Author: Simon

The graph is from Wiki Media based on data from the International Energy Organization [pdf]. I think the graph maker intended that the KW measure be averaged over 24/7/365 which would make sense (which is to say multiply by 24*7*365 to get the KWh total). Leave it to an engineer. In any case that is…

As some of you know who read me regularly I have a great deal of interest in the Drug War. In one of my early pieces on the subject Heroin, I came to the conclusion that addiction was a response to pain. i.e. people chronically take pain killers to deal with chronic pain. I have…

I was reading The Science of Libertarian Morality, H/T Instapundit, and got to thinking. 1. Humans are herd (troupe) animals. 2. Most want to live in the center of the herd. They have to know what the rules are. Some want mommy rules, some want daddy rules. They are in agreement that rules (lots of…

Never Bring a Lap Dog to a Grizzly Fight Cross Posted at Power and Control

My post Some Interesting Science Papers drew some sceptical responses. Fine. Theories should be picked apart until we can be sure they will hold water. But we should also be on the look out for new data. And here is a piece of new (for me) data that will knock your socks off. Vast Solar…

Since it is Sunday I think some religious music is in order. The video starts a little slow with an announcement followed by a so so version of “I Need A Miracle” and then segues into one of the best ‘Dead versions of “Good Lovin” I have heard so far.

Commenter Brock at my article Biofuel Breakthrough? had a few very interesting words on the subject that bodes well for the future. Well I’m cautiously excited anyway. Biological systems have been producing simple sugars and lipids for a few trillennia now, and it’s only the laws of Darwinian Fitness (not the laws of physics) which…

A while back I did a post on how Pat Robertson had changed his stance on pot (at least for a while). And I quote: …something else we’ve got to recognize. We’re locking up people that take a couple of puffs of marijuana and the next thing they know they’ve got 10 years. They’ve got…

My friend Physicist Oliver K. Manuel has a paper out explaining that the sun is not an ordinary star that “burns” strictly Hydrogen, but a neutron star with a Hydrogen mantle. The paper is rather technical but I can give you the flavor of it with an excerpt from the Conclusion. Dynamic competition between gravitational…

I have just been notified by my friends at Talk Polywell of a break through in the biologic generation of liquid fuels. The Globe and Mail reports on the breakthrough (although my friends at Talk Polywell think the report is garbled by a not entirely science literate reporter). In September, a privately held and highly…

Aaron was a great defender of gun rights. He was a totally stand up guy. I explained to him how the Drug War was a danger to gun rights and after some discussion he changed his position. He will be sorely missed. Memorial Page JPFO Home Page Books By Aaron Zelman Cross Posted at Power…

I have an interesting report on political slush funds in the Vatican Bank from a source whose reputation I’m not aware of. Anyone know how credible this report is? Slush fund accounts of major US politicians identified and seized at Vatican Bank (Rome). Connection established with Daniel Dal Bosco RICO indictment, which cites Giancarlo Bruno,…

Brought to mind by a post on Why Palin Hatred? This unhinged hatred of Palin comes mostly from women. That is an awkward observation for us to offer, because a man risks sounding sexist or unchivalrous when he makes unflattering generalizations about women. Noted sociologist Chris Rock (in the video above) clarifies the whole social…

No. Not the media over the shootings in Arizona. They lost Obama’s birth certificate. Maybe lost it is the wrong term. “Can’t find it” is more like it. Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie suggested in an interview published today that a long-form, hospital-generated birth certificate for Barack Obama may not exist within the vital records maintained…

Bob Ramsey who has some interesting links on this page suggested I have a look at a book excerpt which explains why supply interdiction in the Drug War is an impossible task. Not just difficult. Not just expensive. Impossible. It is an excerpt from a book published in 1991: Undoing Drugs: Beyond Legalization So let…

Does pot make some people smarter? I have no studies proving that. I do have an anecdote SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – The late astronomer and author, Carl Sagan (1934 – 1996) was a secret but avid marijuana smoker, crediting it with inspiring essays and scientific insight, according to Sagan’s biographer. Using the pseudonym “Mr. X”,…

Sarah mentioned Heinlein flame wars in her recent post. So I’m cross posting this piece (with some additions) to see if I can get one going. ******* Of course, our failures are a consequence of many factors, but possibly one of the most important is the fact that society operates on the theory that specialization…

Stacy McCain is bemoaning the destruction of the property market in Maryland caused by a ruling against the banks who created fraudulent documents. From a report he linked to: In a major ruling Friday, a coalition of nonprofit defense lawyers and consumer protection advocates in Maryland successfully got over 10,000 foreclosure cases managed by GMAC…

Who is this “they” kimosabe? Home owners? Nope that is old news. The Banks are walking away from mortgages they have underwritten. …the United States, much of Europe, and China have severe balance sheet issues that are ravaging their respective economic prospects. The media, analysts, and investors are gingerly mozying along as if this is…

The Government has scored another drug war success. Homeless people are now supplying meth precursors to underground drug labs. At the height of the methamphetamine epidemic, several states turned to a new weapon to disrupt the drug trade: electronic systems that could track sales of the cold medicine used to make meth. Tracking sales by…