature of the market. You can repeat your mantra of
> free markets are perfect until you are blue in the face, but AI
>> it does give on pause to wonder about the
>> situation where a democratic election may place people to whom democracy
>> is disposable in power. I guess it's a string argument for rigid
>> Constitutional rule.
> I'm not sure how rigid constitutional rule would be able to stop a determined
> le
> 5. People who have never read Adam Smith are probably not qualified to
> discuss what he said. And almost nobody has ever read Adam Smith. Even
> most economists have never gotten around to it.
They especially never seem to read the bits about the neccesity of
regulation.
> 6. Most people wh
> Screw argument from authority.
>
> Me: Can I assume then that the next time you have a funny pain in your chest
> you won't be looking for someone with an MD degree to talk it over with?
When I have required medical aid I was looking for advice and expertise,
not argument. These are differen
>>> My favorites of his are the ones that start with
>>> The Atrocity Archives. Not everyone would come
>>> up with Lovecraftian computer science.
>> I must read more Stross. At the moment all I've read was "A Colder
>> War", which I thought was great (and which is available for free
>> onlin
> Bush is the worst by far.
On the topic of Bush being the worst U.S President, I’ve discovered
cause to dispute that.
Having just read “Lies my teacher told me”, a book intended to
illustrate the inaccuracies of U.S history curriculums, I’ve read a
thorough account of more egregious behaviour b
> This is a witch hunt. I'm not sure how justice is served by convicting a 15
> year old of making a stupid mistake. And, they may prosecute the recipients
> of the text messages? I can only hope that this gets in front of a judge
> that has some common sense.
Is it a witch hunt or just the con
> I'm still trying to figure out why he chose Palin as VP candidate: drill,
> abstinence only,
> 'Creationism,'* anti-science...what independents was she supposed to entice?
I think the plan was he entices independents (because of his supposed
independence from dogma and cabals) while she keeps
> The Presidency is now a poisoned chalice.
If Obama wins, as seems likely, an unambiguous majority and gets a
decent mandate I'm curious what he'll do with it.
The poor guy is being hailed as if a messiah and no doubt is going to
disappoint some by not being able to magic wealth enough to balan
> I think Barack Obama shoud make Colin Powell his Secretary of Defense.
What, and actively destroy Damask's personal support by supplying jobs
to an accomplice to mass murder?
Powell knowingly lied on a stage (the U.N) built expressly for the
purpose of preventing wars to actively promote the
> I think that Powell actually was fed incomplete or untrue information
> which he then delivered. It's those who lied to him who are most at
> fault.
That is incredible. An experienced General grade officer, former
chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff serving as the Secretary of State
with a
> Plus a long and distinguished career in the military, Chief of the Joint
> Chiefs of Staff, and as the National Security Advisor.
His career wasn't so distinguished. His attempt to white wash U.S
massacres of Vietnamese villagers (such as My Lai) doesn't reflect well
on him either.
> Can hono
> Surely you can give a single example to support your claim that Bush
> deregulation was responsible for the "subprime mortgage crisis".
It's fairly obvious it all began with private investment banks going
public in the 1980's and shifting liabilities onto shareholders.
Since then it's been a
> I'm sure that is all quite true, but I think it begins earlier.
> (Please correct me if I get the facts wrong here)
It's not just about home mortgages, it just happens that's the bubble
that revealed the weakness - if not for that some other, all multiple,
markets would have bubbled and burst a
>> Since market information is not filtered through the government but through
>> the market itself, exactly how does that work?
> Exactly how does what work? Government regulation? Not very well.
But evidently better than none, or as it was - the pretence of self
regulation.
Investment manager
> The politicians are the biggest swindlers here by far.
I don't get how that's supposed to have worked. Even if the political
powers that be deliberately encouraged bad financial behaviour shouldn't
the miraculous market forces have still avoided stupid risks?
Surely for the evil government to
> The politicians have swindled us for over $1 trillion in
> the past few months, and they are getting away with it easily.
I saw a reference claiming it's more like $4 Trillion (that the U.S
government has made all sorts of commitments on the Q.T that are piling up).
Not that this brazen theft o
>Ted Turner was asked recently on a CNN interview who was responsible for the
>financial crisis
>and he said "All of us. We've been spending more than we make for a
long time ...
>Basically, he's right.
Not if 'us' encompasses the many hard working debt avoiding people who
will also suffer by h
[Referencing people who avoid debt]
> As I said before, I commend people who have avoided that temptation.
> But I think its fair to say they are a minority in the US.
Betting you were wrong there I went looking for facts and found this
interesting summary of numbers on U.S debt...
http://www.
> Well, we just elected an elitist as president, by a substantial majority.
A 7 ~ 8% margin isn't substantial. Surely it only seems that way
compared to recent razor thin elections?
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> What happens if someone breaks a law that Obama manages to push
> through Congress because of a perceived mandate? How is that not being
> ruled?
Being tried in court by an independent judiciary charged to protect
constitutional rights is the difference between governed by law and
ruled by mona
>>> What happens if someone breaks a law that Obama manages to push
>>> through Congress because of a perceived mandate? How is that not being
>>> ruled?
>> Being tried in court by an independent judiciary charged to protect
>> constitutional rights is the difference between governed by law and
>
>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyranny_of_the_majority
Which is why people like constitutional government. Pretty much everyone
means to include, when they trumpet the supremacy and desirability of
democracy, a definition of democracy that includes some form of
constitutional protection for mino
> Some minority rights. And even then it has not worked very well
> historically.
I disagree, I think it has worked spectacularly well. Non-wealthy people
living in the modern democracies enjoy the greatest freedoms and wealth
available to the non-elite in human history.
With the possible except
> I meant that the constitutional protections have not been very
> effective at protecting minorities historically.
Yeah, they are still a property of society. It doesn't matter if someone
says "...that all men are created equal.." if society proceeds to
exclude women and certain ethnicities from
>supposing you were going to be placed, at random, into any society on Earth
>you do not know what social status you will have, what your income level
>will be, even what gender or nationality you will be
>the only choice you get is the initial choice of countries.
>In what country would you most l
Recently some physicists announced the result of some serious number
crunching that is evidence that the majority of the universes mass is
the interaction between quarks that form protons and neutrons.
Made of gluons that transmit the strong nuclear force this interaction
is the 'quantum foam' of
Ooops, that non-sequitor was meant for another list.
___
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> To say that the market failed is either wrong or meaningless.
If I understand this correctly it was meant that markets can't fail in
the same way physics isn't failing if you fall to your death having
driven off a cliff.
However a person saying the 'markets failed' isn't unnecessarily
claiming
> You are just trying to rationalize taking wealth from others
> because you think you know how to spend it better than they do.
As it happens, I think I do know how better to spend some peoples money
than they do themselves.
If that's someone's only objection to taxation then they can rest
assu
> It's a tie, for sure. After buying the box set for him last Christmas,
> we read it from cover to cover (to cover to cover, to cover to cover:
> all three volumes) over the space of about six months. I hadn't seen
> every cartoon when Watterson was still drawing them, so some parts
> were brand
> It's based on a number of things, but I think the single item that stood out
> for me was the male life expectancy: 59.2 years. 25 years ago, it was over
> 70 years (at least officially). This drop is absolutely amazing.
Demographers have Russias population reducing to under 70 million by 205
>> Demographers have Russias population reducing to under 70 million by 2050.
> Wow, that's about 4 per sq. km. And with China around 140 per sq. km.,
> maybe dropping a bit to 125 per sq. km by then, just to it's south, that's a
> problem waiting to happenespecially with the male/female dis
> It's depressingly cold here in the (alleged) tropics.
> We miss the days when temperature was 40.
Yesterday was the Summer solstice here in the South Pacific and the day
before was cold - only 6 degrees celsius.
Global warming harumph.
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http://www
> Lint-free cloth, NOT paper towels; spray one cloth with water or
> isopropyl alcohol, use that to clean, and follow with a dry cloth.
For simple things like finger smudges and dust a clean micro-fibre cloth
does well.
___
http://www.mccmedia.com/mailm
> It is exceedingly difficult to judge exactly what the rest of the world
> thinks about the election of Obama
I'll tell you what the populace of New Zealand I live among thinks (and
I suspect a considerable many more nations)...
It's nice to see an adult get elected. Someone who thinks rationa
>>> Dublin Dr. Pepper rules Maru
I found and tried to drink a can of Dr Pepper once, having heard of it
and being curious about the taste.
It was vile. Was I just put off by a new taste that would have improved
over time?
Peoples mentioning of it has me wondering was it corn syrup sweetened
(if
>>> Dublin Dr. Pepper rules Maru
I found and tried to drink a can of Dr Pepper once, having heard of it
and being curious about the taste.
It was vile. Was I just put off by a new taste that would have improved
over time?
Peoples mentioning of it has me wondering was it corn syrup sweetened
(if
> It was almost a "perfect storm" for fire conditions.
I'm 1,500 miles downwind and was reminded of the end to "The Sheep Look
Up" last night when I thought I could smell faint burning on the air.
___
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> Hello listit's been quiet, so I thought I'd ask for some help.
You'll want a good fast connection for this...
Set up the accounts you want to copy from and to for imap.
On any old computer using a client like thunderbird set up both accounts
with imap access.
Copy mails from one account
Reasons not to use HTML email...
http://www1.american.edu/econ/notes/htmlmail.htm
___
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> They also believe...
...that some cosmic jewish zombie, who is his own father, can make you
live forever if you symbolicawy eat his flesh and telepathically tell
him that you accept him as your master, so he can remove an evil force
from your soul, that is present in humanity because a rib-woma
> What would you call the war against terrorism, a police
> action? Would you agree that it also is over resources?
Only in so much as it's an excuse for the U.S to leverage force in the
middle-east and extend influence over oil resources.
Most of what people call Terrorism is Arab Nationalism,
>> ...and judging by GDP figures, the USA is still fighting the Cold War.
> There never was a "Cold" War
Yeah there was, but it didn't begin with Korea. It began about 1943 when
Germany's defeat was clear and it's conquerors began to consider what
would be the fate of Europe afterwards.
The big
>> The biggest fallacy regarding it was the Soviet threat which was always
>> exaggerated. Neither militarily nor politically did the soviet Union (or
>> China and other 'communist allied') ever pose an existential threat to
>> the U.S.
> No, but it did to most of Europe... and that's what the Co
> I don't think there was too many anti-USA feeling in Russia and
> China during the 1950s and 1960s.
Your good Marxist would never be anti-U.S, just anti-capitalist
exploiter. Ideology not nationalism.
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> You wrote in response to Charlie mentioning
> an existential threat to Western Europe by the USSR:
>
>
> Well, yeah, but that was pretty much decided during the Berlin airlift when
> Uncle Joe made the decision that the USSR didn't want to fight.
> All that followed after that showdown was jus
> I wonder if the reason the USSR was engaging in
> brinkmanship was less for imperialism and exporting
> communism, than from fear of the U.S. threat.
> Looked at strategically, the USSR was surrounded by
> enemies. America had bases in Japan, Turkey, Europe,
> etc. When Castro invited Russ
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